SL Green Settles One Vanderbilt Litigation With Midtown TDR Ventures
SL Green has reached an agreement with Midtown TDR Ventures to drop the litigation surrounding the mammoth One Vanderbilt office tower (pictured), removing any uncertainty about the rezoning amendment and special permit and allowing the new East Midtown office tower and $220M in transit improvements—which were already approved by the NYC Council—to move forward.
Midtown TDR—led by real estate investor Andrew Penson—launched the suit in September 2015, asserting that Mayor Bill de Blasio, the City Council and SL Green illegally deprived it of millions of dollars' worth of air rights.
Penson bought Grand Central and its air rights in 2006, and sought $1.13B from the city and $475M from the city’s largest landlord.
The 1,401-foot, 1.7M SF Class-A office tower (pictured) is designed by Kohn Pedersen Fox. In June, SL Green Realty projected that the tower would cost more $3B total, and planned to fund the project with $1.65B in equity and a $1.5B construction loan.
Six months ago, Herald Square Properties Gerard Nocera told Bisnow the building would have a “positive ripple effect” on the the Midtown market—which has seen both an exodus of high-profile office tenants and a new wave of development in the last few years—boosting the need for new development and raising the demand for retail and office space in the area.
Site demolition is almost complete and the public improvements around Grand Central Station are underway, SL Green Realty Corp CEO Marc Holliday said.
