Food and beverage rehab included in nearly $1B of large alterations filed in past two years

By Atticus O’Brien-Pappalardo

Feeding the millions of office workers in Manhattan’s skyscrapers has never been a smooth process.

Before the Covid crisis — and at some point when it’s resolved — lunch and dinner was and will remain a strain on elevators and schedules.

One way business owners mitigate their workers’ time spent looking for food has been to offer the food inside the building.

To find out who is doing such work, PincusCo analyzed hundreds of high-dollar alteration filings submitted to the city’s Department of Buildings since January 1, 2019, to find how many included work in food and beverage space in office buildings.

The analysis found nearly three dozen projects with initial construction costs of $10 million and up filed by developers such as RXR Realty, Related Companies and Vornado Realty Trust included food and beverage work. The total value of the F&B work was not disclosed in the filings, but the overall filings for those 34 projects totaled $941 million.

There were 20 developers who filed the 34 projects at 27 different buildings.

To buy the list for $50, please click here for a sample and more information.

Premium and Basic subscribers can download it for free here: Food Space Dataset.

The most active by overall dollar amount was RXR Realty, with $274 million in projects that also included F&B.

PincusCo Media analyzed the city’s Department of Buildings Alteration 2 (A2) filings with an estimated price of $10 million or more, filed since January 1, 2019 in office buildings and that also had food space on at least one of the floors that was being renovated. Alteration 2 filings are work such as renovations, facade work, build-outs, etc. that does not change the use or occupancy of the structure.

RXR Realty filed the two most expensive plans that fit the above-mentioned criteria, both at the historic Pier 57, which they own as part of a joint venture with Young Woo & Associates. The 633,139-square-foot pier, which was originally built in 1952, has roughly 265,732-square-feet of office space, 76,473-square-feet of retail space, 114,575-square-feet dedicated to the rooftop park and esplanade, 71,541-square-feet of what RXR calls pedestrian circulation space, along with space for other uses, according to the developer.

The pier, listed on the National Register of Historic Places, has been undertaking a massive redevelopment, reportedly in the ballpark of the $350 million.

On June 12, 2019, RXR filed plans calling for a $161,781,294 rehab of the cellar and floors one, four, and five. Then, just five months later on November 1, $69,072,319 plans were filed, this time calling for a rehab of the cellar and floors one and two.

According to the building’s most recent Schedule A, floors one through three, as well as the fifth floor, all have eating and drinking establishments. The third and fifth floors also each have accessory kitchens.

A significant amount of space of the redevelopment had originally been set aside for what was planned to be a food market which would be occupied by the popular television chef, Anthony Bourdain. Reports varied regarding the size of the market, with some claiming it would be 100,000-square-feet, while others stated it would be north of 150,000-square-feet. However, after two years with several speed bumps, plans for the proposed Bourdain Market dissolved in 2017.

Following the nixing of the Bourdain Market, tech giant Google agreed to tack additional space onto the 250,000-square-feet they had already leased at the building. Reports stated that the developments would cause the food hall to shrink from 140,000-square-feet to 40,000-square-feet.

In 2019, the national restaurant and entertainment chain, City Winery, signed a 25-year lease for 31,229-square-feet of space at the redevelopment. Retail broker Peter Braus executed the deal, which earned him The Most Significant Retail Deal of the Year award from the Real Estate Board of New York last month.

The next three most expensive plans, and a total of five of the top 10, were filed by Related Companies at 10 Columbus Circle. The five plans, pre-filed over a six month span from November 14, 2019, to May 4, 2020, totaled just shy of $195 million.

The 2.8 million square foot mixed-use building was completed in 2004. With Time Warner as its most prominent tenant, the building is commonly referred to as the Time Warner Center.

The massive two-tower, 54-story development is home to numerous high profile retail tenants and restaurants. In total, the five filings included work on the building’s sub-cellars, which have an eating and drinking establishment, the fifth floor, which is occupied by multiple eating and drinking establishments, the sixth floor, which has a cafè and kitchen, the 11th floor, which has a cafè, pantry, and kitchen, the 18th floor, which has a restaurant, bar, and kitchen, and the 19th floor, which also has a kitchen.

The most expensive of the five plans were pre-filed on May 4, 2020. The $54.2 million dollar plans called for a rehab of the fifth floor, as well as floors 14 through 18.

Gensler was the architect listed on all five of the filings.

Including renovations of floors that do not include food spaces, Related filed plans for over $200 million worth of renovations at the Time Warner Center from March to May alone. Due to the fact that 10 Columbus Circle sits on top of the 59 Street – Columbus Circle subway station, it was considered essential and exempt from Governor Cuomo’s halt on all non-essential construction in March. Reports suggested Related used the period of the Time Warner Center being empty to take advantage of uninterrupted renovation time.

The first plans from a firm other than RXR or Related in the top 10 were pre-filed by Taconic Partners, on behalf of Google who owns the building, on September 6, 2019. The $32,773,972 plans called for a rehab of floors 12, 13, 17 of the 205-foot tall office building at 111 Eighth Avenue. According to the building’s most recent Schedule A, the 12th floor of the building has a dining room, while the 13th floor has a cafeteria and kitchen.

The 2.9 million square foot building had been owned by Taconic from the late 1990s until 2010, when they sold it to Google. Taconic has managed the property on Google’s behalf since, however.

All of the buildings in the top 10 are located in Manhattan. In total, the 10 renovations cost north of $500 million.