http://www.crainsnewyork.com/article...FREE/907029982
No lie: Javits Center redo finally good to go
Long-delayed renovation and much-scaled-back expansion of meeting space gets last bureaucratic approval in Albany. Work on $463 million project to begin immediately.
By Erik Engquist
July 2, 2009
The Jacob K. Javits Convention Center renovation starts soon. Really. No kidding.
The long-troubled project, which was supposed to begin three governors ago, received final approval Wednesday at a meeting of the Public Authorities Control Board in Albany.
Work on the West side site will begin immediately.
The repair and expansion project is expected to generate close to $880 million in direct and indirect sales and 9,000 direct and indirect construction and construction-related jobs, according to Gov. David Paterson’s office.
“We may now proceed with this significant development project,” the governor said in a press release.
But the project is just a fraction of the major expansion that was originally envisioned during the Pataki administration. That plan had to be shelved when the Spitzer administration calculated it would cost over $3 billion, more than twice the previous estimate.
The $463 million compromise approved Wednesday will focus on repairing the convention center’s leaky roof and include a modest 100,000-square-foot expansion. Only 40,000 square feet of true exhibition space will be added; the other 60,000 will be devoted to pre-function and registration areas, restrooms, food service areas, a truck court and loading docks.
The Legislature had approved an expansion six times larger in 2004, but rising costs killed the idea. Still, approval of the scaled-down plan Wednesday came as a relief to the Hotel Association of New York City, whose member hotels have been tacking a $1.50 per night surcharge to visitors’ bills since April 2005 to fund the Javits project. More than $150 million has been collected so far to back the bonds that will pay for the work upfront.
“It’s not how we started out, but it’s certainly better than nothing,” said one hotel industry representative, speaking on background about the project because he was not authorized to discuss it publicly. “At least we’ll get a facelift, some much-needed repairs, and a little more exhibition space.”
Joseph Spinnato and John Fitzpatrick, president and chairman of the Hotel Association of New York City, respectively, were each overseas and could not be reached for comment.
The 23-year-old Javits Center’s roof is in such bad shape that huge “diapers” hang from the ceiling to catch the falling water. Javits supporters had wanted a larger expansion because there is a high demand for exhibition space. But trade shows, conventions and exhibitions alone would not generate enough direct revenue to pay for the project, and the Spitzer administration rejected the argument that large subsidies would pay for themselves by boosting the local economy. The Paterson administration maintained that stance.
The Javits approval had been on the control board’s agenda June 17, but it was delayed because legislative staffers asked for more information about the differences between the original plan and the one slated for approval. Wednesday’s board meeting was called solely to approve the project.
The expansion will be built on the block bounded by West 39th and West 40th streets and 11th and 12th avenues. The Javits Center opened in 1986 as a replacement for the old Coliseum Convention Center at West 59th Street and Broadway.