Reply With QuoteVicious cycle:
New station = increased train ridership
Amtrak won't build new station because of insolvency due to lower ridership.
Oh Amtrak stop crying and think about the investment. Find the money somewhere. I am sure this will be a good one for you guys. I promise you that.In light of Amtrak's financial woes, Mr. Gargano says, ESDC is pursuing New Jersey Transit to become an anchor tenant. Of Amtrak, he says, "They're crying the blues all the time."
Vicious cycle:
New station = increased train ridership
Amtrak won't build new station because of insolvency due to lower ridership.
At least they are making slow but tentative progress. :|ESDC hopes to name a developer for the $750 million Moynihan Station inside the old post office building by January.
This will be something like the third time a developer will be chosen. Wasn't Staubach selected back in 200?
Actualy Amtrak ridership is at it's highest levels ever since the Corporation's inception in 1972, the problem is no Mass transit or passenger rail operation can operate profitably. Government subsidies are needed, and Congress has been short changing Amtrak.Amtrak won't build new station because of insolvency due to lower ridership.
If the government paid for ownership, right of way, maintenance, and upgrades of the rails as they do for streets, highways, and freeways then mass transit and intercity rail could both be profitable.
If they also paid for the control networks etc as they do for the airlines then rail would be even more profitable.
The main problem with Amtrak is that, for the most part, it doesn't own its own rail lines. The freight lines do. Amtrak only has certain limited rights-of-way, which (if I am not mistaken) the freight rail companies gave the government back in the 1960s or 70s in exchange for deregulation. As a result, Amtrak cannot upgrade most of its rails to high speed. Where it has been able to do so (Acela in the NE US), the result has been superb. I don't know the solution to this problem, but the experience of 9/11 should have taught us that redundancy in our transportation network is worth a few federal subsidies.
Nice...this is the part of the building that will remain full service postal...
NY1
June 30, 2004
Amtrak Won't Derail New Penn Station, Official Says
A state development official says plans to convert the Farley Post Office into the new Penn Station will move forward even if Amtrak decides not to move in.
Charles Gargano, the chairman of the Empire State Development Corporation, says he's in talks with the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, which runs the Long Island Rail Road, and New Jersey Transit over moving their operations into the new facility.
Amtrak was supposed to be the main tenant, but the financially-troubled railway says it can't afford to move.
“We have 90 percent of the financing required for this project already in place,” Gargano said. “The project will move forward… We will award to a developer by the end of the year, and we will resolve these issues.”
The new station will be called the Moynihan Station, after the late Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan, who championed the project.
Copyright © 2004 NY1 News
^Oh well to bad for Amtrak...but the show must go on.
State seeks firms for Farley project
July 12, 2004
The Empire State Development Corp. will today issue a request for qualifications for the long-awaited redevelopment of the James A. Farley Post Office.
The ESDC, the governor’s development arm, is looking for companies to build a rail station that would serve as an expansion of Penn Station, as well to finance private development in the 1.4 million-square-foot space.
The deal includes development of 1 million square feet of air rights over the building.
Copyright 2004, Crain Communications, Inc
Quote:The deal includes development of 1 million square feet of air rights over the building
Could this mean possible tower? But it couldnt go on the site, so adjacent to maybe?
It could. And even though the office market is pretty stagnant, the location above a major transit hub will certainly warrant attention. It’s a good idea to move the project forward, and who here doesn’t like the prospect of yet another skyscraper?Could this mean possible tower? But it couldnt go on the site, so adjacent to maybe?
Penn Station - James A. Farley Building
Development Advisory Services
New York, New York
HDR was selected by the Moynihan Station Development Corporation (MSDC) to lead a team which also includes real estate development specialists, Washington Square Partners, and economic analysis specialists, ERA, through the predevelopment process for the James A. Farley Building (a 1.4 million-square-foot historic building on Manhattan’s West Side). Considered to be one of the most significant redevelopment efforts in the nation, the James A. Farley Building will be reprogrammed to achieve the joint vision of the late United States Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan and Governor George Pataki. That vision calls for the creation of a magnificent new rail terminal that will once again provide New Yorkers a grand transportation hub in the spirit of the original Pennsylvania Station (which has since been demolished). The James A. Farley Building was designed as a twin sister to the original Pennsylvania Station and constructed across the street from it in 1914.
When completed, the new intermodal transportation facility and mixed-use commercial center will be home to Amtrak in New York and will bear the name, Moynihan Station. It will be part of the most heavily used transportation center in the world, serving more than 500,000 passengers per day.
HDR will use a series of planning, reprogramming and construction phasing charrettes to build consensus and a commitment from a vast group of constituents to a final development program and implementation schedule.* Essential goals of the effort include drawing people back to the building as soon as possible via a series of likely interim uses as well as short- and long-term redevelopment programs.* In addition to the charrettes, the work plan calls for the creation of an overall development strategy; project positioning; the creation of a Public/Private Partnership structure (P3PM); consulting services for establishing the most effective mix of transportation-related retail, destination retail, specialty retail, office, hotel, entertainment and other commercial uses; advising and assisting in identifying public and private financing for the project and in determining and refining the most advantageous financing structure; preparing the developer RFQ/RFP, evaluation of developer responses, selection of the developer and negotiation of the agreement(s); development of an air rights marketing plan; and support for discussions with Amtrak.
HDR will create a master development/construction phasing schedule that will guide all efforts associated with the redevelopment of the 8-acre site.
*
*HDR, Inc.** * 800.366.4411
Posting Permissions
Bookmarks