Proposed Revised Vision for Penn Station Area Includes a Public Park
A general project plan (GPP), a development tool that allows the state to override local zoning laws in order to build, that was created prior to the COVID pandemic offering a re-envisioning of the surrounding area near Penn Station has continued to remain in limbo. The former proposal during the Andrew Cuomo administration would have allowed Vornado Realty Trust to lead the construction of the mega-project that included 10 high-rise towers of almost entirely commercial space spread spanning eight sites surrounding Penn Station. The state entity, Empire State Development (ESD), is spearheading the project that also includes a rehabilitation of Penn Station which might have resulted in a relocation of Madison Square Garden and the possible exercising of eminent domain by the state as needed of the sites within “Block 780” bound by 7th and 8th Avenues between West 30th and 31st Streets to allow for the proposed expansion of the transportation hub. The tax revenue generated by the 10-building complex was expected to fund the Penn Station project. However, in 2023 Gov. Hochul “decoupled” the Penn Station portion of the mega project.
Assemblyman Tony Simone believes the existing GPP design has become outdated and recently proposed a new housing-oriented vision. Simone’s proposal would expand the GPP plan to nine sites by including the half-block west of Broadway between 33rd and 34th Streets which is partly owned by Empire State Realty Trust (ESRT), while leaving intact “Block 780” to the south of Penn Station. In addition, the Vornado-owned site of the recently demolished Hotel Pennsylvania would be transformed into a public park instead of the REIT’s envisioned skyscraper. Simone’s proposal would also reduce the total square footage created from 18.3 million square feet to 13.9 million square feet of which approximately 33% would be designated for residential use to allow for about 5,000 housing units compared to 1,800-units in the existing GPP, having won “early praise from leaders of Manhattan community Boards 4 and 5 and support from Manhattan Borough President Mark Levine. Hopes for adding more housing in the surrounding Penn Station area rose higher following a provision included in last year’s state budget that “allows future GPP plans to build bigger apartment buildings by exceeding a cap on a residential density.