175 Park Avenue: The 95-Story Supertall Planned Beside Grand Central
Photo above: the current Hyatt Grand Central New York at 175 Park Avenue, photographed September 2025, before its planned demolition. Photo by ajay_suresh via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 4.0.
RXR Realty and TF Cornerstone filed building permits in April 2026 for a further-expanded, 95-story design of roughly 3 million square feet — up from the 92-story version described in a January 2025 federal-financing request, and from the 1,575-foot design the City Council approved back in December 2021. As of the most recent reporting, the developers had not yet secured an anchor office tenant or finalized financing, including a requested $4.84 billion in federal loans, and the existing Hyatt hotel remained open.
Current View
175 Park Avenue’s current design, as shown in a January 2026 presentation to the NYC Public Design Commission — SOM’s steel-lattice crown rising beside the Chrysler Building:
At a Glance
- A proposed 95-story, roughly 3-million-square-foot supertall that would replace the existing Hyatt Grand Central New York, directly adjacent to Grand Central Terminal.
- Designed by Skidmore, Owings & Merrill for developers RXR Realty and TF Cornerstone; approved by the City Council in December 2021, then expanded twice since.
- Would combine roughly 2.4-2.5 million square feet of office space with a 200-room hotel, public open space, and over $550 million in Grand Central transit improvements.
- No anchor office tenant secured and no construction start confirmed as of this page’s last verification; the existing hotel remains open.
What Is 175 Park Avenue?
175 Park Avenue is the address of a proposed supertall office and hotel tower that would rise directly beside Grand Central Terminal, on the site of the existing Hyatt Grand Central New York. Developers RXR Realty and TF Cornerstone, working through a joint venture called Commodore Owner LLC, are advancing the project with architect Skidmore, Owings & Merrill.
The design has grown twice since the City Council first approved a 1,575-foot version in December 2021: a January 2025 federal financing request described a 92-story, roughly $6.5 billion tower, and RXR’s April 2026 building permit filing describes a further-expanded 95-story design of about 3 million square feet. Each figure is a real snapshot of the project at that stage, not a correction of an earlier mistake.
As filed, the tower would combine 2.4 to 2.5 million square feet of Class A office space, a 200-room hotel, roughly 10,000 square feet of retail, about half an acre of public open space, and a striking crown of interlaced steel columns that SOM describes as a lattice culminating at the tower’s top.
From the Commodore to the Grand Hyatt
The site has a long history at the center of Manhattan real estate. The New York Central Railroad opened the Commodore Hotel next to Grand Central Terminal in 1919, but the hotel declined along with its parent railroad, which went bankrupt in 1970.
In 1976, a young Donald Trump partnered with the Hyatt Corporation to buy the fading hotel, negotiating the first 40-year property tax abatement New York City had ever granted a commercial building. A $100 million renovation, designed by architect Der Scutt, wrapped the Commodore’s original brick facade in reflective glass and stainless steel; the building reopened as the Grand Hyatt New York in September 1980 — Trump’s first major Manhattan project.
That building, now operated as the Hyatt Grand Central New York, still stands and remains open for business. Hyatt’s lease on the site runs through 2077; the current owners must buy out or terminate it before any demolition can begin.
Getting to Yes: Zoning and Review
The project’s scale depends on Midtown East’s 2017 rezoning, which lets developers purchase unused development rights transferred from nearby landmarks — including Grand Central Terminal itself, an individually landmarked building and National Historic Landmark. 175 Park Avenue is not itself landmarked or within a historic district.
The project, known during its city review as “Project Commodore,” entered New York’s Uniform Land Use Review Procedure in May 2021 following renderings released that April. The City Council approved a revised, 1,575-foot design that December.
A separate federal environmental review is underway, tied to the developers’ pursuit of low-cost federal financing. The Federal Transit Administration is the lead agency for that review under the National Environmental Policy Act, since the financing sought comes through the Railroad Rehabilitation and Improvement Financing and Transportation Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act programs — loan programs typically used for transit and rail projects, reflecting the more than $550 million in Grand Central transit upgrades built into the proposal.
The Money Problem
Unlike most supertall office towers, 175 Park Avenue has struggled to attract conventional construction lenders, largely because it lacks a signed anchor tenant large enough to satisfy them. In January 2025, RXR and TF Cornerstone requested $4.84 billion in federal RRIF and TIFIA loans, a discretionary financing route usually reserved for transit infrastructure, arguing the transit-hall and subway-entrance improvements bundled into the project qualify.
By March 2026, the developers were hosting investor “field trips” to court additional capital, including from JPMorgan, toward an overall project cost RXR has described as roughly $6.5 billion. As of the most recent reporting, no anchor tenant of the half-million-square-foot scale lenders are said to want had been announced.
What Happens Next
A January 2026 presentation to the NYC Public Design Commission described construction potentially starting as early as June 2026, contingent on financing and tenant commitments. RXR’s April 2026 permit filing was described internally as the “next step in advancing” the project, with construction “expected to start in the coming months.”
As of this page’s last verification, that construction start had not been independently confirmed, the Hyatt hotel remained open, and no anchor tenant had been announced. A projected completion date of 2032 has been cited in reporting on the project’s federal review filings.
Timeline
Built by the New York Central Railroad next to Grand Central Terminal.
Trump negotiated the first-ever 40-year tax abatement granted to a commercial property in New York City.
A $100 million remodel by architect Der Scutt wrapped the original brick structure in a reflective glass and stainless-steel facade.
Designed by SOM for RXR and TF Cornerstone.
New York City's Uniform Land Use Review Procedure.
For a 92-story, roughly $6.5 billion version of the project, via the federal RRIF and TIFIA loan programs.
With construction anticipated as early as June 2026, contingent on financing and tenant commitments.
Courting capital including from JPMorgan, while still lacking a signed anchor office tenant.
Roughly 3 million square feet, including 2.4-2.5 million square feet of office space, a 200-room hotel, and over $550 million in Grand Central transit improvements.
Contingent on securing an anchor tenant and finalizing financing; not confirmed as of this page's last verification.
Location
175 Park Avenue sits at the northwest corner of Park Avenue and East 42nd Street, directly against Grand Central Terminal. View on Google Maps.
Sources
Sources: Wikipedia; New York YIMBY (2021 ULURP approval); New York YIMBY (2026 permit filing); RXR Realty; Bisnow (federal financing request); The Real Deal (investor outreach); Commercial Observer (site history); Permitting Dashboard, Performance.gov (federal review).
Hush Street Editorial researches and reports on the projects, permits, and physical changes reshaping Brooklyn — and, more broadly, New York City. Reporting draws on primary-source city records — Department of Buildings filings, land-use and planning applications, agency and community-board documents — verified and cross-checked against independent reporting where it exists. Coverage is continuously updated as new filings and decisions are recorded, and confirmed facts are distinguished from open questions.
