City Council Approves Proposed Citadel-Anchored Development on Park Ave
The partnership of Vornado Realty Trust, Rudin Properties and Citadel founder and CEO, Ken Griffin, recently received a green light from the New York City Council for their proposed 62-story, 1.8 million square-foot office development. News announcing a possible redevelopment of adjacent office buildings at 350 Park Avenue and 40 East 52nd Street owned by Vornado and Rudin respectively began surfacing in 2019. Vornado has owned 350 Park Avenue since December 2006, having paid $541.5 million for the 30-story tower that spans the entire Park Avenue blockfront between East 51st and 52nd Street. In January 2023, a deal was struck with Citadel’s Ken Griffin, resulting in the forming of a new joint venture partnership behind the proposed “supertall” project. Separate 10-year master leases were signed by Citadel Enterprises Americas LLC in January 2023 for the existing 585,000-square-foot 350 Park Avenue and 390,000-square-foot 40 East 52nd Street properties, city records listing total value prices for the Park Avenue and 52nd Street leases of $262,612,040 and $84,047,693 respectively. In June 2023 the JV of Vornado and Rudin purchased the 5-story building from Rudin for $40 million in June 2023, and upon the formation of the joint venture with Ken Griffin, combined it with the development site. To further increase the site’s buildable square feet, the JV reportedly went into contract to purchase air rights from St. Patrick’s Cathedral at 631 Fifth Avenue ranging from as little as 315,000 square feet for $98 million to as much as 525,000 square feet at a cost of $164 million based on the $312.50 per square foot price set by an appraisal prepared for the December 2023 court filing. A few months later reported information from a March 2024 court filing indicated a second contract for up to 250,000 square feet of unused development rights from St. Bartholomew’s Church at 325 Park Avenue for $78 million, with both contracts structured as an option with stipulated expiration dates to exercise the options according to press releases at the time by Crain’s New York. The latter contract signing also required an “initial $2 million at the contract signing,” and “$2 million a year in 2024 and 2025, and $4 million in 2026 for the opportunity to close on the air rights.”
Citadel and Citadel Securities will anchor the new tower in over 850,000 square feet with demolition of the existing structures anticipated to begin in the second quarter of 2026. The September 29th article by NY Yimby indicated that a combined total of $150 million of air rights purchased from both St. Patrick’s Cathedral and St. Bartholomew’s Church will be utilized with more than $35 million to be contributed to New York City’s East Midtown Public Realm Improvement Fund. During construction, Citadel will temporarily occupy 504,000 square feet at Brookfield Property’s 660 Fifth Avenue, having secured a lease in January 2025, with anticipated completion of the estimated $4.5 billion tower by 2032. As the pace of the New York City’s office market recovery picks up steam, news of office developments in different stages of planning and construction have become more frequent. In 2025, BXP decided to move forward with the construction of a 930,000-square-foot tower on speculation at 343 Madison Avenue and Related Companies and Oxford Properties planned over 60-story tower at 70 Hudson Yards broke ground in June 2025 following an agreement with Deloitte to serve as anchor tenant. More recently, the planned 637,312-square-foot office development at 570 Fifth Avenue by Extell Development began excavation this year, and the early September article by Crain’s New York delivered news of SL Green Realty’s agreement to purchase 346 Madison Avenue and adjacent 11 East 44th Street for $160 million with plans to build a ground-up office development.
Source: https://www.crainsnewyork.com/real-estate/citadel-vornado-rudin-pay-78m-st-bartholomew-air-rights