NEW YORK | Empire Station District | 9 Towers (18-20 msf)| FT | FLOORS

[ChiND]

Originally Posted by HyperPower

The day Madison Square Garden is torn down and we actually get a real Penn Station will be one of the greatest days in New York City history. Let it begin!

I concur. Imagine how valuable the vile, filthy dreck on 31st St west of 8th suddenly would be. Gorgeous residential towers, hotels, and offices would replace that Gahenna-caliber junk.


Ourtownny.com

[NYguy]

Originally Posted by HyperPower

The day Madison Square Garden is torn down and we actually get a real Penn Station will be one of the greatest days in New York City history. Let it begin!

Dream on. That isn't a real plan, and they aren't even pretending to give you a real Penn Station, but a park where the bulk of the station is supposed to be. Not gonna happen, especially with the air rights involved.

[NYguy]

Now, back to the plan we have, there's often talk from the NIMBYs about "destroying" and "demolishing" a whole neighborhood. That's absurd. Although, the have been times when such a thing was necessary. For example, neighborhoods were demolished for things like the Brooklyn Bridge, and Central Park. Penn Station, which connects the city with the rest of America, has more importance to the city than these sites we will look over.









Site 1 can be developed with 1 or 2 buildings, both smaller midrise residential/hotel buildings. No great loss here...


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Site 2, which would probably be considered the most controversial because it's the only full block to be demolished (other than Vornado's) and contains a church. It would be replace by two large office towers, with a large plaza in between, and a new train hall.


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Site 3 contains another hotel, one that was housing migrants but may be converted to residential.



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And now we get to the Vornado sites. Vornado is the only name that comes up when people reference this plan, because they think the entire thing will be Vornado. That's not the case.

Here we have site 4, the former Duane Reade site. Vornado has said it would start here first, with a residential building.



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Site 5, which is pretty much the same as site 4.



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And more of the same on site 6, lowrise retail waiting to be demolished and replaced with development. Sorry Kathy.



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Not much to say about site 7. Everyone is familiar enough with the former Hotel Pennsylvania site and 15 Penn.



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And finally site 8, the Manhattan Mall site, which may be replaced with an office tower. If Vornado decides on residential, it would be built above this building.



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[ChiND]

Every time I walk through this area, I think it’s vile and yet, has so much potential.

NY deserves an $8b infusion of federal funds to fix this mess.

Also, I think that MSG has about 1.5m sf of unused air rights that should be transferred to Vornado to use at any of its Penn area sites.

Finally, if they can double the number of trains by moving the World’s Most Disgusting Arena, then MSG should come down. Indeed, despite the $1b renovation, MSG is a dump. I usually enter on 8th Ave., and I feel like Dante descending into Hell. It is beyond cavil that NY is the best city in the U.S. BY FAR, and we deserve something better than modern-day Tartarus.









Ben Fractenberg/The City

[HyperPower]

Originally Posted by ChiND

Every time I walk through this area, I think it’s vile and yet, has so much potential.

NY deserves an $8b infusion of federal funds to fix this mess.

Also, I think that MSG has about 1.5m sf of unused air rights that should be transferred to Vornado to use at any of its Penn area sites.

Finally, if they can double the number of trains by moving the World’s Most Disgusting Arena, then MSG should come down. Indeed, despite the $1b renovation, MSG is a dump. I usually enter on 8th Ave., and I feel like Dante descending into Hell. It is beyond cavil that NY is the best city in the U.S. BY FAR, and we deserve something better than modern-day Tartarus.

MSG VP signals willingness to relocate the Garden

Back in Feb 23
https://nypost.com/2023/02/25/madison-square-garden-willing-to-relocate-across-street-official/

Many believe even Dolan wants to move and get a new arena on site 7 aka Hotel Penn along with the crutter next to Macy's. He can easily sell the air rights to Vornado use those funds and then obviously a Federal infusion to build a new Penn station & new MSG. How much longer does that arena have left 5 -10 years?! its the oldest and most dingy in the country today.

Even Brookfield Properties whom are anticipating the completion of the second phase of Hudson Yards wants a new Penn station.

[NYguy]

https://www.crainsnewyork.com/real-estat...-teases-strategy-shift-toward-apartments

Office powerhouse Vornado teases strategy shift toward apartments


AARON ELSTEIN
April 9, 2025

Vornado Realty Trust is ready to sell office towers and use the money to build apartments, a strategy shift likely to be cheered by those pushing for more housing around Penn Station.
“People really want to live in New York. There is a major shortage of apartments in New York,” CEO Steven Roth said in his annual letter to shareholders released late Tuesday. “So why aren’t we building some apartments? A very good question.”

Roth’s enthusiasm for residential development suggests he may be coming around to a proposal from Assemblyman Tony Simone to develop more high-rise housing around Penn Station. That proposal would scale back what Roth called his “promised land” – a plan to build around 18 million square feet of supertall office towers in the neighborhood, effectively another Hudson Yards. A spokesman for Roth had no immediate comment.

Vornado is New York’s second-largest commercial landlord, and most of the firm’s 20 million square-foot portfolio is Midtown office towers, including Penn 1 and 1290 Sixth Ave. The firm also developed the supertall apartment tower at 220 Central Park South and reaped $3.3 billion in proceeds from selling the units.

Roth said in his letter that there are no “sacred cows” in his portfolio and he would consider selling some but not all of his Manhattan office and retail space. He said he had a “short dialogue” with a potential bidder for an office tower in San Francisco. Two years ago he indicated he would sell a stake in the Farley Building, home to Meta Platforms.

He said in his letter that apartment buildings cost less to build and maintain than office towers, which he described as “capital hogs.”

[NYguy]

https://therealdeal.com/new-york/2025/04...ted-by-andrew-cuomo-is-still-standing-2/

The block Cuomo tried to flatten is still standing
Why West 31st Street has outlasted NY’s governors


By Erik Engquist
April 16, 2025

For developers, buying and bulldozing properties to build something better takes cunning, creativity and cash. Gary Barnett is adept at it, and he has lots of company. Al Laboz, for example, has been assembling a Downtown Brooklyn site since 1996.

Politicians don’t have that kind of patience; their next election is never more than a few years away. The government, however, can use eminent domain to purchase properties for fair market value even if the owners don’t want to sell.

That makes the story of Block 780, across West 31st Street from Penn Station, quite interesting.

When the Cuomo administration in 2019 planned to buy it to build a train terminal with tracks below, I had The Real Deal’s research desk create a spreadsheet about the properties. The idea was to write a David-versus-Goliath feature about old-school building owners battling a powerful governor.

All the transit agencies involved remain hopeful that a Penn Station extension will eventually be built, allowing the new and old tunnels to be used to their full potential. That has not been lost on the owners of Block 780, who have been lying low but keeping their lawyers’ numbers handy.

….. the flattening of Block 780 for a south terminal might yet happen. The extended pause has bought time for through-running advocates to build support for their idea, which they have been doing with events, policy papers and press releases. A recent one unveiled a new design by Alexandros Washburn to move Madison Square Garden and create a gorgeous green space.
Former Silverstein Properties executive Janno Lieber, who now runs the MTA, has been trying to stop the activists in their tracks. And now their old foe, Cuomo, is poised to return as mayor. He wouldn’t have the pull he had as governor, but could still give the terminal project a boost.

Somehow, the writer of this piece seems oblivious to the fact that there is nothing the state will or can do until the federal environmental review gives the go ahead.

[NYguy]

https://commercialobserver.com/2025/04/trump-pennsylvania-station-renovation-mta-sean-duffy/


BY MARK HALLUM
APRIL 17, 2025

Under the premise that it would execute the long-deferred overhaul of the nation’s largest transit hub with greater efficiency, the Trump administration’s Secretary of Transportation Sean Duffy announced late Thursday it was withdrawing the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) from leading the reconstruction effort of Penn Station, claiming cost overruns, and replacing the agency with Amtrak as the project lead.

[NYguy]

https://nypost.com/2025/04/17/us-news/tr...ts-feds-in-charge-blank-checks-are-over/

By Vaughn Golden and Matt Troutman
April 17, 2025

Amtrak will spearhead the revamp as the feds champion a “public-private partnership model,” announced Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy.

Gov. Kathy Hochul had been engaged in tense face-to-face talks with Trump over Penn Station — and recently even floated the idea of renaming the nearby Moynihan Train Hall after him as a way to ingratiate herself with the real estate magnate-turned-president, The Post reported.

Hochul hailed it as a win for the Empire State.

“In multiple meetings with President Trump, I requested that the federal government fund the long-overdue overhaul of Penn Station. Clearly that effort has been successful, and I want to thank the President and Secretary Duffy for taking on the sole responsibility to deliver the beautiful new $7 billion station that New Yorkers deserve,” she said in a statement.

[NYguy]

Vornado has gone back to the bridge plan for 1 & 2 Penn...

[NYguy]

You can't make it up.


https://gothamist.com/news/federal-takeo...trojan-horse-for-new-midtown-skyscrapers

Federal takeover of Penn Station could be Trojan horse for new Midtown skyscrapers


By Stephen Nessen
Nov 14, 2025

In a notice to potential builders, the national railroad wrote it’s open to proposals that would extend the redevelopment “outside of the station and/or Amtrak’s property boundaries.”

That leaves open the door for a developer to erect new buildings in the neighborhood to help cover part of the cost to overhaul the beleaguered train hall.

The notice seems to contradict recent comments from U.S. Department of Transportation officials, who promised the Penn Station rebuild would be contained within the existing footprint. For years, Manhattan residents have protested plans to overhaul the entire neighborhood as part of the project.

On a call with investors last week, Vornado CEO Steven Roth said the company’s leases this year have skyrocketed to the highest in a decade and the second highest on record. He reported “the Penn District will be a growth engine for our company for years to come, with rising rents and future development projects.”

Roth also said Vornado planned to work with a builder on a pitch for the Penn Station rebuild.

“We will be involved in the process with one of the bidding groups, primarily with respect to the retail that we dominate in the station and in the surround[ing area],” he said.

“I think people who live in the area, including on the residential and commercial block just south, should still be concerned that we've only moved the possibility of a land seizure by the state to a land seizure by the federal government,” Gelinas wrote in an email. “There is a risk of federal eminent domain to fund some of this — e.g. that Trump sees this through Vornado's eyes as an above-ground urban renewal project and not a modest underground train station project.”

New office space near Penn could also undercut other major construction plans elsewhere in Manhattan, said Steve Cohen, a former Port Authority vice chair who also oversaw the construction of Moynihan Train Hall as head of the state’s Empire State Development nonprofit.

Cohen pointed out the Port Authority is seeking to finance the rebuild of its Midtown Bus Terminal with fees on new skyscrapers in the area. He wasn’t sure there was enough demand for new office space near Penn Station and the bus terminal only seven blocks north.

“Somebody should look at what the impact of that is going to be on the real estate market and also in terms of the impact on infrastructure,” said Cohen. “It becomes a potential for there to be a bit of a mess or something that just doesn't work together as a series of projects.”

[NYguy]

Small slice of land recently changed hands, in the heart of the Penn District. It would be part of the assemblage for site 6.








https://www.crainsnewyork.com/real-estate/o5-group-buys-425-seventh-ave-30m

Fashion firm snaps up Penn Station pizzeria for $30M





C. J. Hughes
November 20, 2025

The firm O5 Group bought 425 Seventh Ave., home to a 1,200 square-foot slice joint called Rose’s Pizza, from United Pacific Development for $30 million, according to a deed that appeared in the city register Wednesday.

The deal, which closed Nov. 6, was completed in cash, the register shows.

But the hefty sum for the site, which is across from Penn Station, may also be explained by a billboard that spans No. 425’s three upper stories, signage that conceals the floors with shimmering digital ads for beer, boots and software. In fact the $30 million price equals what a firm shelled out in 2019 for the building’s nearly identical next-door neighbor, 427 Seventh, which is also mostly covered with an electronic billboard, based on the register.

The mega-developer Vornado Realty Trust controls much of the Penn Station area, including 433 Seventh, a few doors down from No. 425 on the corner of West 34th St., which was home to a Forever 21 store until its parent company went bankrupt earlier this year. But small landlords have also hung on to some of the neighborhood’s smaller sites, some of which have been battling persistent vacancies.

[streetscaper]

Nooooo, that's one of my fave go-to pizzerias on the way home from work

At least there's another Rose's mere feet away in the new LIRR concourse in Penn Station, but it's significantly more expensive.

[NYguy]

Originally Posted by streetscaper

Nooooo, that's one of my fave go-to pizzerias on the way home from work

At least there's another Rose's mere feet away in the new LIRR concourse in Penn Station, but it's significantly more expensive.

Yeah, their longtime home was inside Penn Station (at one point there were 2). The good news is that they've returned, and the pizza is still great. I never got any from the outside location. There's another pizza joint opening (or open) at the former Modell's site across the street.

[NYguy]

The pedestrian bridge/connection over Plaza 33 is now before the Design Commission...



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[NYguy]

https://www.westsidespirit.com/news/byfo...ssage-for-penn-station-rebuild-NL5379483

Byford Sounds Affordability Message for Penn Station Rebuild


Dec 15, 2025

……. in his request for letters of interest in redeveloping Penn Station, Byford asked potential master developers to include any proposals they have for building outside of the property lines of Penn Station itself.

He hasn’t explained yet whether he would execute such projects through the GPP or use federal condemnation powers. Vornado, the largest private property owner in the neighborhood, has recently renewed talk of the luxury office tower it wants to build under the GPP, across Seventh Avenue from Penn Station, the site of the former Pennsylvania Hotel, which Vornado tore down.

Byford has said that proposals to tear down the block immediately south of the station, known by its tax code, Block 780, to make room for more tracks are “on hold” pending a review of how the railroads could operate more efficiently within the present footprint.

But he told the neighborhood leaders at the Christmas party that it wasn’t within his power to restrain all development around the station.

“My honest answer is, personally, I can’t prevent that,” he explained to a resident who asked if he could halt destruction not only of Block 780 but of other parts of the neighborhood. “I think the community is better placed to do that.”

He noted that the “base scope” of the project was transforming Penn Station, including its Service Building on the south side of 31st street, the last remnant of the original McKim Mead and White station

“But people may wish to talk to us about some areas outside of the base scope, so maybe some developmental opportunities,” he added. “But so you know, being bluntly honest with you, I can’t stop that. Your local elected official will be the best person. But certainly, you know my views. I’m a massive advocate and a lover of this city precisely because it doesn’t look like everywhere else. We don’t want Houston on the Hudson.”

[mrnyc]

i vote no arch.

its just something xtra to maintain.

[NYguy]

Originally Posted by mrnyc

i vote no arch.

its just something xtra to maintain.

Lol. It looks better, but it may be the nore expensive version. That means they probably will go without it.

[NYguy]

Vornado, which controls all of the retail in both Penn Station proper, and Moynihan train hall, as well as most of the surrounding area has jumped on the Halmer plan.

[NYguy]

https://investors.vno.com/news-releases/...engages-newmark-next-phase-penn-district

Vornado Realty Trust Engages Newmark for Next Phase of THE PENN DISTRICT Retail Renaissance


February 2, 2026

The reinvention of Vornado’s retail holdings is a core component of its $2.5 billion revitalization of THE PENN DISTRICT campus. Over the past decade, Vornado has redeveloped more than 5 million square feet of Class A office space, introduced more than 300,000 square feet of inviting public plazas, and led a series of public-private partnerships to enhance the area’s transit infrastructure. In conjunction with these projects, Vornado has developed 1.1 million square feet of new retail throughout its PENN DISTRICT holdings.

The newly created space is now home to a wide array of retailers, including more than 70 curated food and beverage purveyors. Plaza 33, the newly landscaped pedestrian square, is populated with a series of standout restaurants including The Dynamo Room, Bar Primi and Blue Ribbon Sushi & Steak. At the new Moynihan Train Hall, Vornado has created a diverse dining scene anchored by Avra Estiatorio. Vornado also led the expansion and redevelopment of the Long Island Rail Road concourse, Penn Station’s main underground passageway, which is now fully lined with a mix of national and local dining options and retailers.

Vornado is now in the initial stages of creating a cohesive street-level retail experience along both sides of Seventh Avenue between 33rd and 34th Streets. Working with Newmark, Vornado will develop this corridor to complement its existing anchors, Macy’s and Primark’s 78,000 sf flagship store set to open this coming Spring. Newmark will also work with Vornado on its Moynihan Retail Corridor, which serves as the central spine of the Moynihan Train Hall.

“Through our redevelopment of THE PENN DISTRICT, we have thoughtfully curated a diverse blend of local and nationally owned restaurants, cafes and shops that offer something for all workers, residents, commuters and visitors who experience the neighborhood on a daily basis,” said Vornado Executive Vice President and Co-Head of Real Estate Glen Weiss.

“We have methodically remade THE PENN DISTRICT as a 24/7 neighborhood for every occasion and every taste. The success of our transformative work is evident across all corners of the neighborhood. In partnership with Mark and the Newmark team, we will make THE PENN DISTRICT retail environment New York’s next big event.”

“It is a privilege to partner with Chairman and CEO Steve Roth, Glen Weiss and the entire Vornado team – one of the most significant and visionary real estate owners not just in New York City, but across the continent – as we take on this extraordinary responsibility,” Mark Masinter said.

“With Madison Square Garden as the world’s premier venue, Penn Station as the western hemisphere’s busiest transit hub, and 34th Street and Seventh Avenue among the most active intersections in North America, the opportunity to help shape the future of THE PENN DISTRICT is a remarkable honor for Newmark to advise.”