Vornado Realty Trust is planning to expand its New York residential footprint by building a tower in the Penn District.
The firm told investors that it is eyeing to spend $350 million on the project that would include 475 total apartment units, according to a report from The Real Deal. The site would be located at West 34th Street and Eighth Avenue — right near Penn Station. Additionally, the New York-based firm hopes to reap tax benefits from the state's 485x program, which provides incentives for affordable housing.
The news comes after Steven Roth, CEO of Vornado, told analysts on the company's second-quarter earnings call last month that the company was "well along in the development process" for the planned apartments.
Assuming the company continues moving forward with the project, it would join its major office sites in the Penn District — PENN 2 and PENN 1, which combine for more than 4.2 million square feet of space. Plus, there is also the 1.2 million square foot PENN 11 office, which Vornado recently refinanced for $450 million.
"The PENN District, our 3-block long city within the city continues to amaze and impress tenants and stakeholders," Roth said on the earnings call.
"We sit at top the nexus of Pennsylvania Station and the New York City subway system adjacent to our good neighbors to Manhattan West and Hudson Yards."
To add to that point, Roth said that its leasing in the PENN district during the second quarter came out to 190,000 square feet.
As The Real Deal points out, Vornado has been looking to move away from office and expand more into residential. Throughout New York City, Vornado operates almost 2,000 apartment units currently. The properties include Independence Plaza and the Lucida.
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