Citadel’s Ken Griffin is planning a 62-story skyscraper in the heart of downtown that New York City’s mayor hopes will bolster the neighborhood’s ongoing revitalization after many buildings became vacant during the pandemic.
Real estate developers Vornado Realty Trust and Rudin Management have filed plans for the project alongside Griffin (of which Citadel and Citadel Securities will serve as anchor tenants), the mayor’s office announced Tuesday.
Located at 350 Park Avenue, the building is expected to be completed in 2032 and will house more than 6,000 jobs. It will also include a public lobby with seating, green space and artwork.
The developers purchased the air rights to St. Patrick’s Cathedral and St. Bartholomew’s Church in order to construct the building. The prices they paid will fund the upkeep of the two churches, the mayor’s office said, to the tune of $150 million.
“This project will build on our ongoing efforts to energize Midtown Manhattan as the world’s most important shopping center and economic engine for working-class New York,” Adams said in a statement.
There are signs that New Yorkers are increasingly working in person. Bloomberg reported Wednesday that the city’s return-to-office rate has reached nearly 80% of pre-pandemic levels, according to a new study.
For his part, Griffin highlighted in a statement the building’s “incredible light, 360-degree views and spacious layouts in one of the world’s leading financial centers.”
Griffin has previously spoken about how remote work can hurt company culture, and a Citadel spokesperson told Business Insider that the company has been back in the office full-time since June 2021.
But Griffin isn’t exclusively targeting New York. In November, the billionaire hedge fund manager said Miami – where Citadel left Chicago in 2022 – could one day overtake New York as the financial center of the United States.
businessinsider
