One of the city’s most hated structures, the Port Authority Bus Terminal, could soon be a distant memory for beleaguered commuters who brave the long lines, traffic jams and numerous delays.
The Port Authority voted Thursday to hold an international competition to design a new terminal building, with the projected $7 to $10 billion costs largely covered by the construction of a new tower at the current Eighth Avenue site.
The new terminal building will occupy a site one block to the west of the existing terminal, which occupies 625 Eighth Avenue in Midtown. The bistate agency plans to sell the air rights at the current terminal, and estimates that a new tower with condos and commercial space would cover two-thirds of the $10 billion terminal cost, the New York Post reported. According to Property Shark, 625 Eighth Avenue holds 2.3 million square feet of air rights.
No further details of a tower at the existing bus terminal site were immediately made public Thursday, though Port Authority officials said a winning design for the new terminal will be selected by September 2016.
A Port Authority study earlier this year estimated a full-scale replacement project would take 15 years to complete. The current structure was completed in 1950 and is well past its capacity. By 2040, ridership is expected to jump another 51 percent. [NYP] – Ariel Stulberg