ESDC adopts Javits phase 1.

Empire State Development Chairman Charles A. Gargano announced recently that the Board of Directors of the Empire State Development Corp. (ESDC) adopted a General Project Plan (GPP) for the first phase of an expanded Jacob K. Javits Convention Center. The action follows similar approval by the Convention Center Development Corporation (CCDC) immediately preceding the ESDC Board Meeting.

By the completion of Phase 1, the Javits Center will more than double in size and provide thousands of new permanent jobs. Highlights include a 100 ft high multi-block glass enclosed entry and concourse and a tree-lined access along 11th Avenue from 34th street to 40th--which will establish the new modern, contemporary image of the Javits Center. The plan creates a park area at 11th Avenue between 39th and 40th street; and with a proposed 9 foot tree-line sidewalk widening, 40th Street will become a pedestrian corridor to the ferry terminal on the adjacent waterfront and ferry terminal. The new "Gateway to the Hudson" will be 34th Street, with double-tree-lined sidewalks on its northern and southern sides between 11th and 12th Avenue. The Convention Center Headquarters Hotel is anticipated to be located directly across 11th Avenue on the present Javits Plaza between 35th Street and 36th Street.

"This is a great day for New York," said ESDC Chairman Charles A. Gargano. "Today we took important steps to transform New York City's convention facilities into one of the nation's best. The Javits Center will be a magnet for economic activity for decades to come. We are investing in the future not only of this city but for the entire state

The current expansion adds 340,000 s/f feet of exhibition space--a 45% increase and total of 1.1 million ss/f feet of exhibition space. It will create approximately 550,000 s/f of contiguous exhibition space with the potential of another 500,000 s/f of contiguous space in Phase 2. There will be an increase of 180,000 s/f of meeting rooms--a 600% increase on site. Added to the 210,000 s/f of total meeting rooms at Javits is another 50,000 s/f that would be available across the street in the Javits Convention Center hotel. The hotel will have a below street direct connection to Javits.

Truck staging and marshalling will take place on existing Javits property. The truck screening, marshalling and loading facility is being designed by A. Epstein Architects, one of the foremost convention center architects in the country. Epstein was responsible for the last two expansions of Chicago's McCormick Place, considered one of the premier convention centers in the country. Epstein is part of the Javits architectural team led by the world-renowned architect Richard Rogers and includes New York's own, FXFowle architects who have been involved in many projects in Times Square and Manhattan's West Side.

The expansion project has received wide support from City and State public officials. City Council Speaker Christine Quinn, Congressman Jerry Nadler, State Senator Eric Schneiderman, Assemblyman Herman "Denny" Farrell Jr., and Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer have officially endorsed the project. A diverse group of leaders from the tourism, hotel, building and construction industries, civic groups and labor unions formed the Javits Now Coalition in April. The Coalition includes Jonathan Tisch, Chairman of NYC & Co.; William C. Rudin, Chairman of Association for a Better New York; Peter Ward, President of New York Hotel and Motel Trades Council; The Building and Construction Trades Council; Ed Malloy and Jeff Little of George Little Management; and Ken McEvoy of Reed Exhibitions, the largest producers of trade shows at Javits.

The General Project Plan must also be approved by the Public Authority Control Board (PACB), which is scheduled to meet on July 19. Pre-construction activities are planned for late Summer, with ground-breaking scheduled for Fall 2006. Phase I of the Javits expansion and renovation is expected to be finished in 2010.