Residential Conversion of 5 Times Square Gets Green Light
Proposed plans by the development team of Apollo Global Management, RXR Realty and SL Green Realty for the conversion of 5 Times Square received approval from the Empire State Development (ESD) Board of Directors following an amendment to the 42nd Street Development Project General Project Plan according to the May 22 news release by Governor Hochul’s Office. The office building that spans the entire 7th Avenue blockfront between West 41st and 42nd Street has alternate addresses of 592-598 Seventh Avenue and 200-212 West 42nd Street. The developers control the city-owned site under a 99-year ground lease initially executed in June 1988 and commenced April 1990 according to documents posted on city records. The lease includes the option to purchase prior to lease expiration in 2089. Redevelopment of the 38-story 1.1 million-square-foot tower will deliver a mixed-use property with up to 1,250 residential units, of which up to 313-units will be permanently affordable, while preserving more than 37,000 square feet of retail space. The project is benefiting from the state’s lifting of the floor-area-ratio (FAR) cap to 12 FAR last year and the enactment of the Affordable Housing from Commercial Conversions Tax Incentive 467-m program. The tower was constructed in 2002 as the headquarters of accounting firm EY, formerly Ernst & Young, which relocated and downsized from roughly 1 million square feet to 604,295 square feet at 1 Manhattan West, 400 West 33rd Street, leaving the building largely vacant since 2022. The project is expected to break ground by the end of 2025, with completion of the first phase anticipated for 2027. Approximately 1,400 construction jobs are expected to be created as well as 830 permanent and indirect jobs with an overall 30% Minority and Women-owned Business Enterprise (M/WBE) participation goal.