The Municipal Art Society of New York has released its top 11 initiatives for 2011, on which it plans to focus its advocacy and programming efforts this year. First on the list of priorities is completing the redevelopment of Moynihan Station and Hudson Yards, followed by the preserving the Garment District as an “ecosystem for the fashion industry,” crafting a plan for interim housing in case a natural disaster strikes the city and rethinking the future of public housing. Also on the list were NYU’s expansion, the next phase of Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s PlaNYC and Coney Island. Click here for the full rundown. TRD [more]

With the first phase of the $267 million Moynihan Station project set to begin this month, developers Related Companies and Vornado Realty Trust are turning their attention toward retail and hotel tenants, in an effort to round out the six-floor rail station project, according to Crain’s. A 200-room boutique hotel could call the eastern half of the building home, according to a Moynihan Station Development spokesperson, while the western portion of the building — now known as the James A. Farley Post Office — will contain retail shops. Big-box stores are expected to occupy the upper floors of the building, while smaller retailers may move in on the lower levels. If the boutique hotel works out, however, it could face some stiff competition — last month, a South Carolina-based hotelier OTO Development announced that it purchased a Penn Station-adjacent parcel of land for $21.9 million, where it plans to build a hotel of its own. [Crain's]

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The state and the city have re-entered negotiations with Vornado Realty Trust and the Related Companies over the sale of 1 million square feet of air rights for the new Moynihan Station, according to Tim Gilchrist, the new president of the Moynihan Station Development Corp. The developers entered into an agreement with the state in 2006 to develop the Farley Post Office into a new train station and to use the air rights to build an adjacent mixed-use development topped by a 67-story tower, Crain’s reported. But the plan, which included $110 million from the sale of the air rights, was never approved by the Public Authorities Control Board. Instead, the recession forced the state to split the development into two phases. Eventually, federal stimulus funding provided the final $83 million needed to build the $267 million first phase. The initial construction contracts were approved Monday, and now attention is turning to funding the $1 billion second phase.The Farley building — which occupies the square block between 31st and 33rd streets and Eighth and Ninth avenues — comes with 2.5 million square feet of transferable air rights. Related and Vornado have dibs on the first 1 million square feet, but the remaining 1.5 million are up for grabs. The agreement that gives Related and Vornado exclusive development rights expires in 2012. [Crain's]

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Madison Square Garden

Madison Square Garden, currently at the beginning stages of an $850 million renovation, would move one block west under a revived proposal by Vornado Realty Trust’s Steven Roth that is gaining traction amongst arena and city officials, the New York Times reported. MSG’s 5,600-square-foot theater is slated to close temporarily at the end of June for the first stage of construction. Roth, who controls much of the area, including 1 Penn Plaza and the Hotel Pennsylvania, reportedly told officials that the renovation would be more expensive and disruptive than building a new arena altogether. Furthermore, he contended, it won’t hold a candle to Brooklyn’s planned Barclays Center for the Nets even when the job is done. Roth’s plans call for MSG to move into the James A. Farley Post Office across the street, which would also become part of an expanded transit hub called Moynihan Station. The current arena would be demolished and rebuilt as a retail mall. [NYT]

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Skidmore, Owings & Merrill have signed on as the architecture firm for the Moynihan Station, a project that would transform the James A. Farley Post Office, which sits adjacent to Penn Station, into a main railway hub. Although the official contract signing occurred today, Skidmore has long been involved with the project, taking a key role in the station’s evolving design since the 1990s, with the firm’s David Childs designing an early version of the station 10 years ago. The project, which received $83.3 million from the American Reinvestment and Recovery Act last month, is set to begin this year, with the architecture contract signing marking a major move forward in the plans. [Crain's]

From left: Pret A Manger is moving in on the corner of 29th Street and Seventh Avenue and Fresh & Co. is a recent addition to the neighborhood on the corner of 30th Street and Seventh Avenue

Once thought of as a transit hub for travelers moving in and out of Penn Station, a strip of Seventh Avenue is slowly gaining retailer clout. Brokers say the stretch of retail from 29th to 34th streets is improving because of shifting real estate values, large development projects on the horizon and the influence of one property owner: Vornado Realty Trust. In the last few months, the quality of retailers in the area appears to have shifted. Fresh & Co., an upscale — primarily lunch — eatery, opened several months ago at the corner of 30th Street and Seventh Avenue. Pret A Manger, meanwhile, has plywood up on the corner of West 29th Street. And, within a couple of months after Supermac macaroni and cheese joint’s closing last November, a new vegan sit-down restaurant opened in the location on Seventh Avenue between 29th and 30th streets. And, as these high-end eateries crop up, some retail experts say that the neighborhood is turning a corner. [more]

The stalled Moynihan Station project has just received $83.3 million in federal stimulus cash, according to DNA Info, enough to round out the funding needed for the first phase of construction. The project, which will transform the post office adjacent to Penn Station into a rail hub, has already accrued $140 million in funds from the Metropolitan Transportation Authority and federal agencies. The first phase will include rail construction and renovations to Penn Station. The second phase, for which funding has not yet been acquired, will involve the renovation of the post office as a travel hub.

Jazzy renderings are all well and good, but which ambitious city projects will actually come to fruition? Crain’s put six of the most talked-about developments under the microscope — the Hudson Yards development, Moynihan Station, Javits Center, Willets Point, Atlantic Yards and Ground Zero — examining which was most likely to go from rendering to reality. Hudson Yards gets a top rating from Crain’s, which pointed out that the city has actually out-paced the private developer, Related Companies, also involved in the project. The plans for Ground Zero, however, appear “grim,” with delays likely to continue hampering the project’s progress. The remaining four projects have mixed outlooks. The well-tempered expectations for the Javits Center could help matters in the long-run, although numerous past attempts to move the expansion project forward have ended in failure. As for Moynihan Station, it may be too early to tell, but Crain’s pointed out that the developers are now taking a “phased approach” toward garnering approval, a move that could help them garner approval and financing. Willets Point and Atlantic Yards, meanwhile, both suffer from a lack of community support and financing difficulties.

Mass transit dollars need to keep rolling in to keep real estate development in New York City, and the country, moving, according to industry experts. The correlation between the health of mass transit and the long-term condition of surrounding real estate on a local level as well as nationwide was the focus at this morning’s Baruch College panel, “Transformative Infrastructure: Key Decisions on Transportation.” “Transit is a bellwether for urban decay,” said Christopher Boylan, deputy executive director of community affairs at the Metropolitan Transit Authority, pointing to the parallel improvements in transportation and quality of life in New York City since the 1970s. Much like crime and poverty have improved in the city over the decades, Boylan said that the transit system has shown marked progress. “The fact that you can get on the Lexington line and understand the announcement was a wonder eight or nine years ago,” Boylan said. “It’s not anymore.” [more]

Speaker Christine Quinn (center) will push harder to redevelop Farley
Post Office (left) to replace Penn Station which she compared
unfavorably to Union Station in D.C. (right)

City Council speaker Christine Quinn told contractors and builders at a
morning breakfast today that the Moynihan Station planners need to
consider smaller or staggered plans, despite the fact that Pennsylvania
Station is an eyesore. “At this point we need to come up with a plan even if it is smaller or
phased in,” for the project located in her city council district, she
said. Quinn was speaking to members of the New York Building Congress at its
industry breakfast forum at the Hilton New York Hotel in Midtown today. The Moynihan Station plan envisions converting the James A. Farley Post
Office on Eighth Avenue and 33rd Street to a rail transit hub, part of
a wider vision to transform the Penn Station area, with a new Madison
Square Garden structure and office towers. [more]