Take that, Zohran Mamdani!
The mayor’s blind-side attack on Ken Griffin failed to derail plans for a $4.5 billion skyscraper home for Griffin’s Citadel companies.
The new tower at 350 Park Ave. will go up as planned, according to Steven Roth, the CEO of Griffin’s major partner Vornado Realty Trust.
He said in the publicly-traded real estate company’s second-quarter earnings call Tuesday that he expects the joint-venture development agreement among Vornado, Griffin and minority partner Rudin to close in September. Roth indicated Vornado would exercise its full option to buy 36% of the JV.
Roth said, “We have a $3.3 billion construction loan ready to go” for the 1.8 million-square-foot, 1,600-foot-tall cloudbuster designed by Foster + Partners.
Griffin’s Citadel and Citadel Securities would be anchor tenants with about 850,000 square feet.
Demolition of the old 350 Park Ave. and 40 E. 52nd St. is underway to make way for the new tower, as Roth noted.
Questions were raised about the project’s future after Mamdani made a video in April disparaging Griffin for owning a $200 million condo apartment.
Griffin said his participation in 350 Park Ave. was “under review” following the hit.
He also said he would “double down” on Miami and add to Citadel’s considerable space there, hinting his commitment to Manhattan was uncertain.
But all hands seem to be on board for the Park Avenue cloudbuster, which would create what Roth called a new “umbrella” for Midtown rents of $350 per square foot.
By comparison, the best buildings command in the $200s for large floors, although a few $300-plus deals have been struck for very small spaces.
Roth also said the partnership — “and by that, I mean all the partners” — were “contemplating” a possible sale of a 25% interest “at a price which will give us an appropriate profit.”
Such ownership dilutions to cash in on rising values are not uncommon in high-stakes new developments.
On a different topic, Roth denied Vornado had any intention to sell the former Pennsylvania Hotel site — “the best development site” in Manhattan – emphasizing it is “not for sale.”
The earnings call came as Manhattan hit new occupancy and rent peaks in the first half of 2026, which was on track for the strongest leasing year since before the pandemic.