Relocating MSG would cost $5B: Think tank

Advocates have pushed for the move as part of the Penn Station redevelopment

A rendering of the redeveloped Penn Station (Flickr / GovernorAndrewCuomo) (inset: Mitchell Moss)
A rendering of the redeveloped Penn Station (Flickr / GovernorAndrewCuomo) (inset: Mitchell Moss)

Moving Madison Square Garden a few blocks away to make for the redeveloped, above-ground Penn Station may seem romantic, but it’ll also be very, very costly, according to new research.

The price tag for relocating the 1960s-era arena would run as high as $5 billion, according to a study by the Rudin Center for Transportation Policy and Management, the Commercial Observer reported.

The report also cited the long timeframe and logistical headaches involved in any move. Advocates of the idea “are pursuing a dream that is unlikely to ever be fulfilled,” the Center’s Mitchell Moss told the Observer. The notion of an above-ground Penn Station, he told the publication, “is another example of architects run wild.”

In 2013, the New York City Council renewed the Garden’s special permit – similar to a lease – for only 10 years, to allow for the possibility that it be relocated.

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Requests for proposals to redevelop Penn Station, the James A. Farley Post Office or both together were due on Friday.

At least 10 developers were reportedly interested in bidding on the project, including Extell Development, Silverstein Properties, Tishman Speyer, JDS Development Group and Brookfield Property Partners, along with Vornado Realty Trust and Related Companies, whom Gov. Andrew Cuomo removed from the project in January, after years of foot-dragging.

Cuomo announced a $3 billion plan to redevelop the area that month, with design-build work expected to be completed within three years. [CO]Ariel Stulberg