With Labor Day behind us, school’s in for the city’s real estate power players.
Here’s our selective guide to the Lucky-7 big deals on their agendas.
1) EAST MIDTOWN REZONING. A comprehensive, complex proposal to allow larger and taller towers in Manhattan’s historic commercial heart was finally set in motion by the Department of City Planning after two years of study and input. Now it must survive the ULURP review process, which requires approval by the City Council and the mayor.
No mere technicality, it’s key to saving from obsolescence the 57-block district — where buildings are an average of 50 years old. And zoning rules written mostly in 1961 have made new construction nearly impossible.
2) ONE VANDERBILT. The SL Green giant next to Grand Central Terminal has signed only one tenant so far, TD Bank, for 200,000 square feet. The roughly 1,500-foot-tall tower has a total of 1.6 million square feet. Other tire-kickers were likely wary of Andrew Penson’s air- rights lawsuit over the project.
Although demolition of old structures is nearly complete, the possibility of delay had dogged the project. Now that the suit’s resolved and construction is under way, watch for more leases to be signed.
3) 28 LIBERTY ST. AND 550 MADISON AVE. These will test the Midtown and Downtown markets for first-class — but far from new — offices. They must compete both with brand-new space coming online elsewhere in Manhattan, as well as with other older Midtown towers undergoing capital-improvement upgrades as longtime tenants move out.
Fosun-owned 28 Liberty, a 1961-built landmark that was formerly Chase Plaza, has 1 million square feet of its total 2.2 million up for grabs via JLL. The former Sony tower at 550 Madison, opened in 1984, is completely vacant. The new owner, Saudi Arabia-based Olayan America, has tapped CBRE to find users for its 850,000 square feet.
4) TWO WORLD TRADE CENTER. It might be too much to expect that Larry Silverstein will score a tenant so soon after a decision by 21st Century Fox and News Corp. not to proceed with a nonbinding letter of intent. But don’t think he won’t try. Silverstein, 85, would love to build the WTC’s final planned tower to complete his legacy.
5) THE “MARSEILLAISE.” Related Cos. later this month will unveil a monumental, $200 million sculpture by Britain’s Thomas Heatherwick to be the focal point of the vast public plaza at Hudson Yards, which is to include Neiman Marcus and a selection of restaurants curated by Thomas Keller. Related CEO Stephen Ross says the hush-hush work of art will “become to New York what the Eiffel Tower is to Paris, I believe.”
6) DURST’S HARLEM. Douglas Durst’s company is in talks to buy a large development site at 1800 Park Ave. at 125th Street from Bruce Eichner, who dug a foundation but wasn’t able to put up a planned apartment project.
The challenging corner is across the street from the Harlem Metro North station and a block west of a troubled drug clinic.
But a Durst purchase would likely be a game-changer for East Harlem, which needs the stability and marketing savvy that only one of the city’s most successful developers can provide.
7). SECOND AVENUE SUBWAY. The MTA’s $4.5 billion project to extend the Q line to East 96th Street might or might not meet its December opening deadline. Auditors say it won’t make the target despite MTA promises that it will.
But even if the new line turns out to be a few months late, it’s no big deal after 100 years of waiting. The line, with stations at East 63rd, 72nd, 86th and 96th streets, is a huge transit boost for Upper East Siders, especially those who work in Midtown and Downtown.