"The cause of the impasse," the statement continued, "was Tishman Speyer's attempt to change a central deal term in an effort to postpone the closing on the Eastern Yard until the Western Yard was satisfactorily re-zoned. This demand changed the economics of the proposed deals and the certainty of payments to the MTA. The MTA remains committed to developing these unique and very valuable parcels of land."

The announcement comes only six weeks after the agency had selected Tishman Speyer, one of the city's major real estate concerns and owner of the Chrysler Building and Rockefeller Center, over four other ventures that had submitted bids to redevelop the 26-acre yards to the west of Penn Station with millions of square feet of office space and several thousand units of housing.

The design of the Tishman Speyer proposal by Helmut Jahn was widely criticized as the most unattractive. Morgan Stanley initially had been a partner in the proposal, but subsequently withdrew and an article in today's edition of The New York Times by Charles V. Bagli said that Tishman Speyer has been looking recently unsuccessfully for a major office tenant, adding that "Even two companies that had been allied with other bidders for the project, Cond¿ Nast Publications and the News Corporation, turned it down, according to real estate executives who were briefed on the negotiations."

Mr. Bagli's article also reported that the executives maintained that Tishman Speyer "also jettisoned its designs by the architect Helmut Jahn."

The yards are divided in two sections and the western half still requires a rezoning that has yet to begin to go through the city's Uniform Land Use Review Procedure.

An article by Brian Kates, Kirsten Danis and Leo Standora in today's edition of the Daily News said that "Tishman wanted to postpone closing on its lease for the site east of 11th Avenue between W. 30th and 33rd streets until the City Council rezones the western half of the property to its satisfaction." That article also quoted a MTA spokesman, Jeremy Soffin, as stating that Tishman Speyer no longer has development rights to the property. It also quoted Robert Lawson, a spokesman for Tishman Speyer that "we still hope to be able to complete this deal and reach an agreement that satisfies the needs of everyone."

The MTA yards project is the latest of several very large and very important ones on the West Side that are now in doubt. Madison Square Garden recently pulled out of a plan to relocate to the Farley Post Office and its participation had been required to permit the transfer of millions of square feet of development rights in the vicinity to a joint venture of the Related Companies and Vornado Realty Trust. At the same, architect Richard Rogers has reportedly withdrawn from participation in an expansion of the Javits Convention Center and funding for a second station for the extension of the 7 subway line west from Times Square does not exist.

Meanwhile, today Assemblyman Richard Brodsky announced a bill to create a new public authority similar to the one that oversees Battery Park City to take over the redevelopment of the yards by selling parcels to developers as they are ready.

Perkins Eastman is the architect.

The building will have 45 apartments.

The building is across the avenue from the recently completed, 21-story 110 Third Avenue apartment building on the former site of the historic Variety Arts Theater between 13th and 14th Streets.

Orange Management is also developing the 12-story apartment building at 22 Renwick Street between Greenwich and Hudson Streets that has been designed by Philip Johnson Alan Ritchie and Garrett Gourlay.

The property, which also has an address of 200-204 West 14th Street, was acquired earlier this year for about $17.5 million from Danrose LLC and 123 Third Avenue Realty LLC.

A rendering, shown at the right, of part of the tower's facade on the developer's website indicate that it will have a sleek facade with horizontal banding and small protrusions.

The site is close to Union Square Park and excellent public transportation.

In an article in today's edition of The New York Times, David W. Dunlap said that the street-level perimeter of the "aesthetic centerpiece" is being reduced by 10 to 15 percent, skylights have been eliminated from the terminal's below-ground mezzanine and standard concrete will be substituted for architectural concrete in the mezzanine's ceiling girders.

The article indicated that "more substantial revisions may be needed if no contractor can be found to build the project for $2.5 billion" and bids will be invited next month.

Anthony J. Sartor, chairman of the trade center redevelopment committee of the Port Authority of New York & New Jersey said in the article that the project will retain its "signature 'winged' design" and that it will be "completed and functioning in 2011."

Mr. Dunlap said that Mr. Calatrava's office released a statement yesterday in which he said that he believes "we have made the design better in many, many ways, through this exercise."

Mr. Calatrava, who was given a major retrospective exhibition recently at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, is international celebrated for the poetic and lyrical design of many of his bridge projects and other designs. A couple of years ago, he designed a skyscraper for 80 South Street that would have stacked 10 four-story residential cubes, a design that was widely praised and anticipated. That project, however, has not advanced.

The site is on the same street as 25 Broad Street that Swig Equities has converted to residential condominiums.

In April, 2007, Swig Equities obtained permission from the Landmarks Preservation Commission to demolish a rear wing at 25 Broad Street. The demolition cut off the top 20 stories of the 21-story wing, removing about 17 percent of the building's mass and 36 apartments. The wing extends to the south from the middle of the building and extends into the middle of the block and is not very visible because of nearby high-rise buildings including a new residential tower under construction at 15 William Street. Swig Equities planned to use the cut-off mass, which would amount to about 80,000 square feet, at 45 Broad Street. The transfer would add about 12 stories to the 35-story building that was then planned for the site.

25 Broad Street is a 21-story building that was the world's largest building when it was completed in 1902. Located on the southeast corner of Broad Street and Exchange Place, it is one block south of the New York Stock Exchange. It was designed in 1899 by Robert Maynicke and his plans were revised the next year by Clinton & Russell.

The building is distinguished by its very handsome facade and entrance and its stunning and huge lobby. It has a three-story rusticated base with a five-step-up entrance. In their wonderful book, "The A.I.A. Guide to New York City, Fourth Edition" (Three Rivers Press, 2000), Elliot Willensky and Norval White observed that the building is "worthy of the best on Park Avenue." In fact, the building predates most of the buildings on Park Avenue and its huge marble lobby with coffered ceiling is worthy of the world's most luxurious hotels.

According to the Skyscraper Museum, the building remained the world's largest building from 1902 to 1907 when it was surpassed in size by the City Investing Building. When it was completed, the "Broad Exchange Building," as it was known, was "the largest and most valuable office building in all of Manhattan" and, according to the Swig Equities's website, "was instantly recognized as one of the most desirable addresses for Wall Street's brokers and bankers, providing headquarter facilities for Paine, Webber and Company for nearly seventy years."

The building was converted from an office building in 1997 by Crescent Heights to 346 rental apartments. The building had been vacant for several years after the stock market crash of 1987. Mr. Swig acquired the building from Crescent Heights in 2005 for about $200 million.

The site at 45 Broad Street was once occupied by the firm of Joseph Meeks & Sons, one of American's most prominent furniture makers in the mid-18th Century, and more recently by an 8-story commercial building that Swig Equities has demolished.

Moed de Armas & Shannon are the design architects and SLCE is the architect of record for the new tower for which the Rockwell Group is designing the interiors.

The new tower, Mr. Keil wrote, adding that it will include a health club and pool for the use of both the residents and the hotel guests and a sun terrace, and partners in the project include Robert De Niro, Nobu Matsuhisa, Richie Notar and Meir Teper and Drew Nieporent.

The published rendering indicated that building's north and west facades will be curved above a six-story base that holds to the street wall. Although the architectural context of Broad Street in this area is masonry, the new tower will be clad in blue glass.

The area affected by the proposed zoning is bounded by the north side of East 13th Street, the west side of Avenue D, the north side of Houston Street, the west side of Pitt Street, the north side of Delancey Street, the east side of Essex Street, the north side of Grand Street and 100 feet in from the east side of the Bowery and 100 feet in from the west side of Third Avenue.

The rezoning would affect about 111 blocks are included in the area and eliminate bonuses for dormitories and hotels. Most of the area would be downzoned although Houston, Delancey and Chrystie streets would be upzoned.

According to the planning department, the intent of the rezoning is "o preserve the low- to mid-rise character of the East Village and Lower East Side neighborhoods while concentrating new development towards specific corridors that are more suited for new residential construction with incentives for affordable housing." The objective of the rezoning, according to the department, is to "protect the low- to mid-rise streetwall that characterizes much of the project area; address the community's request for contextual zoning; reinforce use of several avenues as corridors for mixed retail/residential buildings; provide opportunities for housing development and incentives for affordable housing along selected wide streets and major corridors; and protect existing commercial uses in proposed R8B districts."

The department identified 205 projected development sites and 565 potential development sites. A "reasonable worst-case development scenario" (RWCDS) projected that the actions "could result in a net increase of 1,383 residential units (including 23 enlargements), 348 of which would be affordable, and a net decrease of 74,439 square feet of commercial space on the projected development sites compared to conditions in the future without the proposed actions."

According to the draft environment impact statement for the rezoning, the "proposed actions would not directly displace any public open spaces, and with the exception of the Orchard Alley community garden, which would be effected by incremental shadows cast by new buildings as part of the RWCDS, study area open spaces would not be impacted by shadows, air quality, or noise as a result of the proposed actions."

The proposed actions, the statement continued, "could result in significantly adverse direct impacts on up to fifteen known architectural resources and on up to twenty-four potential architectural resources."

A May 5, 2008 article by Lysandra Ohrstrom in the on-line edition of The New York Observeer said that Josephine Lee, spokeswoman of the Coalition to Protect Chinatown and the Lower East Side said that the boundaries of the proposed rezoning discriminate against the Chinese and Hispanic populations represented by Community Board 3 living south of Delancey and east of Avenue D.