Kyle Oest, 34
Project manager at Turner Construction
After more than a decade at mega-contractor Turner Construction, Kyle Oest is finishing work on his biggest project yet: the 2.9 million-square-foot skyscraper at 66 Hudson Boulevard, also known as The Spiral.
He mostly helps negotiate interior fit-outs for the building’s larger tenants, including Pfizer, Debevoise & Plimpton, New York-Presbyterian Hospital, and even his own employer. Tenants might want their own elevator, or their own entrance, or want their mechanical systems to operate on custom timing. Oest helps figure out whether their requests are possible while tenants are negotiating leases with developer Tishman Speyer, and then helps make the desires a reality.
The building has been under construction for five years, with tenants moving into floors over time as work is completed. When excavation work started in 2018, Pfizer was the anchor tenant and the only one signed. As more tenants have inked deals, Kyle and his colleagues at Turner have had to change building plans, reconfigure mechanical systems, and adjust construction schedules to accommodate what different companies demand.
“Pfizer was the tenant that was going to move in, and then, if some other tenant wanted to move in, we’d have to make sure it would work,” Oest explained. “There were a lot of hoisting constraints and issues with getting people in and out of the building.” He added, as an example, “We might not have a date for the 52nd floor to be enclosed, but now we have a date if they’ve just agreed to lease that floor with someone.”
Oest also oversaw four floors for Tishman Speyer: two prebuilt office suites on the 21st and 53rd floors, an amenity space on the 66th floor, and an in-house coworking space for tenants on the 23rd floor.
Before the Spiral, Oest worked on the TWA Hotel at JFK Airport and downtown Manhattan’s Brookfield Place. The Massapequa, N.Y., native got into construction working for his dad, who ran an HVAC installation business, during his summers in high school.
When he’s not on the job site, Oest says he enjoys restoring older sports cars, including Corvettes, Dodge Vipers and Hellcats. He still lives on Long Island, on the waterfront in Copiague, and likes getting out on his speedboat when he can.
