NYC vanaf Empire State Building, originally uploaded by FaceMePLS
With the unveiling of five West Side Yard proposals this weekend, there has been major coverage of the different proposals, with all their archiporn models and renderings. Yet unreported is a major significance to the city and its citizens: if Varnado Realty Trust is chosen to develop the West Side Yards, they will directly control own or partially control a majority of property from Broadway to the Hudson between 30th and 30th Streets.
The Vornado holdings are vast around the USA, but their holdings in Manhattan, and specifically in Midtown is spectacular. Below, are holdings west of Broadway in Midtown:
- One Penn Plaza – 2,585,000 sf
- Two Penn Plaza – 1,546,000 sf
- 11 Penn Plaza – 1,103,000 sf
- 330 West 34th Street – 637,000 rsf
- 100 West 33rd Street – 1,040,000 sf
- Hotel Pennsylvania – est. 2,000,000 sf (source)
- Moynihan Station – est. 5,400,000 sf (source)
- West Side Yards – est 5,400,000 sf office & 6,400,000 sf residential (source)
If you add this up, you get a staggering realization of how much space Vornado controls: 26,111,000 sf of office and residential space.
While we have no position on which company’s proposal should win out at the West Side Yards, knowing that a single company can dominate an area to the extent Vornado can must be taken into account. In the end it probably won’t matter if Vornado controls this much area, but the sheer numbers at play is amazing – and the associated power, influence and political pressure which will come to bear is equally amazing – even for Manhattan.