The Javits Convention Center on the West Side, the 18th largest convention center in the country, will be expanded by 40,000 square feet of exhibition space, according to an article by Tom Topousis in The New York Post.
The article said that the project has been approved by the Empire State Development Corporation and will be financed "almost entirely on the $1.50 per night hotel room fee created to pay for the work." The article said that "project costs, once estimated at $1.7 billion for the larger expansion, have been slashed to $463 million, most of which will be spent to renovate the current convention center and replace its dark glass windows with clear, energy-efficient panels."
The dark glass facades of the sprawling center, which offers no views of the Hudson River, were widely hailed when it opened in 1986 for the "crystal palace" environment they created designed by I. M. Pei's architectural firm within its gargantuan halls facing midtown.
"Expanding Javits was universally approved by city and state lawmakers, who broke ground for the project in October, 2006," according to the article. That expansion was designed Richard Rogers and it put a new facade on its east frontage, but the article noted that the "project came to a halt when former governor Eliot Spitzer took office in 2007, determining a year later that the cost of the project had risen to $3 billion."
The latest version of the project requires approval of the state's Public Authority Control Board. If approved, construction would be complete in 2010.
The article said that the project has been approved by the Empire State Development Corporation and will be financed "almost entirely on the $1.50 per night hotel room fee created to pay for the work." The article said that "project costs, once estimated at $1.7 billion for the larger expansion, have been slashed to $463 million, most of which will be spent to renovate the current convention center and replace its dark glass windows with clear, energy-efficient panels."
The dark glass facades of the sprawling center, which offers no views of the Hudson River, were widely hailed when it opened in 1986 for the "crystal palace" environment they created designed by I. M. Pei's architectural firm within its gargantuan halls facing midtown.
"Expanding Javits was universally approved by city and state lawmakers, who broke ground for the project in October, 2006," according to the article. That expansion was designed Richard Rogers and it put a new facade on its east frontage, but the article noted that the "project came to a halt when former governor Eliot Spitzer took office in 2007, determining a year later that the cost of the project had risen to $3 billion."
The latest version of the project requires approval of the state's Public Authority Control Board. If approved, construction would be complete in 2010.
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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