NEW YORK | 20 Times Square - Port Authority Bus Terminal Tower | 855 FT | 42 FLOORS

[colemonkee]

^ oh man, did you wander into the wrong place...

[NYguy]

Originally Posted by Theoryg

I think NYC has gone to far and should leave the West Side open from such big buildings so someone can get some air. I think NY has enough buildings by far for now. I mean couldnt the city use the funds in another way especially now.
I hope it doesnt get built-

You want air? Go to Kansas. And no, the city isn't building any office towers.

[Crawford]

Originally Posted by Theoryg

I think NYC has gone to far and should leave the West Side open from such big buildings so someone can get some air. I think NY has enough buildings by far for now. I mean couldnt the city use the funds in another way especially now.
I hope it doesnt get built-

How exactly would you get "less air" if a building were built? Highrises don't block air from reaching your lungs...

The city isn't building this building; it's a private developer.

And if you are so concerned about city funds you would SUPPORT this building, because it would obviously add thousands of construction and permanent jobs, and tens of millions in annual tax revenue.

NYC's primary funding source is the commmercial tax, which is assessed to office and other commercial buildings.

[antinimby]

Theoryg is obviously a troll and you all took his bait.

[NYguy]

Originally Posted by antinimby

Theoryg is obviously a troll and you all took his bait.

Obviously. Anyone who wants to post such nonsense on a skyscraper forum will get a similar response. Nothing shocking.

[lakegz]

what ever happened to this one?

[Dac150]

No news is sometimes good news

[Rail>Auto]

Like the design a lot! It seems like all skyscraper competitions in NY come down to Related, Vornado, Brookfield, and Silverstein.

[Dac150]

Vornado, Brookfield, Extell & Related are for the most part your New York City ‘heavy hitter’ developers. All of which operate and own outside the city as well.

[NYguy]

Originally Posted by lakegz

what ever happened to this one?

Was put on hold by Vornado due to the financial crisis.

[NYguy]

http://www.nypost.com/p/news/busines...ohlUnoBAoHqbcN

Paul Weiss passes up terminal lease for renewal

By LOIS WEISS
November 25, 2009


West Side law firm Paul Weiss Rifkind Garrison & Wharton, which holds down a chunk of 1285 Avenue of the Americas, has decided to expand there to 550,000 feet rather than anchor a new Port Authority Bus Terminal tower.

The 15-year renewal lease was the talk of several real estate gatherings last week. On Thursday night, for instance, real estate partner Meredith Kane was lauded at the WX dinner by her Harvard Law School chums, Jennifer Raab, head of Hunter College, and State Senator Eric Schneiderman.

The mega law firm is the largest tenant in the 1.47-million-foot tower -- still known as the Paine Webber Building -- and has a lease that ends in 2010. Last year, renovations won 1285 a LEED silver designation.

"Certainly the level of confidence we and our landlord had to be able to do this deal clearly established values," said Kane, referring us to partner Steve Simkin for further comment. Simkin didn't return a call.

Moshe Sukenik and Barry Gosin of Newmark Knight Frank are representing the attorneys and declined comment. A year ago, the law firm was negotiating to become the anchor tenant for a new Port Authority Bus Terminal tower proposed by Vornado Realty Trust. This new deal gives the law firm two more floors.

While the lease at 1285 is not yet signed, the decision to renew is a good one for the city and the economy, noted Bill Rudin, speaking at the Real Estate Board of New York's luncheon last Tuesday.

[NYC4Life]

Hopefully the PA tower will move foward with a new anchor tenant.

[NYguy]

http://www.observer.com/2010/real-es...al-tower-again

Vornado Given More Time—Again—to Build Bus Terminal Tower



By Eliot Brown
May 18, 2010

It's now been more than a decade since Steven Roth and his Vornado Realty Trust first won a bid to develop an office tower atop midtown's Port Authority Bus Terminal.

Like many a large public/private project, the deal has been subject to the whims of the real estate market and, for the second time in two cycles, has been relegated to indefinite stagnation, with no tenants in sight.

At the Port Authority's Tuesday board meeting, Vornado, in a partnership with Lawrence Ruben, was given another extension on its exclusive development agreement with the Port Authority, bringing the next expiration date to August 2011.

The Port Authority first gave Vornado an extension in 2008 on the 1.3 million-square-foot tower, a time by which the agency had hoped to be moving forward on the projcet, which was to bring it $500 million.

But the lack of a tenant and any real prospect of developing the building pushed the deal off. At one point, the Port Authority had hoped to get Vornado to agree to invest in the retail at the terminal, but that apparently did not come to fruition. In the deal announced Tuesday, Vornado would manage the retail for a fee. In exchange, the agency said, it would extend Vornado's development option.

From the language of the resolution approved Tuesday by the board:

In exchange for 20X Square's participation as the retail manager, the Port Authority would extend the North Wing exclusivity period for the development of an office tower. Since the execution of the Exclusivity Agreement, 20X Square has developed a familiarity with the PABT and its operations, and would therefore need less time to move forward with the air rights development project when the real estate market recovers.

The building planned for the site was to be a Richard Rogers-designed slender office tower, with a skylobby over the bus terminal and elevators on the exterior of the building, not in the center (Mr. Roth has said this would provide the benefit of a large open floorplate).

[Dac150]

However long it takes. With many big leases up throughout the city over the next few years, Vornado is bound to get a few bites on this one.

[SkyscrapersOfNewYork]

ive always hated this design they can definately do better....but none the less i hope something beautiful gets built

[Dac150]

The design actually fits the revitalized persona of the area quite well. It’s a little quirky yet bold and lively.

[Onn]

I'm for a new design, it looks both dated and European.

[SkyscrapersOfNewYork]

Originally Posted by Dac150

The design actually fits the revitalized persona of the area quite well. It’s a little quirky yet bold and lively.

idk i just dont think the Times of 11 times square will work well with it.

[NYguy]

Originally Posted by SkyscrapersOfNewYork

idk i just dont think the Times of 11 times square will work well with it.

The question is whether it will work better with the bus terminal rather than the surrounding towers. The NY Times tower is very different from everything else, this one will be as well (although it does remind me a little of Chase Manhattan Plaza downtown). I remember hating the proposal for the Hearst tower before it was built. I didn't think it would work well at all with the base. Now I see it as one of the best of the last decade.

[Busy Bee]

I think we should know from experience that a long held up project, once ground is broken, is often possessing a different design than in original renderings.