By Stephen Jacob Smith 2/27 5:02pm

Planes Trains & Automobiles

"It was controlled by a bunch of rich developers," David Gunn once said of Moynihan Station.

Former Amtrak President David Gunn Still Hates Moynihan Station

David Gunn was never a fan of Moynihan Station. When he was president of Amtrak during the early George W. Bush years, he pulled the railroad out of the project, which seeks to recreate the glory of the old Pennsylvania Station in the James Farley Post Office across Eighth Avenue. At the time, costs were the stated reason: Amtrak was expected to contribute to its new home, and Mr. Gunn said that the railroad had more pressing needs.

Current Amtrak President Joseph Boardman picked the project back up in 2009, and though it’s largely unfunded, Amtrak still intends to go through with the move. This, Mr. Gunn told The Observer this afternoon from his home in Nova Scotia, would be a mistake. Read More

By Matt Chaban 9/07/12 5:09pm

Dizzying Designs

7 Photos

Lobbying for Change at 1290 A of A

Vornado Sprucing Up 1290 Avenue of the Americas With New Lobby

Even if it may be losing Microsoft to the brand new 11 Times Square nearby, 1290 Avenue of the Americas is about to get buffed up itself to appeal to tenants (including those who might be in the market for some 100,000 square feet of space that may soon be sitting vacant). Vornado, the owners of 1290 A of A, have just announced the beginning of construction for a new lobby and plaza renovation that will modernize and improve the appearance of the 43-story building at the street level. Read More

By Jess Schiewe 6/04/12 1:16pm

Under Development

The city hopes to build a 42,000-square-foot complex down the block from Harlem's Apollo Theater, but given their track record, this might be wishful thinking.

Harlem Is Skeptical Yet Another 125th Street Development Won’t Fail

Promises: they’re easy to make, but hard to keep. Just ask the residents and landowners of West Harlem.

For the last five years, a number of developments have been proposed along 125th Street, but most have fallen through. Take, for instance, Vornado Realty Trust’s ambitious plans for a 600,000-square-foot office building on the corner of Park Avenue that would have housed Major League Baseball’s new television network. That building never materialized, nor did a later development, planned on the same site, for a high-rise that included a Marriott hotel.

So what’s the beef? Why are so many projects along 125th Street (as well as nearby Lexington and Morningside avenues) habitually planned and then abandoned? Read More

By Daniel Geiger 1/30/12 7:00am

lease beat

691 Fifth Avenue.

Mac Cosmetics to Pay Highest Retail Rent in New York City History

MAC Cosmetics is in talks to lease a small store for what could be the highest rent ever paid in Manhattan. 

The popular makeup company is looking to lease a roughly 1,400-square-foot space at 691 Fifth Avenue, a property owned by Vornado Realty Trust, one of the city’s largest commercial landlords.

The space is currently occupied by the skin care company Elizabeth Arden, but Vornado has been marketing the space for rents $3,000 per square foot or higher. Read More

By Daniel Edward Rosen 1/17/12 12:55pm

Commercial Observer

January 4, 2012 (8)

An Evening at the Liar’s Ball: Raucous Behavior! Bottles of Colgin at the 21 Club! Talking Over the Cardinal?

It was a typical evening at the Real Estate Board of New York’s annual gala as John Cardinal O’Connor stepped up to the dais to address a crowd of several thousand of the city’s most ambitious commercial real estate brokers and owners.

But in a ritual repeated more or less each year, the archbishop of the New York archdiocese’s 2.37 million Catholics and one of the Vatican’s most forceful spokesmen in the United States during the 1980s, was summarily ignored by a brokerage community far more interested in making deals than in hearing the Gospel. Read More

By Daniel Geiger 12/27/11 11:20am

lease beat

330 Madison Avenue

Guggenheim Partners Seals Deal at 330 Madison Avenue

Guggenheim Partners, an investment firm that grew from administering the vast private wealth of the Guggenheim family in the early 1900s to a multifaceted financial firm, has signed a large lease at 330 Madison Avenue for its New York headquarters, sources revealed.

The deal comes one month after The Commercial Observer first reported that Guggenheim was looking to take space at the building in November. Read More

By Matt Chaban 8/08/11 3:41pm

Towering Ambition

Air rights sold to develop 1.3 million square feet

Interminable Debate Over Vornado’s Terminal Tower

Sunday came and went, and still there is no deal for Vornado’s Port Authority Bus Terminal tower. It has been a dozen years since Vornado was tapped to build the thing, and while the developer was poised to get to work in 2007, those plans collapsed along with the economy. The deal was set to expire this weekend, but the Port Authority has granted Vornado yet another extension to come up with a plan to make both sides happy. Read More