NEW YORK | 1515 Broadway Redevelopment

[NYguy]

Originally Posted by ChiND

What massive new screen was just approved? Will it be on the Morgan Stanley building?

1551 Broadway was approved for its signage modifications on a small lot.

[streetscaper]

I somewhat agree with BusyBee, I like the big screens, but I think we're losing the intricate 3D texture that keeps a viewer's eye honed in on and soaking up the interesting details of a space. It's the same argument for smaller lots and classical architectural styles that is the bedrock of good urbanism.

The screen that was at 1551 Broadway was fine and perhaps better because it provided more of that 3D texture:

[ChiND]

Originally Posted by NYguy

1551 Broadway was approved for its signage modifications on a small lot.

Thanks. That looks great.

[NYguy]

https://w42st.com/post/from-casino-clash-to-plan-b-sl-green-pivots-on-the-future-of-1515-broadway/

From Casino Clash to Plan B — SL Green Pivots on the Future of 1515 Broadway


by Phil O'Brien
December 16, 2025

With New York State awarding its three downstate casino licenses to projects in Queens and the Bronx — and none in Manhattan — SL Green now plans to transform 1515 Broadway, above the Minskoff Theatre, into a massive hotel and entertainment complex instead.

In September, Holliday was visibly furious after the Community Advisory Committee voted down SL Green’s Caesars Palace Times Square proposal, partnered with Caesars Entertainment and JAY-Z’s Roc Nation.

Calling the outcome “a despicable display of cowardice,” Holliday accused elected officials of denying the city jobs and investment. A month later, he was calmer but still defiant, telling investors the casino idea was “not completely dead.”

That door now appears firmly shut. “All of the Manhattan proposals were not accepted,” Holliday told investors this month. “They all failed. It’s a great loss for the city — but we’re going to move past that.”

The centerpiece of SL Green’s new plan is to convert 32 office floors into 992 hotel rooms — a relatively straightforward change, because of the building’s layout, explained Executive Vice President Brett Herschenfeld.

One of the most immediate changes could be highly visible to anyone standing in Times Square.

SL Green now controls the windows above the Minskoff Theatre that currently display The Lion King signage — a detail Herschenfeld emphasized repeatedly.

“We now control the rights to all the windows showing The Lion King advertisement,” he said. “How can we create enormous value in its place? Very simple.”

The company plans to wrap those windows in massive digital screens, similar to the Marriott Marquis next door.

Herschenfeld called Times Square “the most robust advertising market in the world,” and added: “All I have to do is reprogram the screens and we have the best signage at the center of the bowtie.”

Beyond the hotel and signage, SL Green is floating a suite of entertainment ideas that echo — but stop short of — the casino vision. Plans include a new SUMMIT observation deck at the top of 1515 Broadway, similar to the wildly popular SUMMIT One Vanderbilt (which SL Green developed and runs), as well as immersive attractions at street level.

“Virtual ride technology has become so real that you feel like you’ve traveled the distance of a Coney Island roller coaster,” Herschenfeld said, “but yet you remain in the confines of a 10,000-square-foot room.”

With podium floor plates of roughly 60,000 square feet, he suggested SL Green could build “an entire theme park of the future at the base of 1515.”

[NYguy]

JANUARY 17, 2026

[NYguy]

Can’t get into it right now, but just saw this….



https://nypost.com/2026/01/22/lifestyle/why-tenants-are-inking-deals-in-nycs-unbuilt-office-towers/

By Lois Weiss
Jan. 22, 2026

SL Green, the city’s largest building owner, is in discussions with a “great” office tenant for 1515 Broadway — where its lease with Skydance has over three years left to run. And if that doesn’t work out, the tower will be redeveloped as a hotel with a larger entertainment podium that could host virtual Disneyland-like rides.

[Crawford]

That article also mentions Extell's 570 Fifth, which is being redesigned and enlarged to 1.6 million square feet. Hopefully this means a much taller tower.

[Busy Bee]

Hopefully Skydance can sign their next lease for 300,000 square feet in Hell.

[NYguy]

Originally Posted by Busy Bee

Hopefully Skydance can sign their next lease for 300,000 square feet in Hell.

They're supposed to be moving to California.

[NYguy]

https://www.crainsnewyork.com/real-estat...ded-after-losing-casino-gamble-20260421/

SL Green’s 1515 Broadway downgraded after losing casino gamble


By Aaron Elstein
April 21, 2026

After rolling snake-eyes in its quest for a casino license, a credit agency downgraded the SL Green tower at 1515 Broadway over worries that the aging Times Square office building could eventually become vacant.

“We have heightened concerns about the property,” S&P Global said in a report Monday.

The ratings firm noted that, although the building is fully occupied now, sole tenant Paramount Global is shrinking its workforce and indicated it will relocate its headquarters to Los Angeles after being acquired by Skydance Media last year. S&P estimated the 57-story, 1.7-million-square-foot-property at the corner of West 45th Street is worth $500 million, or less than half its pre-pandemic value of $1.1 billion. The company also said it could be difficult for owner SL Green to refinance the building when its $675 million mortgage comes due in two years.

SL Green insists S&P’s concerns are misplaced.

“1515 Broadway is an extraordinary, well-located asset that is leased through 2031 and perfectly positioned for a new vision as a multi-use project with entertainment, hospitality, premier office space and, at the very top, a new SUMMIT Times Square,” a spokesman said, referring to an observation deck similar to the company’s SUMMIT One Vanderbilt. “This new concept builds on the investment we’ve already made to advance a new vision for 1515 Broadway that will achieve all of our goals for that building and for the district.”

However, S&P cautioned that the feasibility of and funding for converting the tower into an entertainment venue without a casino are “uncertain.”

[chitowncyclone]

SL Green would also open an observatory similar to Summit One Vanderbilt — a tourist attraction at the REIT's One Vanderbilt skyscraper — atop 1515 Broadway.

I wonder how this will fare considering The Torch with its own observation deck coming up right next door.

[NYguy]

Originally Posted by chitowncyclone

I wonder how this will fare considering The Torch with its own observation deck coming up right next door.

One wouldn't affect the other. Each would be a destination.

[NYguy]

Meanwhile, this is still in a state of flux, depending on if SL Green in fact loses Paramount from 1515 Broadway...



https://finance.yahoo.com/quote/SLG/earnings/SLG-Q2-2026-earnings_call-650312.html

Steve Sakwa
Analyst

Great. Thanks. Marc, I don't know if you could maybe just comment on 1515 Broadway. I know you were disappointed with the casino outcome, but have you guys kind of given more thought to sort of the long-term plans for that building? If so, when do you think that kind of takes more shape?


Marc Holliday
Chairman and CEO

Yeah. Look, we shook off the disappointment back, I guess it was last September, I want to say. Amazing how time goes so quickly. It's a shame because I think we would've been close to open when we all would be walking into the casino. Since then, we've had the opportunity to assess a lot of plans. What I've come to appreciate even more is that we're in a very good spot, I think, with 1515. One, Paramount, after being acquired by Skydance, and now having an agreement to merge in with or acquire Warner Bros. to create, I think, one of the most powerful and largest media companies in the world.

One of the most powerful media companies in the world, puts 1515 squarely back in the mix for longer term use by that combined entity. I'll call it Skydance for the moment. I don't know that they have their plans all sorted out yet. My guess is not from the conversations we had, and also given that that merger is not yet closed. Certainly, the combined entity is going to employ, I think, more than 4,000 people. I think a lot of those jobs can and will stay, hopefully, in New York City, and we would expect to be a net beneficiary of that.

With all that said, you have to remember that the debt is on rapid amortization over there. At the expiration of the Paramount lease, we have very low debt outstanding on that particular mortgage, which again, gives us flexibility to consider other types of conversion options to maximize entertainment uses, which I think is really highest and best for Times Square and for that asset. Signage opportunities far in a way above what currently exists, and really make it a mixed-use destination, entertainment, theater, live theater, live music, media office capital of Times Square.

I think there's going to be a lot more to say on that. Time-wise, Steve, I think is next year, because I think, like I said, until things are clearer with our primary tenant over in that building, or sole tenant in that building, there won't be a lot to do. I think as soon as that transaction's culminated, we could be very active over there. I'm very positive on that particular property right now.