The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey is considering using eminent domain to build a new Midtown bus terminal to replace its aging facility at 625 Eighth Avenue.
Recently, the bi-state agency took a step forward by committing to build the new depot, which could cost upwards of $10 billion, by including it in its capital plan.
Last year, the agency outlined five concepts for a new terminal and expects participants in its current design competition to base their submissions off those ideas, Crain’s reported. The authority could demolish the existing facility and build a new terminal west or expand and rebuild the existing terminal, according to Crain’s.
Each concept does have one thing in common: They all involve the seizing and then demolishing of private property on Ninth Avenue, between West 39th and 41st streets, according to Crain’s.
Eminent domain is not an easy road to take, and often stirs controversy and lawsuits. It can often add time and money to a project.
The overhaul of the terminal between West 40th and 42nd streets on Eighth Avenue has been on the table for some time now, with the agency considering selling 2.3 million square feet in air rights at the depot and constructing a condo tower with retail space to pay for some costs of a new facility. The Port Authority hired JRT Realty Group and Cushman & Wakefield to perform a retail makeover of the current terminal, with new tenants to occupy 150,000 square feet of space.
In January, electronics chain P.C. Richard & Son is suing Forest City Ratner over the eminent domain condemnation of the retailer’s Downtown Brooklyn store at 590 Atlantic Avenue, where the developer plans to build a 25-story building as part of its Pacific Park project. [Crain’s] — Dusica Sue Malesevic