(CRAINS) Christopher Ward, April 9, 2022

A massive real estate play

Though the existing Penn Station is universally reviled, the new redevelopment vision remains a massive real estate play in search of a transit project. The unspecified and murky financing of the project through the construction of 10 large towers raises the question of what exactly is driving this plan.

What are the real transit priorities? Do we need this amount of density to even fund the project? What is the financial tax structure and potential risk of such a massive venture? Where will oJce demand be in the post-Covid economy? And, finally, is this the city we will want to live in?

Many elected and community oJcials have begun to raise these important questions. It is time to begin answering them. Otherwise, we might well repeat the mistakes of the original Penn Station and replace it with a canyon of bleak oJce towers. The city pulled back from an equally misplaced plan for Times Square years ago. We need to do it again.

Source: Crains