Rendering of Grand Central Apple Store

[Updated at 4.50 p.m. with information on the store's construction] The Metropolitan Transportation Authority has quietly
released the renderings of the new Apple Store planned for Grand
Central Terminal, on the agency’s website. The images (see above and below) show what the 23,000-square-foot
property on the terminal’s east balcony could look like. The MTA’s
finance committee approved the deal for Apple to lease the property at
the end of July. Apple is taking over the space from Charlie Palmer’s
Metrazur restaurant, and will be paying significantly higher rent: $1.1 million compared to $263,997. Apple
will also be making improvements to part of the leased property at its
own cost, including the installation of an elevator.

Walking through Grand Central late on Saturday night,The Real Deal spotted that construction on the store has begun (photos are available on our Facebook page). Workmen seemed to be removing the furnishings — mostly tables and chairs — from the former Métrazur space and erecting scaffolding. The construction manager declined any further access to the site. [more]

From the August issue: Bureaucrats may soon find that their bureaus are just a little bit smaller.
As the city, state and federal governments tighten their belts, brokers are seeing them reduce the amount of office space they lease. And with several prominent government agencies studying ways to reduce their footprints further, some insiders are beginning to worry about the impact that those cuts are going to have on Manhattan’s commercial leasing market.
The uncertainty extends to some nonprofit organizations that depend on government funding, commercial agents said.
As of June 30, government, education and social services accounted for 7.6 percent of office space usage in Manhattan and 11.8 percent of new leasing, according to Cushman & Wakefield. While the numbers were largely stable from a year earlier, both the city and state are cutting jobs, and big tenants like the Metropolitan Transportation Authority are involved in high-profile consolidation efforts.
Brokers say government agencies are now putting every square foot in their portfolios under a magnifying glass. [more]

The Metropolitan Transportation Authority’s deal to bring both the Apple Store and Danny Meyer’s Shake Shack to Grand Central Terminal moved one step closer to reality this afternoon when the agency’s finance committee gave the plan its official go-ahead. The Apple Store will take over the terminal’s east balcony from Charlie Palmer’s Metrazur restaurant, as well as the northeast balcony, which is currently vacant, according to the agenda from today’s meeting. The initial term of the roughly 23,000-square-foot lease will be 10 years with the option for two, five-year renewal periods. Shake Shack’s 10-year lease will be for a 2,270-square-foot space in the dining concourse. [more]

Shake Shack is eyeing a space at Grand Central Terminal, a spokesperson told DNAinfo, and has filed its application with the Metropolitan Transportation Authority.

“As we expand Shake Shack we are looking to make our home in vibrant locations throughout New York City and beyond,” the spokesperson said. “We are interested in exploring the idea of bringing a Shake Shack to Grand Central, and have responded to the MTA’s [request for proposals].”

Shake Shack is reportedly interested specifically in the Zocalo restaurant space on the Lower Level Dining Concourse, according to Gothamist. [more]

Ten short years ago the Metropolitan Transportation Authority was scratching and clawing for whatever high-profile tenant it could land in the newly renovated Grand Central Terminal. Today, the MTA has a strict process for approving whatever companies apply for space in the transit hub.

According to the New York Times, the agency can be a difficult landlord as it doesn’t display any loyalty to tenants whose leases expire — current tenants must re-apply in a manner similar to any prospective tenants — and insists on the right to approve materials, design plans and colors that shop owners use.
[more]

Four Westchester train stations are set to hit the rental market this week as the Metropolitan Transportation Authority attempts to transform its excess space and slash upkeep costs. According to the Wall Street Journal, the agency is seeking tenants to take over its brick station buildings in Peekskill, Tarrytown, Ossining and Port Chester, which were originally built to house waiting rooms and ticket booths, but which were made relatively obsolete with the advent of electronic ticket machines. The hope is that restaurateurs and retailers will want to take advantage of the foot traffic those spaces offer in exchange for covering the maintenance of bathrooms and waiting areas. [more]

Now that Albany lawmakers have adjourned without doling out any additional funds to the still-incomplete Second Avenue Subway project, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority is asking residents living along the future transit line to help lobby for the money. According to the Post, MTA officials are worried about running out of funds by the end of the year, which would hold up their ability to move forward with three new stations at 72nd, 86th and 96th streets. Bidding for those contracts is supposed to begin within months, but William Goodrich, the senior vice president of capital construction at the MTA, said that “without additional funding, we won’t have the ability to procure and award the remaining three contracts.” [more]

Apple could be coming to the Grand Central balcony

Apple is among the retailers interested in renting a 15,320-square-foot space in Grand Central Terminal that comprises two adjacent balconies on the north and east sides of the transit hub, according to the Wall Street Journal. The Metropolitan Transportation Authority is seeking a single renter for the space, part of which is currently occupied by Metrazur restaurant, which is set to close July 1. Though Charlie Palmer, the celebrity chef who runs the restaurant, said the location is “doing well,” he is seeking to profit off the money a new tenant would pay him to vacate the lease, which is not set to expire until 2019. According to the Journal, the MTA hopes and expects that Apple will get in on the bidding. [more]

Once among the top construction firms in New York City, HRH Construction, the 86-year-old company that built Citigroup’s Midtown headquarters and many of Donald Trump’s metro-area projects, is now mired in bankruptcy court and fighting off allegations of fraud. Crain’s reported that HRH’s downfall began in the early 2000s during the construction of 2 Broadway, a building owned by the Metropolitan Transportation Authority. The project went $300 million over budget, thanks in part to HRH overbilling the construction costs, according to arbitrators who ordered the firm to repay $6.5 million in 2007. [more]

The Metropolitan Transportation Authority has put its Madison Avenue headquarters and two adjacent buildings on the market in an attempt to close its massive budget gap and expects to bring in upwards of $150 million in a sale. According to the New York Times, the three, 20-story buildings, at 341, 345 and 347 Madison Avenue could fetch at least that much thanks to the opportunity to purchase air rights from Grand Central. A buyer could opt to demolish the existing structures and use those air rights to erect a taller-than-usual skyscraper on the site. The MTA purchased 347 Madison for $11.9 million in 1979 and acquired the other two properties in 1991 for a combined $36 million. [more]