2024 Spring Issue of Urban Land - 48

Designers focused on
bringing in more natural
light through a glass
curtain wall and including
a variety of additional
workspaces throughout
the building, including
lounges and outdoor
space.
Penn 1 and Penn 2. Those talks focused on
designing the properties to be more modern
office buildings.
Updating spaces where visitors walk distinguishes
the buildings and the area. " Every
walking surface in Penn 1 and Penn 2 has
new pavement, " Shannon said-specifically, a
stone from Belgium. " It really creates a district,
like when you're in Tribeca and you see
all the flagstone-Steve [Roth] really wanted
to create a sense of a district and make the
investment to distinguish the area. "
that was located near the windows of the
building was updated; and elevator systems
were upgraded to offer destination dispatch,
which also increases efficiency. Vornado is targeting
LEED Platinum for the building.
Creating a variety of workspace options
and outdoor space was an important design
consideration. Terraces were added to every
floor on the west side of the building, offering
outdoor space to work in. A 4,000 squarefoot
(372 sq m) multi-use pavilion within the
bustle is available for tenants to use, and a
17,000 square-foot (1,580 sq m) landscaped
park was added to the roof of the bustle.
Building occupants will have numerous
lounges throughout the building where they
can work, with food and beverage offerings at
each location.
The repositioning of Penn 1 and Penn 2
came about slowly and carefully, said Dan
Shannon, managing partner at New York
City-based architecture firm MdeAS, one of
the firms that designed Penn 2. " Vornado
was very deliberate. They didn't do anything
quickly and ad hoc, " Shannon said.
Discussions between MdeAS Architects and
Vornado began nearly a decade ago, when
Shannon first spoke with Vornado CEO and
Chairman Steve Roth and his executive team
about initiating studies on improvements to
48
URBAN LAND SPRING 202 4
A neighborhood evolves
Vornado's big bet on office raised eyebrows
when plans were announced. The office
market in New York and across the country
has struggled since the pandemic, leading to
a lot of uncertainty about the future. However,
some experts believe the sector will eventually
rebound. " Real estate is cyclical, and so is the
economy, " said Matthew Kwatinetz, a clinical
assistant professor of real estate economics
and the director of the NYU Urban Lab.
Office space construction has slowed significantly
over the last several months, and the
nation's total office stock is actually shrinking
for the first time in history, according to commercial
real estate firm JLL. " There's no question
about the long-term demand for office
space, " he said. " There is a question [over
whether] landlords will be able to survive until
then. "
One of the biggest issues for New York
City's office market revolves around the quality
of space available. In today's competitive
market, where the flight-to-quality trend has
persisted, high-profile occupiers are looking
for top-tier spaces that meet their needs.
" Tech didn't move here until they renovated
buildings, " Kwatinetz explained, pointing to
Facebook parent company Meta's lease at
Vornado's Farley Post Office redevelopment
and Google's purchase of the St. John's Terminal
building for $2.1 billion in early 2022. " All
those [moves], despite the doom and gloom,
are receiving higher rents than anything in history, "
Kwatinetz said. " It's a very high-demand
product. " UL
HOLLY DUTTON is a Brooklyn-based commercial real estate
journalist.
RENDERING B Y DBO X F OR V ORNADO REAL T Y TR US T
2024 Spring Issue of Urban Land

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of 2024 Spring Issue of Urban Land
