Penn Station’s $1.6B revamp is officially moving forward

The financial deal is done, and so "major construction" on the new train station can begin

After myriad false starts, it looks like the massive redevelopment of the James A. Farley Post Office into the Moynihan Train Hall is finally going to happen. Governor Cuomo today announced that the $1.6 billion deal for the revamped Penn Station has been finalized, paving the way for the start of "major construction" on the new station. The announcement also comes with some new renderings of the project, which is expected to be completed by 2020 (in theory, at least).

The project is a collaboration between Empire State Development and three private partners—Related, Vornado, and Skanska—which collectively have contributed about $1.2 billion to the project. An additional $420 million comes from New York's three major transit agencies (MTA, Port Authority, and Amtrak), along with federal grants. Thanks to their investment, the three private partners will also lease and operate the 700,000 square feet of commercial and retail space that will be part of the new train depot.

The plan will transform the McKim, Mead and White-designed Farley building into an enormous 255,000-square-foot train hall, with a 92-foot skylight that's meant to evoke the look and feel of the old Penn Station—as in, the one designed by MMW back at the turn of the 20th century. Skidmore, Owings & Merrill, which has been on the project for years, will design the new station.

"Fifty years after the loss of the original Penn Station structure, passengers will once again experience a world-class rail hub worthy of New York," Cuomo said in a statement.

As we previously reported, the entire Pennsylvania Station-Farley Complex will include the Moynihan Train Hall, along with a redeveloped Long Island Rail Road concourse, new subway stations to service the A/C/E and 1/2/3 lines, and "creat[ing] a modern passenger experience." There will also be a new entrance to the train hall on Ninth Avenue, close to both the Manhattan West and Hudson Yards megaprojects.

At least one part of the revamped transit complex, the West End Concourse, opened to the public this week; when the whole shebang is completed, it'll serve as a connector between the existing Penn Station and the Farley building.

The news that construction will finally move forward is welcome considering the issues that Penn Station is currently facing. While the revamped Farley building won't do much to solve the track problems that have caused massive delays in recent months, the larger train complex will alleviate some of the crowding and general hellishness of traveling through Penn Station.

• All Penn Station coverage [Curbed]