It looks like One Vanderbilt, the skyscraper due to rise 1,401 feet over Midtown East, is finally moving forward unencumbered. Developer SL Green announced today that it had reached a settlement over a $1.1 billion lawsuit against One Vandy’s owners and the City of New York.
The lawsuit was spearheaded by Andrew Penson, the owner of Grand Central Terminal; in it, he alleged that "that the De Blasio administration, City Council, and SL Green have dispossessed Penson of the value of the air rights after the administration allowed SL Green to move forward with the 65-story tower without additional development rights," per a previous Curbed report. The suit was filed on behalf of Midtown TDR Ventures LLC, a group that included Penson, along with other investors in Grand Central. Recently, though, one of those investors—Lehman Brothers Holdings—sold a $63 million stake in the iconic terminal to MSD Capital, which may have influenced this latest development.
Per a statement, issued by SL Green:
The settlement will resolve the legal claims against SL Green and the City of New York that Midtown TDR Ventures asserted to invalidate the Vanderbilt Corridor rezoning amendment and the One Vanderbilt special permit, thereby eliminating uncertainty surrounding the building.
SL Green CEO Marc Holliday said, "We’re pleased that the new ownership of Midtown TDR Ventures shares our commitment to development in East Midtown and worked with us to quickly reach this agreement. With demolition nearly complete and work already underway on public improvements, One Vanderbilt is well on the way to becoming a reality."
The Kohn Pederson Fox-designed building, which will be one of the tallest in the city upon completion, will have more than 1 million square feet of space, and will also bring infrastructure improvements to Grand Central itself. It’s expected to be completed sometime in the next five years.
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