At a meeting where the money for infrastructure projects flowed like salmon of Capistrano, the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey decided to build a new Midtown bus terminal to replace the much-loathed Facility On Eighth Avenue.
The agency rejected the idea of moving the depot to Secaucus, New Jersey, but where the new terminal would be located is up in the air.
Estimates for a new terminal hover around $10 billion, but like the overhaul of LaGuardia Airport — a $5.3 billion project that some say is really $4 billion — officials could not agree on the price tag.
Patrick Foye, the authority’s executive director, alluded at the agency’s board meeting Thursday that the new terminal could cost $15 billion and this lead to a terse exchange with chairman John Degnan, the New York Times reported.
Degnan, who suggested again recently to the authority should sell their real estate holdings to fund infrastructure projects, said that figure was “preposterously” high and told Foye to be quiet, according to the Times.
“The motion has passed,” said Degnan, according to the Times. “Keep it to yourself.”
The overhaul for the Port Authority Bus Terminal between West 40th and West 42nd streets on Eighth Avenue has been in the works for some time. Port Authority officials have mulled a plan that involves selling 2.3 million square feet in air rights at the current terminal and constructing a condo tower with retail space, which could cover a significant portion of the new terminal’s costs.
The agency recently hired JRT Realty Group and Cushman & Wakefield to perform a retail makeover of the current facility, with new tenants to occupy 150,000 square feet of space. [NYT and WSJ] — Dusica Sue Malesevic