It’s déjà vu all over again. Financial firms are in talks with Vornado Realty Trust for its proposed 3-million-square-foot jumbo skyscraper known as 15 Penn Plaza, which would replace the dowager Hotel Pennsylvania on Seventh Avenue.
“Morgan Stanley is looking very hard at [15] Penn Plaza,” our Midtown spy reported.
According to another scout, Vornado is presenting new building designs and not just the original 1,216-foot- tall Pelli Clarke Pelli design that passed New York City muster a decade ago.
That approval had ticked off the Empire State Building’s owners as it would elbow its way onto the skyline just 900 feet away.
But that was before the world changed and Merrill Lynch’s imminent deal at the tower evaporated. It was also before collaborative, open-plan work spaces and outdoor spaces became millennial must-haves.
“Steve Roth understands space and architecture better than most developers and, if he was going to restart the project, any tenant that size would be part and party to that design,” explained another source, referring to Vornado’s chief executive.
“It’s not just the look and feel of it, but does someone want AC under the floor and not on top? Whoever the tenant is will have ideas of their own. It’s a big, beautiful building with large floor plates in the base that would be great for collaboration,” the source said.
After a question from an analyst on Vornado’s May 2 conference call, Roth said, “There is stuff going on with the Hotel Pennsylvania and stuff going on with 2 Penn.”
Two Penn, you might recall, sits opposite the hotel on Seventh Avenue and provides a gloomy entrance to both Penn Station and Madison Square Garden. It is slated for a dramatic base redo designed by Bjarke Ingels Group (BIG) and a redevelopment to tie in with One Penn and create a complex with 4.2 million square feet.
Vornado, Related Cos. and Skanska will also close by next month on the purchase of the Farley post office, where they are already pitching a 750,000-square-foot office space at the new Moynihan Train Hall.
Another global money reservoir likely to have a connection with Roth is Deutsche Bank. Its home at 60 Wall St. was recapitalized when Singapore sovereign wealth fund GIC took a 95 percent stake in January, with Paramount Group holding the rest.
The owners will likely try to renew the Deutsche lease, which expires in early June 2022 but has no fewer than five, five-year extension options. The first decision comes by early October 2020, public documents show.
Vornado is also facing competition for the few tenants like Morgan Stanley and Deutsche Bank that need a million square feet and trading floors.
Both are likely talking to Tishman Speyer about the BIG-designed 66 Hudson Blvd. — known as the Spiral — and to Related for a spot at 50 Hudson Yards.
If you think anyone would comment on the matter, I have a bridge you can buy. Stay tuned.
