NEW YORK CITY-Jay Cross, president of Related Hudson Yards, was among the speakers on a Real Estate Development and Financial Issues panel at the Urban Systems Symposium Wednesday. Cross outlined plans for the 26-acre site, for which Related won development rights in 2008, later telling GlobeSt.com that he feels good about the market and leasing prospects for the site.

According to Cross, some key factors shaping up for success at the yards include the timely and successful completion of neighboring projects, like the Number 7 subway line. “There are major infrastructure parcels of work going on all around us--in particular the number 7 subway, which I think is an unheralded public works success story,” Cross told attendees at the event.

“For the moment they’re both on track schedule and budget wise for our January 2014 opening,” he added. “And from our perspective and from the perspective of our corporate users who I’m pitching for the yards, it’s a critical, critical thing.” Extension of the number 7 subway to the Hudson Yards is a critical part of redevelopment efforts.

Speculation about who the corporate users Cross mentioned will be has run rampant--from Time Warner Inc. to handbag and accessories maker Coach. “We’re making progress every day,” Cross tells GlobeSt.com of leasing developments for the six million square feet of commercial space. He declined to name the companies Related is wooing, but said that they anticipated having deals in place by year’s end. Plans call for three corporate headquarters slots.

Earlier this month, Related and partner Oxford Properties Group tapped Dean Shapiro, a former executive managing director at CB Richard Ellis, to oversee marketing and leasing efforts.