Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg, Related Companies, Oxford Properties Group and Coach, Inc. announced on Nov. 1 that Coach’s new global corporate headquarters will anchor the initial tower of the Eastern Rail Yards site within the 26-acre mixed-use Hudson Yards development on Manhattan’s far West Side.

Coach’s commitment to take over 600,000 sq. ft.–more than one-third of the available commercial space at the tower–will, together with the completion of the No. 7 subway line extension and the new Hudson Boulevard Park, kick-start the development of the entire Hudson Yards area, a 60-block and 300-acre neighborhood.

Construction on the 1.7-sq.-ft. tower is set to commence in mid-2012 and the building will be ready for occupancy in 2015.

“Opening up the far West Side of Manhattan to development–turning the vacant rail yards site into a hub of commercial activity–is a historic economic development project that will create jobs for generations to come,” Mayor Bloomberg said at a ceremony announcing the deal. “Today’s news will have a domino effect on the rest of the development. Coach, a quintessential New York brand and major employer in the City, has been part of the City’s economy for 70 years, and now they are leading the way to a vibrant future for Hudson Yards.”

“The city is part of our DNA and its spirit is central to all that we do,” Coach Chairman and CEO Lew Frankfort said at the event. “We’re delighted to be staying in the area we have called home for more than 50 years and the fact that our global corporate headquarters will be adjacent to the top of the High Line is particularly exciting.”

The first tower encompasses a total of 1.7 million sq. ft. of commercial office space and will rise 51 stories. Designed by Kohn Pedersen Fox Associates, the building will bridge Chelsea and Hudson Yards. Coach will occupy the lower one-third of the building where it will create a vertical campus with an atrium serving as the visual anchor for the High Line. The Coach tower is the south tower of a planned 5.5 million sq. ft. complex “superblock” bound by 10th Avenue, 33rd Street, Hudson Boulevard and 30th Street. When complete, it will be the largest commercial building in New York City.

“The Hudson Yards represents the next chapter in New York’s history,” Related Cos. Chairman and CEO Stephen M. Ross said at the ceremony. “The vibrant, modern, green, mixed-use environment with state-of-the-art technology that we will provide at Hudson Yards will help ensure New York City retains our competitive advantage for decades to come.”

The MTA Railyards in the Hudson Yards district, accommodating over 13 million sq. ft. of commercial and residential space, is the single largest piece of undeveloped property in Manhattan and will be the biggest development that has been realized since Rockefeller Center, according to the Related Cos.

According to the firm, more than 20,000 construction jobs will be generated by the construction of the Coach Building. Over 100,000 construction jobs will be generated by development of the Eastern Railyard (including over 80,000 direct jobs) and over 10,000 permanent new jobs will be generated upon completion of both yards, which will also serve as home to 30,000 office workers.

The master plan for the railyards comprises approximately 5,000 residences in nine residential buildings, 6 million sq. ft. of office space, a 1-million sq. ft. retail complex, a 150-room five-star hotel, a cultural facility, and a new 750-seat public school, all planned around 14 acres of public open space.

In 2010, Oxford Properties Group, the real estate investment and development arm of the OMERS Worldwide group of companies, partnered with Related as general partners in the development. In Mayo of 2010, Related and Oxford signed a contract with the Metropolitan Transportation Authority MTA for the 13 million sq. ft. of development rights at the Hudson Yards. The development completed its zoning approval process in December of 2009.

For project renderings, click on the images below.