Wegmans’ opening day in Brooklyn Credit: Steiner NYC

Manhattan’s first-ever Wegmans grocery store is opening this year. Located at Vornado Realty Trust’s 770 Broadway in the East Village, the grocery store chain, beloved for its prepared food options and affordable prices, will replace the Kmart on Astor Place, which closed in 2021. In addition to its usual offerings, the store will feature a 94-seat seafood restaurant with an oyster counter and a 10-seat sushi bar, as first reported by Eater New York. The store is expected to open during the second half of 2023.

Details here

Photo of 770 Broadway (cropped) via Wikimedia Commons

Earlier this month, the Kmart on Astor Place, a strangely beloved neighborhood fixture, closed abruptly after 25 years. The store at 770 Broadway was one of only two locations in Manhattan; the Penn Station outpost closed in early 2020. Now, landlord Vornado Realty Trust has announced that they will bring in Wegmans grocery store as the new tenant, scheduled to open in the second half of 2023.

Read more

Rendering courtesy of Vornado Realty Trust

Facebook has signed a lease for 730,000 square feet at the former James A. Farley Post Office, a Midtown landmark currently being converted into a mixed-use building, Vornado Realty Trust announced Monday. Reports of the deal first surfaced last December, but the coronavirus pandemic put into question the need for massive office space with thousands of workers. But Gov. Andrew Cuomo said the deal shows New York’s resilience as the city recovers from the crisis. “Vornado’s and Facebook’s investment in New York and commitment to further putting down roots here – even in the midst of a global pandemic – is a signal to the world that our brightest days are still ahead and we are open for business,” Cuomo said in a statement. “This public-private partnership fortifies New York as an international center of innovation.”

Find out more

Rendering courtesy of Skidmore, Owings & Merrill courtesy of Gov. Cuomo’s office

Two major tech companies are vying for office space at the former James A. Farley Post Office in Manhattan. The New York Post reported on Tuesday that Facebook and Apple both want to lease space at the former post office which is being converted by Vornado Realty Trust into a mixed-use site with 740,000 square feet of office space and a new train hall underneath. In September, it was reported that Facebook was in advanced talks for office space, but according to the Post, Apple has “suddenly decided it, too, wants all four floors of Farley’s office space.”

Get the details

Via Vornado Realty Trust and Rudin Management Company

A tentative joint venture between two developers could bring another supertall to Midtown East. Vornado Realty Trust and Rudin Management Company may team up to develop a 1,450-foot office tower at 350 Park Avenue, the Real Deal reported Friday. A leaked brochure for the potential project includes renderings of the proposed tower, revealing a glassy building with a series of setbacks that would allow for outdoor terraces and floorplates of various sizes.

See it here

Via Vornado Realty Trust and Robert A.M. Stern Architects

Update 1/29/19: The penthouse officially closed on January 23, 2019, for $239,958,219, more than was originally reported.

Billionaire Ken Griffin has closed on a penthouse at 220 Central Park South for $238 million, setting the record for the most expensive home ever sold in the United States, as the Wall Street Journal first reported. Griffin, who founded Citadel, first signed the contract to buy a 24,000-square-foot unit at the under-construction tower in 2015. The hedge fund mogul reportedly picked up the pricey digs as “a place to stay when he’s in town,” since his company is looking to expand its footprint in New York City.

More on record-breaking deal

REIT Vornado Realty Trust expects to be starting work on the first phase of renovation at Pennsylvania Plaza before the end of this year according to CEO Steve Roth, The Real Deal reports. The $200 million “megacampus” redevelopment project plan for the 2.5 million-square-foot building at One Penn Plaza–including a double-height lobby–is expected to be completed in two years. In 2016 Vornado released renderings for Two Penn Plaza by starchitect Bjarke Ingels. New renderings were released Wednesday on the company’s website.

See more renderings, this way

Google Street View of 666 Fifth Avenue

Kushner Companies has agreed to purchase the remaining 49.5 percent stake in 666 Fifth Avenue from Vornado Realty Trust for $120 million, nearly wrapping up the drawn-out saga of the problem-plagued condo tower. According to the Wall Street Journal, Vornado said the contract with Kushner is expected to close in the third quarter of this year and is conditional and “there can be no assurance that this transaction will be completed.”

Kushner Cos. first purchased the 41-story building in 2007 for a record $1.8 billion, but the economic recession created enormous financial strain for the company. To help restructure the building’s major debt, they brought in Vornado, which purchased the stake in the building for $80 million and the assumption of half the property’s $1.2 billion mortgage in 2011.

Find out more

Rendering via BIG

Instead of razing and redeveloping its 2 Penn Plaza office tower, Vornado Realty Trust said on Tuesday it will simply renovate the building. As Commercial Observer reported, the company’s CEO, Steven Roth, said earlier plans of demolishing the 31-story tower and grabbing 5 million square feet of development rights from Madison Square Garden to build a bigger tower, would not be feasible. Moving forward with option B, Vornado will likely stick with designs from Bjarke Ingels Group. More than two years ago, BIG revealed renderings that showed a wave-like canopy of glass panels that would envelope 2 Penn Plaza above the retail entrances on the ground floor.

More this way

Google Street View of 666 Fifth Avenue

Update 4/9/18: Vornado announced on Friday that it reached a “handshake” deal to sell its stake at 666 Fifth Avenue back to the Kushner Cos, according to the New York Times. It remains unclear if the Kushners have found a new partner. Steven Roth, chairman of Vornado, in the filing, said the payment would cover the company’s investment: “The existing loan will be repaid including payment to us of the portion of the debt we hold.”

Kushner Cos. said this week it is in talks to buy the remaining 49.5 percent stake in 666 Fifth Avenue from Vornado Realty Trust, furthering the drama at the 41-story Midtown Manhattan office building, according to the Wall Street Journal. The tower has remained one of Kushner Cos. most financially troubled projects. In addition to its debt and high rates of vacancy, the building has been mired in controversy, mostly due to Jared Kushner’s role as a senior adviser and son-in-law to President Donald Trump. While Jared divested in the property to avoid conflicts of interest, investors have been reluctant from entering a deal with Kushner Cos.

Find out more