NYC’s Biggest Developments of 2025

The biggest proposed project of 2025 was not an apartment building or office tower. It was a casino.

Steve Cohen’s plan for a 3.8 million-square-foot gaming facility near Citi Field was the largest new development for which permits were filed with the city’s Department of Buildings this year.

Two city jails, a hospital and a warehouse were also among the 10 largest projects proposed in 2025, an analysis of permit applications by The Real Deal shows.

Four of the top developments were residential, though one was a dormitory for college students. After the approval of the property tax break 485x, developers have increasingly favored apartment projects with 99 or fewer units, to avoid construction wage requirements that kick in at 100 units, and steeper rates at 150 units. That may explain why more residential projects didn’t top TRD’s list.

Only one office building made the cut: Vornado Realty Trust and Rudin Management’s highly anticipated 350 Park Avenue. The project is a testament to the continued demand for class A, trophy office towers — and the importance of lining up an anchor tenant to get such a project off the ground.

Here are the largest projects filed with DOB:

121-09 Roosevelt Avenue, Queens

Community Advisory Committee Greenlights Steve Cohen Casino — Steven Cohen and a rendering of Metropolitan Park (SHoP Architects)

The competition for up to three state casino licenses in New York came to an end this month, with state officials selecting three winners: Steve Cohen’s Metropolitan Park, a facility planned near Citi Field; the complex at Bally’s Golf Links at Ferry Point; and Resorts World’s expansion of the Queens Aqueduct.

Only Cohen’s $8 billion plan made the list of the largest project filings of 2025 (the other teams haven’t filed applications as of the end of November). The development, which will rise on 50 acres of parking lots next to Citi Field, is expected to include a 1,000-room Hard Rock hotel and a 5,650-person live music venue.

350 Park Avenue, Manhattan

Vornado Realty Trust’s Steven Roth, Rudin Management's Bill Rudin and Citadel’s Ken Griffin wiht renderings of 350 Park — Vornado Realty Trust’s Steven Roth, Rudin Management’s Bill Rudin and Citadel’s Ken Griffin wiht renderings of 350 Park (Getty, Rudin, DBOX for Foster + Partners)

Three years ago, Vornado and Rudin announced that they had reached a deal with Ken Griffin’s Citadel that would allow the developers to build a massive office tower in Midtown East.

Since then, the developers have rezoned the site and purchased hundreds of thousands of square feet of air rights from St. Patrick’s Cathedral and St. Bartholomew’s Church. In November of this year, they filed a permit application for a more than 2 million-square-foot building that will rise 62 stories.

Griffin agreed in late 2022 to master lease the site, with Citadel and Citadel Securities set to occupy 850,000 square feet of the new tower. As part of the deal, Griffin has until June 2030 to either buy a majority stake in the joint venture developing the property (with Vornado and Rudin respectively taking a 36 and 4 percent interest) or to buy the site outright for $1.4 billion.

357 Southern Boulevard/ 745 East 141st Street, Bronx

In October, the city’s Department of Design and Construction filed plans for a new jail at the site of the former Lincoln Hospital and NYPD compound.

The facility is expected to span 1.1 million gross square feet, including 1,040 beds, 120 parking spaces and 40,000 square feet of commercial space.

Last year, the city awarded a $2.9 billion design-build contract to an entity led by the Sweet Group to build the facility.

45 West Street and 15 Oak Street, Brooklyn

TF Cornerstone's with the current site at 45 West Street in Brooklyn — TF Cornerstone’s with the current site at 45 West Street in Brooklyn (Getty, TF Cornerstone, Google Maps)

TF Cornerstone plans to build 1,060 residential units across two buildings on this Greenpoint waterfront site. The larger of the two, at 45 West Street, is expected to span 808,000 square feet and include 792 units.

The other is expected to have 268 units across 249,000 square feet.

125 White Street, Manhattan

The city’s DDC filed plans for the Manhattan jail in October. DOB filings indicate that the facility, which will be constructed on the site of a current detention center, will span more than 1 million square feet. It is expected to have 1,040 beds, 125 parking spots and 20,000 square feet of commercial space.

The city awarded a $3.8 billion contract to a joint venture led by Tutor Perini to build the facility.

61-06 Junction Boulevard, Queens

United Construction and Development Group filed plans in August for a two-tower residential project in Corona.

Updates filings call for 706 units across the two buildings, which will respectively rise 23 and 29 stories. Together, the projects are expected to span more than 960,000 square feet.

431 East 66th Street, Manhattan

A permit application filed for the Kenneth C. Griffin Pavilion at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer in November describes a 730,000-square-foot building on York Avenue between East 66th and East 67th streets. The hospital’s new cancer center will rise more than 480 feet and feature 28 operating rooms and more than 200 patient beds.

The cancer center will eventually be connected with the existing hospital by a two-story skybridge.

376 Schermerhorn Street, Brooklyn

Vistria Group’s Maragaret Anadu, Alloy CEO Jared Della Valle and One Third Avenue (Alloy Development, Vistria Group, Van Alen Institute)

Alloy Development says its planned 730-foot tower on Schermerhorn Street, known as One Third Avenue, will be the world’s tallest passive house. The building is expected to span nearly 640,000 square feet and 583 residential units, of which 143 will be affordable.

The developers are not planning to apply for the property tax break 485x, but will instead make payments in lieu of taxes, or PILOTs.

The tower is part of a larger development, dubbed the Alloy Block, which will eventually include more than 1,000 homes, with 200 set aside as permanently affordable.

2768 Webster Avenue, Bronx

Developer Mark Stagg filed plans for a 545,000-square-foot dormitory for Fordham University students in November. The building is expected to include 510 dorms and is part of a broader development that will also feature 485 units of affordable housing.

The Stagg Group and Maddd Equities purchased two lots at 2740 and 2768 Webster Avenue for $40 million in April.

12-18 38th Avenue, Long Island City

San Francisco-based real estate investment trust Prologis filed plans for a 500,000-square-foot warehouse in Long Island City in April.

The proposal came as the Adams administration began advancing a zoning text amendment that would require developers of last-mile facilities 50,000 square feet or larger to first secure a special permit. At the time, Prologis said the timing was a coincidence.

The Adams administration did not begin the review process for the text amendment, meaning it will be up to the next administration to pick up on the effort.