Rafael Vinoly to design Vornado’s new Meatpacking building

432 Park architect to draw up plans for 10-story, mixed-use project at 61 Ninth Ave.

From left: Steve Roth, the Prince Lumber site at 61 Ninth Avenue and Rafael Vinoly
From left: Steve Roth, the Prince Lumber site at 61 Ninth Avenue and Rafael Vinoly

Vornado Realty Trust and Aurora Capital Associates tapped Rafael Vinoly, the architect behind Midtown’s 432 Park Avenue residential tower, to design a 10-story office-and-retail building on the former Prince Lumber site in the Meatpacking District, according to a permit application filed with the city’s Department of Buildings Tuesday.

The plans list Vinoly’s firm as the architect of record for the site at 61 Ninth Avenue, which the partners acquired through a long-term lease last year for $140 million.

Steve Roth and company plan to build a 10-story, nearly 123,000-square-foot building at the corner of West 15th Street and Ninth Avenue with retail on the first and second floors. Plans call for seven floors of office space above the retail.

Representatives for Vornado declined to comment.

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Located at the northeastern end of the neighborhood across from Chelsea Market, the project is moving forward at time of flux for the Meatpacking District. After years of declining asking rents in the area, landlords are hoping that the opening of the Whitney Museum at 99 Gansevoort Street will finally transform the neighborhood into a 24-hour, daytime shopping destination.

Retail asking rents on 14th Street in the Meatpacking District average $372 per square foot, according to the Real Estate Board of New York’s recently released retail report. That figure is up 10 percent from last year.

Vornado’s office building will be following in the footsteps of the 10-story boutique office tower at 860 Washington Street. Abutting the High Line, Property Group Partners’ building has 114,000 square feet of office, retail and showroom space currently on the market.

In addition to 432 Park, Vinoly is also designing a master plan and a new laboratory for the Rockefeller University.