The Midtown office skyscraper long planned by Vornado Realty Trust, the development firm Rudin and hedge fund magnate Ken Griffin “is finally becoming a reality,” Mayor Eric Adams announced Tuesday.
The tower at 350 Park Ave., in the works for years, is now ready to begin a public review by early 2025, according to Adams’ office. Thanks to more than $240 million in air-rights purchases from St. Patrick’s Cathedral and St. Bartholomew’s Church, the tower is now expected to stand 62 stories and span 1.8 million square feet, larger than the developers had previously indicated.
Adams’ announcement, made before an audience of business leaders at an Association for a Better New York breakfast, signals his administration’s hopes for a return of the office market. Adams said the tower would “energize Midtown Manhattan as the world’s most important business address.”
“We’ve heard rumors of this tower for a long time, and some weren’t sure it was going to happen,” Adams told the audience. “But I’m here to say and let you know, there’s no rumors — it’s a reality.”
Griffin’s firms Citadel and Citadel Securities will be the anchor tenants, and their 2,100-person workforce will occupy at least 850,000 square feet. Construction is tentatively expected to start in 2026, a spokesman said.
In his remarks, Adams made frequent references to Vornado CEO Steven Roth, who was in attendance. New York has managed to recover from the pandemic because “we’re made up of a city of Steve Roths,” he said.
Although Adams touted the project, it was not clear whether his administration played any major role in the advancement of the long-planned tower.
The mayor’s office also released new renderings of the tower, featuring a “stepped” design by architects Foster + Partners. The developers are seeking a density bonus by including a 12,500-square-foot public concourse along Park Avenue — a potential perk that will require a monthslong land-use review to obtain.
Although air-rights transfers typically only happen between adjacent properties, the planned tower at Park Avenue and East 51st Street has been boosted by farther-flung properties thanks to the terms of the 2017 East Midtown rezoning, which allowed landmarked sites to sell air rights to properties further away.
Adams appeared in a chipper mood Tuesday morning, regaling the crowd with a campaign-style recitation of his administration’s work overseeing a drop in some crime categories and an economic recovery from the pandemic. He also touted the just-announced state budget deal, which satisfies “every single piece of the housing agenda” his administration had asked for, Adams said.
C. J. Hughes contributed reporting.
Nick Garber , 2024-04-16 16:48:52
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