“The buildings are taller on this side of the Hudson,” was a favorite expression of famed horse trainer Woody Stephens. And the football stadium is grander, could be the refrain of New York Jets owner Woody Johnson. And the Javits Center? State of the art, of course. And who is paying, could be the question being asked by New York City taxpayers. That depends on who one asks and maybe what day of the week.
THE PLAN
Under the city’s ambitious plans for the far West Side, new office and apartment buildings, a new Jets stadium, an expanded Javits Center and a No. 7 subway line that extends to 11th Avenue will all be a reality in the next ten years, in time for the 2012 Olympics if the city lands them. The area affected would run from 28th Street to 42nd Street, west of Eighth Avenue. Despite the long timeline, the need for some of the changes, like the expansion of the Javits Center, are pressing now, some say.
“The Javits Center is only ranked the 19th largest convention facility in the entire country,” explains Barry Mann, formerly general manager of The New Yorker Hotel and now director of the hotel group at Bernstein Real Estate. “New York City loses 65 to 70 conventions every year because it has smaller facilities than cities one-tenth the size. That makes no sense.”
A new report is set to come out this month that will address the need for expanding the convention center. Commissioned by the convention center itself, it will update previous studies designed to increase support for expansion that were done in 1997 and 2000. Officials were mum about what the report might say, but one said that the center “wouldn t be asking for an update if things hadn t changed a bit.”
The study will look at linking the center to a hotel and a “fixed-seating facility,” like the new Jets stadium proposed for the area. Mann said the idea of linking up a new stadium with the convention center would make sense for both. “If a new Jets Stadium could be multi-use, I d be in favor of it. I don t believe a facility that will be used for only 12 or so Sundays a year is worth building.” But he also added that the Olympics alone might justify construction. “If having the 2012 Olympics in New York is contingent on having the stadium built, I can see it. The Games would be a great economic and public relations boost for New York.”
Agreeing with Mann is Andrew Weiner, a senior real estate partner at the law firm of Morrison and Foerster who worked under famed urban planner Alexander Garvin. “I m also in favor of the proposal to build a stadium which connects to the Javits Center and can be used for showroom and convention space,” he said “A football-only stadium is a lost opportunity. But I believe a stadium that accommodates the Jets and is multi-purpose, particularly if it ties into the Javits Center, is a brilliant urban solution. What you need is a stadium that is in close proximity to a convention center, which isn t the norm. And you need an urban stadium,” he said, adding that generally wasn t the approach in the 1960s and 1970s. “Camden Yards, to a degree, changed that. What you are trying to do is create an entirely new business and residential district on the far side connected along the 42nd street corridor that is connected to the central business district. The design will fail if it s self-contained.”
Bill Dorsey, president of the Cincinnati-based Association of Luxury Suite Directors, said that while New York might not need to build a stadium to enhance its image like a mid-sized city might, the project is still important. “New York and Los Angeles are unique because they don t need a new stadium to complete the city and make it look major league,” he said. “On the other hand, you would think that those cities would want to enhance their reputations by having the best sports venues in the world. And with a multi-use facility, it will be a revenue generator for New York in attracting conferences and other events. New York has the worst venue development record of any city in the country. Privately financed is usually the best way. Both Pac Bell in San Francisco and Gillette Stadium in Boston were built with private monies.”
Such funding issues are, of course, a major question, and haven t been fully worked out. City plans call for spending $1 billion to double the size of the Javits Center. For the stadium, the Jets have said that the team is willing to pay for a major share of the $1.2 billion cost, but the city would have to pay for the retractable roof and the platform over the rail yards.
As present, PILOT (payment in lieu of taxes) has emerged as the preferred method of financing, according to Deputy Mayor Daniel L. Doctoroff. A new public agency would collect PILOTs from developers planning to build in the neighborhood. The new agency could also collect revenues from zoning business bonuses, which developers would pay to build larger buildings than zoning would allow, and through the sale of air rights from adjacent parcels.
Garment workers say the city s plan to develop the far West Side, eventually aiming for 28 million square feet of commercial space and 12 million square feet of residential space over the next 40 years, will harm their industry and drive jobs from Manhattan. The area includes part of the Garment District running from W. 35th Street to W. 41st Street, between Eighth and Ninth avenues. While current zoning carves it out for manufacturing, the new plan would allow office and residential development. Some of the district s 15,000 to 20,000 garment jobs would leave as landlords converted property or sold it for development, union members say.