January 23, 2006
CHAIRMAN GARGANO PRAISES THE NEW MASTER SITE PLAN AND CONCEPT DESIGN FOR THE EXPANDED JACOB K. JAVITS CONVENTION CENTER

Empire State Development Corp. Chairman Charles A. Gargano praised the new Master Site Plan and Concept Design for the first phase of an expanded Jacob K. Javits Convention Center presented today to the New York Convention Center Development Corp. (CCDC) by the Architectural design team of Richard Rodgers Partnership, FXFOWLE Architects and A. Epstein & Sons International (Rogers/Fowle/Epstein).

This first phase of the two phase Javits Center expansion will increase exhibit and meeting room space to more than approximately 1.3 million square feet, thus enabling it to host virtually any convention or trade show. The new addition will add an estimated $53 million in combined annual tax revenue for the city and state and the expansion is estimated to create thousands of new permanent jobs. The project will also include the construction of a Convention Center hotel and the creation of a multi-function, loading and marshalling facility. By the completion of Phase 1, the Javits Center will more than double in size.

Highlights also include a new 100 foot high multi-block glass enclosed entry and concourse, providing a new tree-lined access along 11th Avenue from 34th Street to 40th and establishing the new image of the Javits Center. The plan also creates a new park area at 11th Avenue between 39th and 40th Streets and leaves 40th Street open to pedestrian access from the adjacent waterfront and ferry terminal. The New Convention Center Headquarters Hotel is proposed to be situated directly across 11th Avenue on the present Javits Plaza between 35th Street and 36th Street.

"This is a great day for New York City and the entire State," said CCDC Chairman Charles A. Gargano. "The Javits Center will be a magnet for economic activity for decades to come. It deserves the very best and that's exactly what we were presented with today. The Rogers/Fowle/Epstein presentation showed an unmatched understanding of the project objectives to create a 'world-class,' state-of-the-art, fully functional international convention center."

The existing Javits Center has approximately 790,000-square-feet of exhibition and meeting space and approximately 1.1 million square-feet of support and staging areas between West 34th and West 39th Streets from 11th to 12th Avenues in Manhattan.

The Javits expansion also will add hundreds of thousands of square feet in additional support and staging area space, and will include the city's largest ballroom which will also function as swing exhibition space.

The cost of Phase I, including both construction costs, land acquisition and other non-construction costs is currently estimated to be approximately $1.7 billion. The City will contribute $350 million under an MOU and the State will contribute $350 million through a state supported credit. Additional $645 million funding has been raised through the sale of bonds backed by a dedicated $1.50 per key surcharge that the hotel industry has begun to collect. The balance will be recovered through the sale of the 33rd/34th street block.

The next steps for the project include the development of a General Project Plan based on the Master Site plan. Once approved by the ESDC Board and CCDC Board, a public hearing will be scheduled. The General Project Plan must also be approved by the Public Authority Control Board (PACB).

Pre-construction activities are planned for late Spring of this year, with ground-breaking scheduled for late Summer 2006. Phase I of the Javits expansion and renovation is expected to be finished in 2010.

To view design concepts, go to the project profile.