The Empire State Development Corporation adopted an amendment to the 42nd Street Development Project yesterday that would tentatively approve a plan by SJP Properties to develop the last remaining major parcel in the 26-year-old urban renewal project.
The Empire State Development Corporation also authorized a public hearing on the plan?s amendment, which will probably take place next month.
The parcel is the east blockfront between 41st and 42nd Streets on Eighth Avenue, just north of a new headquarters building now under construction for The New York Times, just south of the Westin Times Square Hotel on the north side of 42nd Street, and across the avenue from the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey.
SJP Properties recently acquired the site from Howard and Edward Milstein of Milstein Properties for $305,952,384. Milstein Properties had bought the site in 1984 for about $5 million and had indicated in 2002 it planned a 35-story tower for the site, which is a few blocks south of the Manhattan Hotel, which it owns.
SJP is developing a residential condominium building at 45 Park Avenue and a residential condominium tower at 750 Eighth Avenue using the transfer of air rights in the city?s Theater District.
SJP has commissioned FXFowle to design a 40-story, 1-million-sq. ft. office tower for the site, whose address is now known as 11 Times Square. Its partner in the project is Prudential Real Estate Advisers, which had been a partner with Park Tower Realty in the original plan to develop four major office buildings at the southern end of Times Square in the early 1980s, is now a partner with SJR. Prudential and Park Tower Realty originally had Philip Johnson design Post-Modern towers with mansard roofs for the four major office tower sites, but then had him redesign it with reflective glass facades. Prudential and Park Tower Realty, however, backed away from the project when the real estate market collapsed in the 1990s.
The office market has rebounded strongly with rents now at historic levels and SJR has indicated it intends to go forward with a ?speculative? office tower on the site, that is, without a major commitment from a major tenant.
An article in today?s edition of The New York Sun noted that ?If current market conditions change, the lease enables the developer to instead build a 58-story residential or hotel building, with retail,? a provision that is believed to be a carryover from past negotiations between the state agency and the Milsteins and unlikely to be invoked.
According to an article in today?s edition of The New York Times by Charles V. Bagli, ?recently, Vornado Realty opened talks with the Port Authority about reviving plans to build an office tower over the bus terminal? that is across the avenue from the SJP site.
The 42nd Street corridor west of Eighth Avenue has been a hotbed of residential construction activity in recent years significantly altering the Far West Midtown skyline with several major new towers erected, several more nearing completion and a few not yet started.
SJP Properties is a 22-year-old company based in Parsippany, N.J. Its project include the 1.1-million-square-foot commercial complex known as Waterfront Corporate Center I & II in Hoboken, N.J., the similar-sized Somerset Corporate Center in Bridgewater, N.J., and the 700,000-square-foot Morris Corporate Center in Parsipanny.
The Empire State Development Corporation also authorized a public hearing on the plan?s amendment, which will probably take place next month.
The parcel is the east blockfront between 41st and 42nd Streets on Eighth Avenue, just north of a new headquarters building now under construction for The New York Times, just south of the Westin Times Square Hotel on the north side of 42nd Street, and across the avenue from the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey.
SJP Properties recently acquired the site from Howard and Edward Milstein of Milstein Properties for $305,952,384. Milstein Properties had bought the site in 1984 for about $5 million and had indicated in 2002 it planned a 35-story tower for the site, which is a few blocks south of the Manhattan Hotel, which it owns.
SJP is developing a residential condominium building at 45 Park Avenue and a residential condominium tower at 750 Eighth Avenue using the transfer of air rights in the city?s Theater District.
SJP has commissioned FXFowle to design a 40-story, 1-million-sq. ft. office tower for the site, whose address is now known as 11 Times Square. Its partner in the project is Prudential Real Estate Advisers, which had been a partner with Park Tower Realty in the original plan to develop four major office buildings at the southern end of Times Square in the early 1980s, is now a partner with SJR. Prudential and Park Tower Realty originally had Philip Johnson design Post-Modern towers with mansard roofs for the four major office tower sites, but then had him redesign it with reflective glass facades. Prudential and Park Tower Realty, however, backed away from the project when the real estate market collapsed in the 1990s.
The office market has rebounded strongly with rents now at historic levels and SJR has indicated it intends to go forward with a ?speculative? office tower on the site, that is, without a major commitment from a major tenant.
An article in today?s edition of The New York Sun noted that ?If current market conditions change, the lease enables the developer to instead build a 58-story residential or hotel building, with retail,? a provision that is believed to be a carryover from past negotiations between the state agency and the Milsteins and unlikely to be invoked.
According to an article in today?s edition of The New York Times by Charles V. Bagli, ?recently, Vornado Realty opened talks with the Port Authority about reviving plans to build an office tower over the bus terminal? that is across the avenue from the SJP site.
The 42nd Street corridor west of Eighth Avenue has been a hotbed of residential construction activity in recent years significantly altering the Far West Midtown skyline with several major new towers erected, several more nearing completion and a few not yet started.
SJP Properties is a 22-year-old company based in Parsippany, N.J. Its project include the 1.1-million-square-foot commercial complex known as Waterfront Corporate Center I & II in Hoboken, N.J., the similar-sized Somerset Corporate Center in Bridgewater, N.J., and the 700,000-square-foot Morris Corporate Center in Parsipanny.
Architecture Critic
Carter Horsley
Since 1997, Carter B. Horsley has been the editorial director of CityRealty. He began his journalistic career at The New York Times in 1961 where he spent 26 years as a reporter specializing in real estate & architectural news. In 1987, he became the architecture critic and real estate editor of The New York Post.
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