During an earnings call last month, Vornado Realty Trust’s Steve Roth said the project was “isolated, different,” than other ground-up office projects in part because billionaire Ken Griffin is involved. (Griffin’s Citadel is anchoring the tenant and is a partner on the project.)
At the time, Roth said the environment for ground-up development is otherwise so inhospitable that he doesn’t think any other project will get off the ground anytime soon. Of course, RXR, TF Cornerstone and BXP might have something to say about that, given that they plan to break ground on their own trophy office towers this year.
But on Monday the Park Avenue project became the first office tower to be presented to the City Planning Commission in five years. The Department of City Planning certified the project on Monday, kickstarting the monthslong public review of the project.
The project is made possible, in part, by the 2017 rezoning of Midtown East, which allowed air rights from landmarked properties to be transferred to non-adjacent sites throughout the district. The development team is buying more than 480,000 square feet of air rights from St. Patrick’s Cathedral and St. Bartholomew’s Church. As part of those deals, the developers are paying more than $30 million to a public Realm improvement fund created as part of the rezoning.
The developers are also seeking special permits to add space for a public concourse and to make other design adjustments, hence why the project has to go through the Uniform Land Use Review Procedure.
What we’re thinking about: What City Council races are you watching closely? Send a note to kathryn@therealdeal.com.
A thing we’ve learned: The Department of City Planning will begin public review of the Jamaica Neighborhood Plan, a rezoning that is expected to pave the way for the construction of more than 12,000 housing units in the Queens neighborhood over the next 15 years.
Elsewhere in New York…
— U.S. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer postponed several stops on his book tour this week, citing “security reasons” as he faces criticism for voting in favor of GOP-drafted stopgap spending bill, Politico reports. Schumer was expected to make stops in Baltimore, Washington, New York City and Philadelphia this week to promote his new book, “Antisemitism in America: A Warning.”
— A professor is accusing William Paterson University in New Jersey of losing his 380 million-year-old fossils, Gothamist reports. Paleontologist Martin Baker is suing the school, alleging that it botched sending the fossils to a colleague in Florida, resulting in the collection being sent to a landfill in Tennessee.
— The city plans to build a new NYPD training facility and indoor shooting range on City Island, the City reports. Residents of City Island have complained over the years about the noise from the shooting range. NYPD representatives say the new facility will result in “almost zero to no noise at all.”
Closing Time
Residential: The priciest residential sale Monday was $33.9 million for a condo unit at 15 Central Park West. The Zeckendorf-developed unit’s last on-market sale was $22.7 million in 2008, though the condo is selling less than its initial listing price of over $60 million.
Commercial: The most expensive commercial closing of the day was $150 million for 333 West 34th Street. Brookfield was the seller of the Garment District office property, which is 287,000 square feet. Brookfield faces a significant loss on the asset after paying $255 million for the property seven years ago, per reports.
New to the Market: The highest price for a residential property hitting the market was $45 million at 10 East 67th Street. The Lenox Hill townhouse is 13,100 square feet and is listed by Serhant.
Breaking Ground: The largest new building application filed was for a 48,902-square-foot, six-story, mixed-use building at 10-39 49th Avenue in Queens. The plans also feature 35 class-A units. Anthony Ng of Angelo Ng & Anthony Ng Architects was the applicant on the file.
— Joseph Jungermann
