NEW YORK | 484 Eighth Ave | 441 FT | 38 FLOORS

[ChiND]

Originally Posted by NYguy

How dare you. I sometimes stop into that McDonald’s, and I am no miscreant. But 8th Ave overall is the last bit of ungentrified Midtown. It’s like a slice of the 80’s in real time. You can, and probably will see anything. I’m ok with that. It’s part of being in the big city.

That being said, Vornado will most certainly add the McDs to its site for development. But not to worry, the White Castle up the block will remain.

I worked near there for a year or so, and as I recall, there was (and still may be) a meth clinic nearby. A lot of its “customers” hung out in that McD.

9 14 49 33 50

[ChiND]

Hopefully, they can acquire 494 8th also.




Loopnet


9 14 49 33 50

[38 Geary]

A single story McDonalds in the heart of midtown Manhattan is diabolical.

[Busy Bee]

What REALLY needs to happen is for the developer to acquire 257-263 W 34 St (pictured above with the adorable face made from streetlights on its side) so this new corner development can be designed to mask the awful cantilevered 255 W 34 St next door. That would-be ideal and would go a long way in repairing the urban fabric.

[ChiND]

Originally Posted by Busy Bee

What REALLY needs to happen is for the developer to acquire 257-263 W 34 St (pictured above with the adorable face made from streetlights on its side) so this new corner development can be designed to mask the awful cantilevered 255 W 34 St next door. That would-be ideal and would go a long way in repairing the urban fabric.

I recall researching the ownership on ACRIS a very long time ago and am fairly sure that Vornado owns that little glass box that it built but never did anything with.


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[The New York Lion]

Hopefully the addition of the McDonald's bumps this up over 441'.

Once this area is cleaned up, it will visually merge Hudson Yards with Midtown.

It will be an incredible forest of skyscrapers unlike anything the world has ever known.

Now we just need to rezone HK.

[Busy Bee]

Originally Posted by ChiND

I recall researching the ownership on ACRIS a very long time ago and am fairly sure that Vornado owns that little glass box that it built but never did anything with.

12 Penn Plaza

I don't believe Vormado owns it. If they did it would already be part of this assemblage. Not only that it's only about 7 years old, not that that means it couldn't be knocked down if the price was right, and the price from Vornado might be right considering it was reportadly built for $90 million (seems really high) and sold for less than $20 million 3 years ago. So considering the original owner lost their shirt and the next owner got a deal, maybe Vornado snags it for another $10-20 million.

It also depends on how much of the lot they could build on considering the ridiculous air rights situation with 255 W.

https://rentnyoffice.com/12-penn-plaza/

https://nyc.marketproof.com/article/offi...-at-12-penn-plaza-10001-on-sep-25th-2023

[ChiND]

I’ll look at ACRIS later.


9 14 49 33 50

[NYguy]

Originally Posted by ChiND

I worked near there for a year or so, and as I recall, there was (and still may be) a meth clinic nearby. A lot of its “customers” hung out in that McD.

What, so they shouldn't eat? I've only seen "normal" people in that McDonald's. It hardly matters though. Another McD's will likely replace that one when it closes.

Meanwhile, the new tower progresses...



https://www.crainsnewyork.com/real-estat...-buys-mcdonalds-for-12-million-20260325/

Vornado gobbles up McDonald’s, air rights near Penn Station


By
C. J. Hughes
March 25, 2026

Vornado Realty Trust’s large apartment tower planned by Penn Station could potentially be getting even larger.

Over the last few weeks the developer has inked a series of deals near the corner of Eighth Avenue and West 34th Street that could give it tens of thousands of additional square feet for a high-rise planned at the site.

In the most high-profile transaction of the bunch, Vornado gobbled up a longtime and occasionally troubled McDonald’s restaurant for $12 million, according to a deed that appeared in the city register Tuesday. The 9,400-square-foot structure between West 34th and West 35th streets went into contact and closed the same day, March 19, the register shows.

Home to a movie theater in the early 20th century, the current one-story structure on the site was built in 1975, tax records indicate. It’s not clear when McDonald’s arrived in the building, and the Chicago-based company did not return an email for comment by press time.

But McDonald’s bought the property for an unknown price in 1987, according to the register.

The 47-foot-wide parcel is adjacent to Vornado’s development site, a nine-lot assemblage the firm has put together over the past decade.

The McDonald’s property, part of a dense and bustling neighborhood, can accommodate a 325-foot tall spire and possibly an even taller one if affordable housing is included, based on current zoning.

The fast-food chain has close to 200 locations in the city and does not seem to be planning to turn off its fryers for good.

Documents filed in the register in tandem with the sale suggest the restaurant will be a tenant of Vornado’s going forward and also be guaranteed a retail berth in whatever Vornado builds at the site.

Vornado, led by chair and CEO Steve Roth, also recently picked up nearly 66,000 square feet of air rights from a pair of properties that abut its development site. The firm snagged 31,000 square feet atop 260 W. 35th St. for $4.4 million and another 34,200 square feet over next-door 254 W. 35th St. for $4.8 million, according to Albert Sultan, the broker with the firm KSR who handled the deals for the sellers. Both sales closed March 18, he said.

The Haddad family sold the rights at 260 W. 35th, and the Cayre family was the seller at 254 W. 35th, according to the register.

In September Vornado told investors it planned to spend $350 million to construct a 475-unit tower at the corner, which faces the Madison Square Garden-Penn Station complex. It was unclear how the trio of recent deals factor into that plan. A Vornado spokesman declined to comment.

This bit for ChiND

Vornado’s new McDonald’s is infamous for rowdy behavior. For years the site was beset by drug-dealing, drug usage and drinking, based on numerous news reports. One patron lit a fire inside in 2018, while a customer stabbed another in 2021, the reports show.

[The New York Lion]

Originally Posted by NYguy

What, so they shouldn't eat? I've only seen "normal" people in that McDonald's. It hardly matters though. Another McD's will likely replace that one when it closes.

What is your go-to order at McDonald's, NYguy?

My typical order: Fish sandwich w cheese/ketchup only, 10 McNuggets, french fry, large Coke.

[NYguy]

Originally Posted by The New York Lion

What is your go-to order at McDonald's, NYguy?

My typical order: Fish sandwich w cheese/ketchup only, 10 McNuggets, french fry, large Coke.

A variation on burger and fries. Had a Big Arch earlier. (From a different McDs)




MARCH 28, 2026

[NYguy]

I've had enough of these types of facades. I would prefer a plain, glass box to this. But it's probably conceptual at this point.

[Busy Bee]

The setback looks stupid of course.

I don't get it. Why would the zoning for a wide avenue/wide street corner lot force a required setback? God this 1961 zoning has got to get updated. The same code is what produced that setback cantilevered abortion next door.


Why is this residential again and not office? Seems crazy to waste a big corner lot a block from Penn on a modest apartment building.

[NYguy]

Demo permits have been filed for the McDonald’s.

[ChiND]

Originally Posted by NYguy

Demo permits have been filed for the McDonald’s.

I'm elated that that junk is finally coming down.

[NYguy]

[NYguy]

https://www.crainsnewyork.com/real-estat...nado-penn-station-tower-subway-20260818/

Vornado plans to move Penn Station subway entrance into massive new apartment tower





By Julianne Cuba
August 18, 2026

Vornado Realty Trust is looking to relocate one of the entrances for a Penn Station subway stop into the mixed-use tower it plans to build across from Madison Square Garden, records show.

[NYguy]

https://www.ourtownny.com/news/vornado-s...-for-new-penn-station-entrance-HD6126449

Vornado Seeks Zoning Exceptions for New Penn Station Entrance
The developer plans to move the A/C/E entrance into its 38-story tower at 484 Eighth Ave., near Madison Square Garden, with shorter landings and more steps between them than city rules ordinarily allow.


MADELEINE FARR
20 AUG 2026

Vornado Realty Trust is moving to incorporate a 34th Street–Penn Station entryway into its planned mixed-use development at 484 8th Ave. Department of City Planning (DCP) records indicate that Vornado Development Director Morgan Mann filed the application on Aug. 18.

Obtaining approval to move the entryway itself isn’t Vornado’s obstacle. On the contrary, city zoning regulations require that developments adjacent to subway entrances – like the tower Vornado is constructing, which exceeds the 5,000 square-foot lot area threshold – relocate those entrances from the sidewalk onto the development’s property.

The real estate giant is proposing that the Chairperson of the City Planning Commission waive two standard requirements in reconstructing the entrance: landing length and the number of steps allowed between landings.

The application, found in the DCP’s application portal, proposes that passengers would enter directly from West 34th Street into an open, doorless entrance incorporated into Vornado’s planned 484 8th Ave. development. The old sidewalk entrance would be demolished and sealed.

The proposed entrance would include a 10-foot-wide stair with 10-by-10-foot landings at street and mezzanine levels. Its first flight would contain 17 steps before turning to connect with the existing station mezzanine. Existing rules dictate that there may be no more than 14 steps between landings in relocated entrances, and that landings must be at least eight feet wide and 15 feet long.

Vornado argues in their application materials that the shorter landings would avoid unnecessary walking and align with MTA guidelines. It says limiting the stair to 14 consecutive steps would require another landing and three-step flight, creating a tighter layout that could conflict with MTA headroom requirements.

Currently, the lot next to the station entrance is vacant. Vornado demolished the mixed-use buildings that formerly stood in the lot nearly a decade ago; it also purchased the adjacent lot (490 Eighth Ave., currently occupied by a McDonald’s) in March 2026 to demolish as well in preparation for the new development at 484 8th Ave., according to Crain’s.

The proposed tower is a 38-story, mixed-use development, planned to hold 481 residential units as well as ground floor commercial and retail spaces, according to the project description found in the application portal. 121 residential units are set to be “affordable,” the threshold for which remains unclear.

Hundreds of thousands of New Yorkers pass through the area surrounding the stop – and its 16 entrances – every day. Madison Square Garden, Penn Station, and the Empire State Building are just a few of New York’s most popular destinations for workers and tourists alike, all close to and easily visible from the proposed development site.

[NYguy]