Jones Lang LaSalle
High Expectations for Madison Square Garden's Rumored $750M Move
February 15, 2006
By Colleen Corley, News Writer
The potential relocation of New York City's sports palace, Madison Square Garden, to a new site a block away is inching toward reality. In the midst of a $1 billion Manhattan real estate shuffle that would create a transportation hub in the James A. Farley Building (post office) on Ninth Avenue, a block away from the present Garden, the owners of the famed sports arena are believed to be close to an agreement with developers to build a new location by the west portion of the Farley building. The New York Times reported this morning that move's cost is estimated to be $750 million.
The proposed transplant of Madison Square Garden to the new Moynihan Station site faces such wide-ranging obstacles as New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg and those New Yorkers still smarting from the demolition of the original Penn Station more than 40 years ago. The Garden--whose owner, Cablevision Systems, effectively campaigned to thwart the Bloomberg-trumpeted stadium proposition for the football New York Jets last year--stands atop Penn Station.
A spokesperson from the New York Regional Planning Association explained to CPN this afternoon that if Madison Square Garden moves one block over to Moynihan Station, the preservation of the historic post office will be a top priority. The first Penn Station was razed to make room for the arena at its current location between Seventh and Eighth avenues and West 31st and West 33rd streets. A far less charming Penn Station was rebuilt beneath the Garden.
"We see a tremendous once-in-a-lifetime chance to fix a lot of the wrong that was done," the spokesperson said, referring to the 1963 demolition. With Madison Square Garden off the 8th Avenue site, the city-appointed Moynihan Station development team of Vornado Realty Trust and The Related Cos. will build an office complex with a glass over-hang above Penn Station. No one has yet seen an official proposal from the development team or Madison Square Garden' owners.
"It can't be all about the office space, and putting some glass on the train station," he said of the proposed redevelopment of Penn Station, the busiest transportation hub in North America. The station serves more than 500,000 commuters a day.
"It needs to be a bold stroke; a bold plan to fix the train station," he said. "If they do that, we'd be open to the idea and (to) working with the developers on the proposal."
High Expectations for Madison Square Garden's Rumored $750M Move
February 15, 2006
By Colleen Corley, News Writer
The potential relocation of New York City's sports palace, Madison Square Garden, to a new site a block away is inching toward reality. In the midst of a $1 billion Manhattan real estate shuffle that would create a transportation hub in the James A. Farley Building (post office) on Ninth Avenue, a block away from the present Garden, the owners of the famed sports arena are believed to be close to an agreement with developers to build a new location by the west portion of the Farley building. The New York Times reported this morning that move's cost is estimated to be $750 million.
The proposed transplant of Madison Square Garden to the new Moynihan Station site faces such wide-ranging obstacles as New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg and those New Yorkers still smarting from the demolition of the original Penn Station more than 40 years ago. The Garden--whose owner, Cablevision Systems, effectively campaigned to thwart the Bloomberg-trumpeted stadium proposition for the football New York Jets last year--stands atop Penn Station.
A spokesperson from the New York Regional Planning Association explained to CPN this afternoon that if Madison Square Garden moves one block over to Moynihan Station, the preservation of the historic post office will be a top priority. The first Penn Station was razed to make room for the arena at its current location between Seventh and Eighth avenues and West 31st and West 33rd streets. A far less charming Penn Station was rebuilt beneath the Garden.
"We see a tremendous once-in-a-lifetime chance to fix a lot of the wrong that was done," the spokesperson said, referring to the 1963 demolition. With Madison Square Garden off the 8th Avenue site, the city-appointed Moynihan Station development team of Vornado Realty Trust and The Related Cos. will build an office complex with a glass over-hang above Penn Station. No one has yet seen an official proposal from the development team or Madison Square Garden' owners.
"It can't be all about the office space, and putting some glass on the train station," he said of the proposed redevelopment of Penn Station, the busiest transportation hub in North America. The station serves more than 500,000 commuters a day.
"It needs to be a bold stroke; a bold plan to fix the train station," he said. "If they do that, we'd be open to the idea and (to) working with the developers on the proposal."
posted by Jones Lang LaSalle NJ News Blog at 9:58 AM
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