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ARCHITECT CHOSEN FOR PLANNED OFFICE TOWER ABOVE PORT AUTHORITY BUS TERMINAL’S NORTH WING
November 17, 2008
A New York City development team and the Port Authority today announced the selection of a design by a world-renowned architectural firm for a major office tower to be built on top of the Port Authority Bus Terminal.
The development team 20 X Square Associates, LLC, a joint venture of Vornado Realty Trust and affiliates of Lawrence Ruben Company, announced the selection of architectural firm Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners for construction of the tower and renovations to the bus terminal.
Over the past three decades, Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners, formerly Richard Rogers Partnership, has become world renowned and won dozens of international architectural awards. The practice is currently working on major projects around the world, including the British Museum in London, a significant mixed-use development in Seoul, Korea, the design for 175 Greenwich Street at the World Trade Center site and major master plans in London, Granada and Rome.
The proposed air rights development will add approximately 1.3 million square feet of sustainable first-class office space above the terminal and allow for significant improvements to the terminal facility, including new mass transit opportunities for commuters through increased bus capacity and the renovation of approximately 40,000 square feet within the existing North Wing for retail use.
Port Authority Chairman Anthony R. Coscia said, “This project will deliver important mass transit benefits for hundreds of thousands of daily commuters. Today’s challenging economy imposes a premium on spending public funds responsibly, and this partnership with the private sector enables the Port Authority to meet its ambitious transportation goals for the region.”
Port Authority Executive Director Chris Ward said, “These are the kinds of creative partnerships that we need more of, particularly during such challenging economic times. Not only will it add to the revitalization of the West Side, but most importantly, it will help modernize one of the most critical transportation hubs in the region – transforming the 60-year-old bus facility by adding new transportation capacity, easy to access bus gates, high quality retail and other customer amenities.”
In addition to the office tower, the redevelopment will include:
-better pedestrian circulation with new escalators from gates to the ground floor;
-the renovation and creation of approximately 40,000 square feet of bus terminal retail;
-18 new bus gates and upgraded existing gates, enabling an additional 70 buses containing approximately 3,000 bus passengers to be accommodated during each peak hour at the bus terminal, increasing the capacity by 18 percent; and
-an improved and modernized appearance throughout the terminal.
The Port Authority Bus Terminal opened in 1950 and has become the busiest bus passenger facility in the world, handling 7,000 buses and 200,000 commuters each day. It includes 223 bus gates, retail and commercial space, and public parking for 1,250 vehicles. It provides bus service for travel in the New York-New Jersey region, as well as long-distance service to almost any point in the United States, Canada and Mexico. Since it opened, more than three billion passengers have used this terminal.
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