NEW YORK | 311 West 42nd Street | FT | 35 FLOORS

[chris08876]

Taconic and partner to raise $250 million Times Square apartment tower

A partnership of investors has reached a deal to take control of a large Times Square property and erect a rental apartment tower on the site.

A venture between Taconic Investment Partners and National Real Estate Advisors is ground-leasing a parking lot and an adjacent building across the street from the Port Authority Bus Terminal.

The group plans to complete a 99-year lease this week for the parking lot at 311 West 42nd St. and the office building at 310 West 43rd St. from the owner of both properties, 1199SEIU, a union that represents health care workers.

The roughly 100,000-square-foot office property on West 43rd Street is occupied by 1199SEIU Healthcare Workers East, a branch of the union that represents nurses, pharmacy and hospital workers. The union reached a deal last year to relocate from that space to a new office on Seventh Avenue.

Chris Balestra, the chief investment officer at Taconic, said his firm, which is managing the development of the property, will demolish the office building and a raise a roughly 35-story rental apartment building on both lots. He estimated the total project cost would be around $250 million.

Balestra said the ground-lease structure of the deal allowed for a rental rather than a condo project to be built because instead of paying a massive sum for the land, the partnership will instead make monthly rental payments to 1199SEIU. Huge land costs are difficult to manage for rental developers because the dribble of income from rents often takes too long to pay back the large project costs.

"It's extremely difficult to find rental residential sites in Manhattan," Balestra said. "This is the type of deal we're always on the lookout for."

Taconic recently finished another rental property nearby at 525 West 52nd St., a roughly 400-unit project that is over 70% leased, Balestra said.

"We're aiming to build something of similar quality to that luxury project," Balestra said. "We feel there is a premium to being in this location, however, because of the strong transportation access."

The health care workers union will vacate the office space in two years, giving Taconic and its partner time to plan the project, including hiring an architect and designing the building. The property will also have about 60,000 square feet of retail space on the ground floor and basement and portions of the second level.

"This is an area that has tremendous foot traffic," Balestra said, noting the retail will face West 42nd Street while the residential entrance will be located on West 43rd Street. "We think that a variety of retail tenants will be interested in the space."

With plans to break ground in two years, the project will likely be finished sometime in 2022.

Cushman & Wakefield brokers Adam Spies, Kevin Donner and Jonathan Serko arranged the dea

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http://www.crainsnewyork.com/article...partment-tower

[antinimby]

That’s very good news. Hated that eyesore parking lot and waited for so long to see it redeveloped but why not just build on the lot instead of tearing down the fairly large building too?

Next up, the one story Duane Reade corner building.

[Crawford]

That whole block needs to be redeveloped.

This is a good start, but the 42nd St. frontage also needs to go. There appear to be at least two other tower assemblages on this block.

[NYguy]

Chris Balestra, the chief investment officer at Taconic, said his firm, which is managing the development of the property, will demolish the office building and a raise a roughly 35-story rental apartment building on both lots.

I would prefer hotel rather than residential at that location. But at least it's getting developed.

[yankeesfan1000]

Originally Posted by Crawford

...There appear to be at least two other tower assemblages on this block.

Care to elaborate?

Side note, even though this is only 35 stories, the lot is pretty enormous, including the office building. This is going to have a lot of units.

[JMKeynes]

Originally Posted by Crawford

That whole block needs to be redeveloped.

This is a good start, but the 42nd St. frontage also needs to go. There appear to be at least two other tower assemblages on this block.

I agree. That Duane Reade and the adjacent porn shops look like crap.

[NYguy]

https://zap.planning.nyc.gov/projects/2019M0352

Private Application for a Special Permit to increase height for a through-lot along 42nd Street in the Special Clinton District.

Addresses: 311 WEST 42 STREET , 305 WEST 42 STREET