Be Amazon’s Neighbor in New York

Amazon plans to host some 2,000 employees in the former Lord & Taylor flagship at 424 Fifth Avenue in Manhattan. The family that has owned the adjacent 16 West 39th Street since 1916 hopes to capitalize on that change — the family is selling its 12-story building for nearly $33 million. Also, President Biden was in New York on Tuesday to tout a $292 million federal grant for new and improved rail tunnels under the Hudson River.

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— Tom Acitelli, Co-Deputy Editor

Midtown Office Building Next to Future Amazon HQ Hits Market for $33M

A 12-story building next to Amazon’s future Manhattan headquarters has hit the market for the first time in more than a century, with its owner hoping to transform the asset into a new modern boutique office development, Commercial Observer has learned. Colliers and B6 Real Estate Advisors are marketing the property at 16 West 39th Street in Midtown Manhattan with a $32.5 million asking price. The building has 55,000 rentable square feet and includes a leasable basement level. It has undergone recent capital improvements, including upgraded elevator systems and air conditioning. Zach Redding, managing director in Colliers’ New York capital markets group, noted that the property has been owned by the Weatherley family since it opened in 1916 and was connected for decades to the former Lord & Taylor flagship store on 424 Fifth Avenue. Amazon acquired the Lord & Taylor building in 2020 from WeWork for $978 million and plans to house 2,000 employees in the 11-story asset when work is complete.

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Biden Kickstarting Gateway Tunnel with $292M Grant

President Joseph Biden will kick-start New York’s long-delayed Gateway tunnel project with a $292 million grant, Biden announced in New York on Tuesday. The funds from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law get the wheels turning on the project, expected to save the region from the economic impacts of a potential failure of the existing century-old tunnels owned by Amtrak and also used by New Jersey Transit. The 10-mile stretch of tunnel will connect the Palisades in New Jersey to Pennsylvania Station in Manhattan while completing structural concrete work beneath Hudson Yards, where part of the thoroughfare will run. Work is currently underway to replace the Portal Bridge, built in 1910 to carry railroad cars over the Hackensack River in New Jersey, with a new Portal North Bridge. This $292 million investment will go primarily toward the concrete “casing” element of the project beneath Hudson Yards to provide structural support for the “box tunnel," altogether a $600 million project in itself, according to the Biden administration.

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