Javits Center chief outlines expansion plan at BOMA event

Real Estate Weekly, Oct 29, 1997

Speaking before 275 real estate professionals at a recent luncheon of The Building Owners' and Managers' Association of Greater New York, Inc. (BOMA/NY), McQueen said that Javits is "an economic engine for New York, and to compete with the other cities out there, we must expand... it is something we must do."

Those other cities, which include New Orleans, Las Vegas and Orlando, have undertaken ambitious expansions of their own, placing New York only sixth among convention sites nationwide.

"If we don't expand, we'll end up 16th," said McQueen. "Imagine New York being an also-ran in a $100 million a day business!"

In addition to the additional $1 billion, the expansion would create as many as 13,000 jobs at the entry or lower-skilled levels, he said.

The expansion program, part of a study undertaken by Coopers & Lybrand, calls for a doubling of space from 760,000 square feet, the current size, to over 1.5 million square feet, with 10 times the meeting space, including 250,000 square feet of ballroom and related facilities.

The study examined options to the north, south, east and west. Expanding east to 11th or 10th Avenue creates contiguous space, but the 11th Avenue expansion does not meet the size requirement and the 10th Avenue option requires building two separate structures connected by a walkway. Contiguity is lost, and in addition, the first level can't be used because of the railroad.

The southern expansion meets all requirements, but at a high cost. It requires a pedestrian walkway and also cannot use the first level. Then there's the question "of a baseball stadium" in that area, McQueen said, referring to the proposal floated by Mayor Rudolph Giuliani to house the New York Yankees south of the Center.

A westward expansion cantilevering out over the Hudson River provides great drama and views, but at a "tremendously high" price tag with "serious environmental problems."

The north represents the greatest potential, meeting the size requirements with less difficulty while bringing the Center physically closer to the rejuvenated Times Square/42nd Street redevelopment area, without interference to any stadium plans. However, it would require demolishing properties.

"We're going to look at all these and present them to our economic development corporation," McQueen said. "We'll analyze the financing and then give the Governor our final decision."

On a parting note, McQueen shared his vision for the future with the BOMA/NY audience.

"I have this dream that when we celebrate New York City's anniversary next year, we will have a beautifully-designed convention center underway that will be able to win one of the BOMA/NY Awards for Excellence!"