MTA Looks to Unload Midtown Headquarters

NEW YORK CITY-The Metropolitan Transportation Authority, the New York Times reported Thursday, says that it is planning to sell or lease its midtown headquarters. A sale could net the beleaguered, financially strapped organization more than $150 million.

If the MTA releases the buildings at 341, 345 and 347 Madison Ave., the spots will enter the Grand Central submarket, which has a direct vacancy rate of 10.3%–second in Midtown only to the Madison/Fifth submarket, according to first quarter data for the year from Cushman & Wakefield. Still, the buildings provide potential bonuses that would no doubt prove to be attractive to buyers and tenants alike, such as access to Grand Central Terminal, which an estimated 750,000 people pass through on a daily basis.