[NYguy]

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/g/a/2012/01/04/bloomberg_articlesLXADQO07SXKX.DTL

Cuomo Calls for Biggest U.S. Convention Center in New York City

Esmé E. Deprez
January 4, 2012

New York Governor Andrew Cuomo called for building a 3.8 million-square-foot convention center, the largest in the U.S., in the New York City borough of Queens.

The center, which would be bigger than McCormick Place in Chicago, would be built at Aqueduct Racetrack in a joint venture with the Kuala Lumpur-based gambling company Genting Bhd., Cuomo said today in remarks prepared for his State of the State speech in Albany, the capital. The $4 billion "private investment" would also include as many as 3,000 hotel rooms, he said.

Cuomo, a 54-year-old Democrat beginning his second year, said the center would allow the state to turn the Jacob Javits Convention Center into a mixed-use facility to help revitalize the far west side of Manhattan. The Javits Center is "obsolete and not large enough to be a top-tier competitor in today's marketplace," he said.

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http://www.crainsnewyork.com/article/20120104/POLITICS/120109978/1072

Cuomo wants nation's biggest convention center



By Jeremy Smerd
January 4, 2012

Razing the Javits Center would leave a multi-block, $4 billion piece of waterfront property that could be parceled off and developed alongside Related Cos.' planned Hudson Yards project and the redevelopment of the Farley Post Office into Moynihan Station. The redevelopment of Javits will be modeled after Battery Park City, where the state leases the land to developers in exchange for a percentage of their rental income. Revenue for the state would increase along with apartment values.

Economic development officials had considered Willets Point, Queens, a possible site for a new convention center because of its proximity to La Guardia Airport and infrastructure improvements that are already underway. But the Aqueduct Racetrack site in Queens has clear advantages, too: Genting could build a convention center on one story and, perhaps most importantly, finance it.

"Genting Americas is extremely excited about this opportunity to partner with Gov. Cuomo to build the largest convention center in the country,” said Christian Goode, the company's senior vice president for development. “It's a great time to invest and grow in New York, and we are thrilled to be able to play a role in creating jobs and increasing tourism."

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http://www.scribd.com/doc/77151117/SOS-Book

(page 9)

We Will Master Plan the Javits Convention Center Site

We can then master plan the 18-acre Jacob Javits Convention Center site as a mixed-use facility to revitalize New York City’s West Side. We will follow the highly successful Battery Park City model, which has resulted in housing, hotels, museums, and over 10 million square feet of Class A office space. As part of the redevelopment, we will explore options for serving the needs of smaller and medium sized trade shows at the Javits site or elsewhere onthe West Side of Manhattan. We estimate over $2 billion in private sector development increating a new 21st century neighborhood for the West Side.To put it in perspective, the Javits Center site is larger thanthe World Trade Center and the United Nations. This will complement the development at Hudson Yards andMoynihan Station.