NY Subway and local development advances

from today's GlobeSt

Second Avenue Subway Gets $1.3B Boost
By Natalie Dolce

"NEW YORK CITY-Gov. Eliot Spitzer, along with James Simpson, administrator for the Federal Transit Administration, revealed an agreement that guarantees $1.3 billion in federal funding for the construction of the first phase of the Second Avenue subway. The first phase of the subway project will run along Second Avenue north from 63rd Street to 105th Street, creating three ADA-accessible stations at 72nd, 86th and 96th streets.

According to Lt. Gov. David Paterson, mass transit is the linchpin of any economic design for the 21st century, so it is no surprise that real estate insiders are also bullish about the news. Eric Lewis, a managing director of Cushman & Wakefield's hospitality and gaming group, tells GlobeSt.com that "upon completion, the Second Avenue subway should boost values significantly in the areas it will serve."

Stuart Saft, partner at Dewey & LeBoeuf LLP agrees, telling GlobeSt.com that "the existence of the subway should dramatically increase the value of the real estate on First Avenue and York Avenue, which will have greater access to mass transportation." Saft does note, however, that "it might adversely affect the value of the property which will house the subway stations along the new route."

Saft continues that "it is surprising that the 96th Street station will be located between 93rd Street and 94th Street, even though 96th Street and above is likely to have the greatest growth over future decades. Patients and visitors to Metropolitan Hospital will have much further to walk to get to and from the subway." ....

"The line is scheduled to open in 2014. Construction will continue with three additional phases that will extend the line first up to 125th Street, where it will connect with the 4, 5 and 6 subway lines and with MTA Metro-North Railroad, and then down to Hanover Square in the Financial District." ...

"When completed, the full-length Second Avenue Subway is projected to carry 560,000 people per day. New York City’s entire subway now carries nearly 6.3 million passengers on a typical weekday." ...

for the complete story see:
http://www.globest.com/news/1039_1039/newyork/166117-1.html