[NYguy]

http://therealdeal.com/2016/05/03/vo...n-station-bid/

Vornado partners with Related, Skanska on Moynihan bid




May 03, 2016
By Rey Mashayekhi

Vornado Realty Trust is teaming with the Related Companies and Swedish construction giant Skanska on a bid to redevelop the James A. Farley Post Office Building, Vornado chair and CEO Steven Roth said Tuesday.

Speaking on the real estate investment trust’s first-quarter earnings call, Roth said Vornado submitted two “comprehensive proposals” to the state last month for the long-promised transformations of both Penn Station and the adjacent Farley Building.

While Vornado partnered with Related and Skanksa on the Farley building proposal — also known as the Moynihan Station project — the company submitted its plan for Penn Station “on our own,” Roth added.

Vornado is the largest commercial landlord in the area surrounding North America’s busiest train station. The REIT owns roughly 9 million square feet of space in the Penn Plaza area surrounding Penn Station, with Roth referring to the neighborhood as “Vornado’s big kahuna.”

The team of Vornado, Related and Skanska are already involved in the first phase of the Farley Building’s redevelopment, entailing underground work that is already underway. Vornado and Related were previously selected by the state in 2005 to helm a Penn Station redevelopment. Though setbacks knocked that project off course, revitalizing the train station and its surrounding area is a key part of Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s agenda.

David Greenbaum, president of the company’s New York division, said Vornado believes it “can play an important role in the transformation of this area into the gateway that New York deserves,” and “welcome[s] Gov. Cuomo’s focus” on the Penn Station and Farley Building redevelopments.