Archinect - News

Penn Station's planned redevelopment could be going nowhere for a while

2023-02-27T14:07:00-05:00

Vornado Realty Trust, the developer hoping to remake the skyline around Pennsylvania Station with a bundle of new office towers, has put the brakes on the massive redevelopment plan for now as interest rates remain high and the real estate market struggles to recover from the pandemic. Plans for the Penn site, a roughly 18 million-square-foot project that could include 10 new skyscrapers of mostly office space around the transit hub, could be delayed for at least two to three years.

Despite her recent mum on the status of the $7 billion project, the Empire State Development agency said it remains confident in New York Governor Kathy Hochul’s commitment. Vornado, which owns half of the sites included in the scheme and in January was delisted from the S&P 500, reportedly considered high lending rates and the city’s lagging return-to-office crisis as a cause for the delay.

Right now, ten office towers are planned alongside only 1,800 units of housing in an area the state controversially declared blighted in December. “We should spend those once-in-a-lifetime dollars on a 2050-type vision as opposed to a 1970s vision,” State Senator Leroy Comrie said presciently at the last update. “We need to make sure that whatever happens aboveground is actually something that will help finance the project.”

PAU to lead the design of a new gateway enhancement project at Niagara Falls

2023-01-06T09:00:00-05:00

Vishaan Chakrabarti’s Practice for Architecture and Urbanism (PAU) has been selected to lead the design of the new $12 million Niagara Falls Heritage Gateways project, the studio unveiled via a press announcement on Thursday.

The project’s brief calls for the creation of four gateway structures and will supposedly enhance connections between downtown Niagara Falls and the popular state park in an extension of a previous strategic plan begun by PAU and the state in early 2021.

Images courtesy of Practice for Architecture and Urbanism (PAU)

"We're thrilled to continue our work with New York State in Niagara Falls with an expanded team including landscape architects Hargreaves Jones," Chakrabarti said of the new collaboration."The Niagara Falls Heritage Gateways project is a chance to demonstrate how thoughtful design can restore rather than remake our cities."

Images courtesy of Practice for Architecture and Urbanism (PAU)

"It is by building on a foundation of shared history — instead ...

Penn Station's proposed redevelopment is raising the specter of 'blight'-backed urban planning tactics in Manhattan

2022-12-29T14:46:00-05:00

The congested, chaotic section of Manhattan near Pennsylvania Station is undeniably drab. Does that make it blighted? New York State has decreed that it is, and Gov. Kathy Hochul has recently likened the Penn Station area to “a Skid Row neighborhood.” She was defending the controversial plan to allow developers to build 10 towers around the decrepit train station — the busiest transit hub in the nation — in exchange for some of the $7 billion the state needs to renovate it.

The same tactic was used in the urban cores of major American cities such as Los Angeles to break apart mostly residential areas and redevelop them into high-rise-laden commercial districts, a practice which may now be boomeranging in the post-pandemic economy. New York is claiming “economic stagnation” (in addition to “blight”) in the redeveloped area. However, opponents say only 8 of the total 61 lots targeted by the project meet the definition outlined by the state’s apparently vague threshold.

“It’s so extreme in this case, I don’t think they can get away with it,” an attorney representing various opposition groups’ legal challenge to the plan told the Times.

Previously on Archinect: Empire State Development approves massive Penn Station redevelopment proposal

Eventually, the redevelopment — which was approved in July — will yield ten skyscrapers, 1,800 units of housing, and the $73 million expansion of Penn Station led by Arup. CRE titan Vornado owns half of the sites included...

New York's Madison Square Park Conservancy names Holly Leicht as new Executive Director

2022-08-10T13:21:00-04:00

The Madison Square Park Conservancy has announced former HUD and Empire State Development Corporation leader Holly Leicht as its next Executive Director.

Leicht comes to the position with over 25 years of experience in urban planning and open space initiatives. She steps into office on September 6th and is replacing current Executive Director Keats Myer, who has served in the role for a decade.

The Conservancy has enjoyed a well-received slate of programming of late, including Maya Lin’s haunting Ghost Forest installation, Hugh Hayden’s send-up of educational hierarchies called Brier Patch, and Cristina Iglesias’ evocative Landscape and Memory, which has been on view since early June.

Previously on Archinect: Cristina Iglesias’ Landscape and Memory taps into the forces lying just beneath our urban grid

Leicht said she is “looking forward to deepening [the Conservancy’s] commitment to sustainability” and felt that the role would be a continuation of her work building resilience in co...

Empire State Development approves massive Penn Station redevelopment proposal

2022-07-22T18:58:00-04:00

New York State officials on Thursday approved a sweeping redevelopment of Midtown Manhattan that would transform Pennsylvania Station, the busiest transportation hub in North America, from a run-down transit center into a city centerpiece. The eight-member board of Empire State Development, the state’s economic development agency and the group steering the project, unanimously voted in favor.

The Penn Station Redevelopment Plan is set to be one of the largest real estate projects in U.S. history. The project, spanning approximately 18 million square feet, includes the construction of 10 skyscrapers surrounding the station that will host office and retail space, 1,800 housing units, and a hotel.

It also includes a long-overdue renovation of Penn Station. Improvements to the station include cosmetic upgrades, the reconfiguration of the train hall serving NJ Transit and Long Island Rail Road, subway improvements, and the construction of a rail tunnel under the Hudson River. This is estimated to cost $7 billion, with the cost of the rest of the redevelopment adding an additional $13 billion to the bill.

The project’s approval allows an application to be made for federal funding. The proposal now heads to the Public Authorities Control Board, a state body responsible for granting financial approval for applications from statewide public authorities, which will review and vo...