Developer Sheldon Solow and his planned East Side development on the former Con Ed site

The state is now faced with paying an estimated $250 million in benefits to developer Sheldon Solow, whose $4 billion, 9.2-acre East Side development project on a former Consolidated Edison site is considered a brownfield cleanup project, after a state appellate court decision yesterday. An old state development program gave developers building on polluted sites a proportion of development costs, but it was amended last year to limit those benefits. Solow had applied to take part in the program, and was accepted, under the Pataki administration, but the Spitzer administration reversed that decision, prompting Solow to sue for his $250 million award. The state appellate court decision upheld a lower court decision in Solow’s favor, denying the Department of Environmental Conservation its appeal. [NYO] Comments

The long-delayed renovation plans for the 23-year-old Jacob K. Javits
Convention Center received final approval yesterday from the Public
Authorities Control Board in Albany for construction to begin on the
$463 million project. Plans for the original project were shelved
during the Spitzer administration when original calculations put the
price at over $3 billion. Hotel Association of New York member hotels
added a $1.50 nightly surcharge to all guest bills to raise an
additional $150 million for the renovations, which are expected to
create 9,000 jobs. Some improvements to the center will include repairs
to the leaky roof and a 100,000-square-foot expansion, which will be
used for more exhibition and food service areas. The expansion will be
built on the block bounded by 39th and 40th streets and 11th and 12th
avenues. [more]