Hedge Fund Billionaire and Developer to Buy St. Patrick’s Air Rights for up to $164 Million
The deal, first reported by Bloomberg, may cost up to $164 million. The Archdiocese of New York plans to use these funds to preserve the historic cathedral. Billionaire Ken Griffin and Vornado Realty Trust headed by Steve Roth plan to use the air rights to build a new office skyscraper.
| 22 Dec 2023 | 04:13
Citadel CEO and billionaire Ken Griffin wants a new skyscraper, and to clear the way he is paying the Archdiocese of New York up to $164 million for some of St. Patrick Cathedral’s air rights, the license to use the vertical space extending above a property.
Each of the 315,000 to 525,000 square feet that Griffin plans to acquire will cost $312.50—exactly how many square feet will be purchased within that range is still under discussion.
The planned 1.7 million-square-foot skyscraper is expected to be completed in 2023, and could potentially soar up to 1,350 feet. Citadel will reportedly occupy about half of the building space. The hedge fund is also building a new $1 billion headquarters in Miami, a rising financial hub that has been poaching financial firms and money from New York over the last several years.
Citadel’s ambitious expansion of office space follows Griffin’s view that working from home harms corporate culture and encourages layoffs. “What worries me in a hybrid work environment or work-from-home environment is that the cultural or social contract that holds people together in a company is unquestionably weaker,” Griffin told Bloomberg in an interview last month. Many of New York City’s office buildings remain half empty, with Mayor Eric Adams planning to convert some of these spaces into housing.
This deal, struck between Griffin, the archdiocese, and Steve Roth’s Vornado Realty Trust and Rudin Management—marks the first sale of Saint Patrick Cathedral’s air rights since the surrounding area was rezoned in 2017. At the time, the archdiocese successfully lobbied City Hall for a rezoning plan that would allow it greater freedom to sell the cathedral’s air rights.
The archdiocese closed 12 elementary schools and four others were merged into two at the close of the last school year in June but it does not look like any of the money will be used to prop up remaining schools. According to a spokesperson, the archdiocese will use the windfall from the air rights sale to maintain upkeep of the historic, marble-clad cathedral, which serves as its seat.