Regions Northeast | New York
Nov 30, 2007
By: Paul Rosta, Senior Associate Editor
Midtown Manhattan’s office market got a shot in the arm today as developers and state officials disclosed a deal that will pave the way for a 1.3 million-square-foot trophy tower above the Port Authority Bus Terminal on the borough’s West Side.
A joint venture of Vornado Realty Trust and the Ruben Cos. will pay some $500 million for a 99-year air rights lease above the north wing of the Port Authority Bus Terminal at 42nd Street and Eighth Ave. As early as 2009, Vornado and Ruben will start four years of construction on the project. The developers did not immediately provide an estimate of construction costs, but comparable Manhattan projects generally typically require investments upwards of $1 billion.
Today’s deal represents a milestone for the long-awaited project, which dates back to 1999. That year, the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey tapped Vornado and Ruben to develop a tower above the terminal. But the market downturn that followed the Sept. 11. 2001 terrorist attacks stalled the project. Vornado sued the Port Authority to keep control of the development. In late 2006, the stakeholders started working to resolve the lawsuit and restart the process.
Dubbed 20 Times Square because of its location near Manhattan’s famous crossroads, the Vornado/Ruben project would join several other premiere Midtown projects that are planned or under way. By 2009, SJP Properties intends to open 11 Times Square, a 40-story, 1.1 million-square-foot speculative office tower that will rise at Eighth Avenue and 42nd Street near the bus terminal.
This month the New York Times Co. and Forest City Ratner Cos. officially marked the opening of yet another neighbor for the terminal: the 52-story, 1.5 million-square-foot New York Times Building at Eighth Avenue between 40th and 41st Streets. A few blocks east of Times Square, the 2.2-million-square-foot, 54-story Bank of America Tower is scheduled to at Sixth Avenue between 42nd and 43rd Street is scheduled to open in early 2008.
Developers intend these massive projects to feed the hunger for office space located near Midtown Manhattan’s transportation hubs. Despite slowing leasing velocity, Midtown office space remains exceptionally tight, as vacancy dipped to 5.7 percent in the third quarter, according to Cushman & Wakefield Inc. The firm represented the Port Authority in its negotiations with the developers.
By: Paul Rosta, Senior Associate Editor
Midtown Manhattan’s office market got a shot in the arm today as developers and state officials disclosed a deal that will pave the way for a 1.3 million-square-foot trophy tower above the Port Authority Bus Terminal on the borough’s West Side.
A joint venture of Vornado Realty Trust and the Ruben Cos. will pay some $500 million for a 99-year air rights lease above the north wing of the Port Authority Bus Terminal at 42nd Street and Eighth Ave. As early as 2009, Vornado and Ruben will start four years of construction on the project. The developers did not immediately provide an estimate of construction costs, but comparable Manhattan projects generally typically require investments upwards of $1 billion.
Today’s deal represents a milestone for the long-awaited project, which dates back to 1999. That year, the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey tapped Vornado and Ruben to develop a tower above the terminal. But the market downturn that followed the Sept. 11. 2001 terrorist attacks stalled the project. Vornado sued the Port Authority to keep control of the development. In late 2006, the stakeholders started working to resolve the lawsuit and restart the process.
Dubbed 20 Times Square because of its location near Manhattan’s famous crossroads, the Vornado/Ruben project would join several other premiere Midtown projects that are planned or under way. By 2009, SJP Properties intends to open 11 Times Square, a 40-story, 1.1 million-square-foot speculative office tower that will rise at Eighth Avenue and 42nd Street near the bus terminal.
This month the New York Times Co. and Forest City Ratner Cos. officially marked the opening of yet another neighbor for the terminal: the 52-story, 1.5 million-square-foot New York Times Building at Eighth Avenue between 40th and 41st Streets. A few blocks east of Times Square, the 2.2-million-square-foot, 54-story Bank of America Tower is scheduled to at Sixth Avenue between 42nd and 43rd Street is scheduled to open in early 2008.
Developers intend these massive projects to feed the hunger for office space located near Midtown Manhattan’s transportation hubs. Despite slowing leasing velocity, Midtown office space remains exceptionally tight, as vacancy dipped to 5.7 percent in the third quarter, according to Cushman & Wakefield Inc. The firm represented the Port Authority in its negotiations with the developers.
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