The New York City Council approved a change to zoning law that will allow for the construction of SL Green Realty's One Vanderbilt skyscraper, with an unusual tradeoff: SL Green's added commitment to make upgrades to Grand Central Terminal that will allow for more rush-hour trains on the subway's busiest lines. The approach has been viewed by some proponents as a model for how the Metropolitan Transportation Authority can pay for some projects as it grapples with a $14 billion shortfall in the agency's $32 billion proposed capital plan, according to a New York Times report.
The council members unanimously approved the zoning change to allow the 65-story tower to rise alongside the historic landmark, with SL Green investing about $220 million in critical improvements to Grand Central, including building new subway entrances, a pedestrian plaza at street level, and a public hall in the building's lobby. "This is the first time we've seen vast private investment to improve mass-transit access," said Mitchell Moss, a professor of urban planning at New York University.
"This is the bottleneck to the subway line," Edith Hsu-Chen, director of the Manhattan office of the city's department of planning, told city council members during a hearing last month. "Improvements made to this station would affect the entire line and commuters in the whole city." SL Green will strip the columns down to the bare bones — slimming them down by about a foot each — and narrow the stairwell to create about two and a half feet of extra space on the platform. "At rush hour, people congregate around these columns. People can't get off the train," said Robert Schiffer, managing director at SL Green. "The idea is to diffuse people."
One Vanderbilt, bounded by Vanderbilt Avenue and Madison Avenue between East 42nd and East 43rd Streets, will be 1,501 feet tall and contain 1.6 million square feet of Class A commercial space. Designed by Kohn Pedersen Fox (KPF), One Vanderbilt's architecture and building materials pay homage to the landmarked Terminal and the surrounding East Midtown business district. Building features include open floor plans, efficient use of space, and the highest level of sustainable design in New York City. TD Bank has already signed to anchor approximately 200,000 square feet of space in One Vanderbilt, including a flagship retail store on the northeast corner of 42nd Street and Madison Avenue. One Vanderbilt is projected to create 5,200 construction jobs and 190 permanent union jobs.
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