After years since the purchase of the site at 350 Park Avenue by a joint venture including Citadel and Vornado Realty Trust, major news has just dropped. Not only is the construction slated to start this spring, but Citadel CEO Ken Griffin has bought a 60 percent stake in the joint venture that owns the site, with plans to transform it into a 1.85 million square foot office tower, Vornado's management team confirmed in a fourth quarter earnings call on Tuesday.
Originally, Citadel and Vornado bought the air rightsfor $164 million in a deal reported by PincusCo in December 2023. Griffin was given a 60 percent option, which has now been confirmed to have been exercised.
Steven Roth, chairman of the board and CEO of Vornado, confirmed on the call that Citadel will serve as the anchor tenant at 350 Park Avenue. Also, construction is slated to begin in April, according to Roth.
The one thing that isn't certain is how much space Citadel will operate at the property now. Originally, it was reported that Citadel would take about 850,000 square feet.
"These are conversations that are still taking place," Roth said in response to a question asked by Citigroup to see if Citadel was potentially interested in taking more space at 350 Park Avenue.
"The Citadel team is still making up their mind as to what exactly their requirements are. And as soon as we know and they become firm and agreed to, you will know, but not now."
In the redevelopment project, which will demolish a 30-story tower, Vornado is pledging between $300 and $400 million, which would represent 36 or 40 percent interest, according to Roth. Under the original announced deal, Rudin was slated to own four percent of the JV.
The site is near Grand Central Station and the iconic luxury retail on Fifth Avenue.
In the fourth quarter, Vornado announced it completed 960,000 square feet in office leases, with occupancy in the market averaging 91.2 percent.
© Arc, All Rights Reserved. Request academic re-use from www.copyright.com. All other uses, submit a request to TMSalesOperations@arc-network.com. For more information visit Asset & Logo Licensing.