Madison Square Garden this spring nixed a proposal by the Related Companies to move the Midtown arena a few avenues west.
The Hudson Yards developer pitched a design for a new arena, this time built above a casino in the fast-developing Midtown West neighborhood, but MSG directors disliked the idea, Crain’s reported Monday.
The news of Related’s rejected overture adds intrigue to the drama playing out in the Penn Station area.
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Relocating the sports and entertainment arena would clear the way for a full renovation of the nation’s busiest transit hub. The relocation idea has been tossed around repeatedly over the years, including late last year, when it was dismissed by the Hochul administration as too complicated.
Gov. Kathy Hochul shut down any further talks between MSG and Hudson Yards this year in order to avoid additional complications to her Penn Station area development plan, according to Crain’s.
The governor’s megaproject, which would create 18 million square feet of commercial development and 1,800 residential units across eight sites around Penn Station, was approved by the Empire State Development board last week. The plan now goes to the Public Authorities Control Board for what is essentially a rubber stamp.
The state says it will use tax revenue from new development to help pay for Penn Station renovations. Vornado Realty Trust is slated to be the primary developer of the 10-tower project.
For now, MSG’s primary undertaking in the area is the redevelopment of its Vornado-owned headquarters at Two Penn Plaza, a block from the arena. MSG Entertainment signed a 20-year lease in November, amid Vornado’s renovations, to maintain its corporate headquarters.
Penn Station’s detractors have long called for relocation of the Garden to allow for light and air in the station, and perhaps fewer columns. Critics of that idea say it would cost several billion dollars to move the arena and the benefit would be little more than a giant skylight.
The Garden’s operating permit expires next year. The City Council had renewed it for 10 years in 2013 to give state officials time to negotiate a relocation, but MSG and the Cuomo administration showed no interest in the idea and neither has the Hochul administration.
— Cailley LaPara