NEWS |
115-97: FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE , September 3, 1997
***Development Over Bus Terminal to Complement 42nd Street Revival***
Charles A. Gargano, Chairman of Empire State Development Corporation and Vice Chairman of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, and Port Authority Executive Director Robert E. Boyle, today announced that eight developers have received a request for proposals (RFP) to develop the air rights over the north wing of the PA Bus Terminal at Eighth Avenue and West 42nd Street.
“The market is right, the timing is right, the developers are interested and the RFP calls for all the glitz and glamour of the new 42nd Street to be part of any air rights development at the Port Authority Bus Terminal,” Gargano said. “This is another example of Governor George E. Pataki’s policies promoting private sector growth through the creative marketing and use of underutilized public assets.”
Port Authority Chairman Lewis M. Eisenberg said, “Vice Chairman Gargano and I are united in our determination that the Port Authority use its assets creatively and effectively. By seeking private sector proposals to develop these air rights, we can test marketplace interest in an innovative concept that will realize the full potential of one of the prime sites in the Times Square area.”
Executive Director Boyle said, “Following the guidance of Governors Pataki and Whitman, we are working closely with the private sector to identify programs that will create jobs and make the most efficient use of Port Authority resources. The Port Authority Bus Terminal is already a vibrant retail center. The proposal we are now exploring can ensure that the Bus Terminal continues to be a catalyst in the rebirth of 42nd Street.”
The required uses of the air rights are unspecified, but the RFP stresses an entertainment component to reinforce the 42nd Street Development Project’s design guidelines for signature architecture and lights and signage as developed for 42nd Street by noted architect Robert A.M. Stern.
Proposers can build up to 1 million square feet above the existing building, approximately 35 stories, and have approximately 110,000 square feet for development in the existing four-story terminal.
The developers receiving the RFP responded to a 1996 request for expressions of interest (RFEI). They are: LCOR Incorporated; Silverstein Properties; Tishman Realty and Construction Company; Forest City Ratner Companies; Starrett Corporation; The O’Connor Group; Julien J. Studley, Inc.; and The Related Companies, L.P. Responses are due January 15, 1998.
The RFP was developed by the Port Authority in consultation with the 42nd Street Development Project, Inc. an ESD subsidiary.
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