Grand Central Area Gets Key Rezoning

NEW YORK CITY—The city has proposed a rezoning of the Vanderbilt Corridor, a five-block stretch of Vanderbilt avenue that sits to the west of Grand Central Terminal, in the heart of the country's largest central business district. Further benefitting the area, Council Member Daniel Garodnick also secured several new public space enhancements within the footprint of One Vanderbilt.

In what is expected to be a first, critical step in rezoning the East Midtown business district, the Department of City Planning has proposed zoning changes to spur commercial development along Vanderbilt Avenue, between East 42nd and East 47th streets. These changes will allow for improved circulation in and around Grand Central Terminal and increased opportunity for area landmarks to transfer unused development rights.

The Vanderbilt Corridor—which will be anchored by SL Green Realty Corp.'s proposed One Vanderbilt development—is highly accessible to public transportation, with underground connections linking all five blocks to the Grand Central Terminal complex. In addition, the MTA's East Side Access project, which will bring Long Island Rail Road customers to East Midtown, is under construction below the corridor, with the station terminating directly below One Vanderbilt. This zoning change will be a major step forward in financing essential infrastructure upgrades for the MTA's regional and local transportation network.

Under the One Vanderbilt plan, SL Green will construct new direct subway access points and circulation areas inside and around Grand Central Terminal, easing platform and mezzanine crowding and allowing trains to move more quickly through the station at peak hours. Approximately two thirds of the $220 million in public infrastructure funding will go directly to enhancing connections and circulation spaces along the over-crowded Lexington Avenue 4/5/6 line. One Vanderbilt will also extend the commuter experience to the west, providing direct access to Long Island Railroad East Side Access, Metro North and New York City Transit subway lines.

Working closely with SL Green, Garodnick also secured the creation of a new three-story, public transit entrance on 42nd Street at the base of One Vanderbilt as well as 22% more subgrade circulation space for commuters to move underground from level to level. At a cost of $10 million, these additional improvements bring SL Green's total public investment to $220 million, Garodnick notes.

"It is time to unlock the economic development potential in East Midtown," he says. "The area has gotten stuck in outdated rules, and has lost some of its competitiveness over time. That is going to change today, starting with the Vanderbilt Corridor—where we will open the door to additional density in exchange for much needed improvements to our transit system. We have struck a much better deal for the public, and we will start seeing real benefits to Grand Central in the near term, even before a single new building is occupied."

In rezoning the Vanderbilt Corridor the city will take a “major step toward fulfilling the Mayor's pledge to strengthen the area surrounding Grand Central as the core of a premier CBD, with much-needed upgrades to transit,” adds City Planning Commission chairman Carl Weisbrod. "The One Vanderbilt project, together with anticipated next steps on East Midtown planning, will pave the way for further commercial development in the heart of our premiere business district."

Real estate industry leaders are behind both the new rezoning and SL Green's plan, they assert.

“This proposal will spur the creation of brand new modern office spaces that tenants demand," says Steven Spinola, president of the Real Estate Board of New York. "The incentive to create transit upgrades will ensure that businesses will continue to be attracted to Midtown Manhattan and generate more tax revenue to fund vital city services."

One Vanderbilt will create expansive new public infrastructure to tap into the MTA's brand new East Side Access LIRR connection,” adds Richard Anderson, president, New York Building Congress. “This plan will reinvigorate East Midtown's aging building stock and is exactly the kind of new office development and zoning framework that New York City needs.”

SL Green says the rezoning will allow a project with private and public benefits.

“By combining new state-of-the-art office space and an unprecedented $220 million in public improvements," says CEO Marc Holliday, "this rezoning is a blueprint for building a truly twenty first century central business district."