Partial residential conversion of McGraw-Hill Building fast tracked

The partial residential conversion of the landmarked McGraw-Hill Building at 330 W. 42nd Street has jumped onto the fast track.

Since my colleague Lois Weiss first reported that asset manager Resolution Real Estate was exploring the option in October 2022, “We’ve cleared all the hurdles,” said Resolution managing partner Gerard Nocera.

The conversion of floors 12 through 34, which Nocera estimated would cost $100 million, is to begin this summer.

Completion of 224 apartments is expected in the second quarter of 2024.

The re-configuration of the Art Deco masterpiece includes creation of a second lobby and entrance, and the re-installation of the McGraw-Hill name above the residential entrance. Resolution is working with SLCE architects on the apartment designs.

Nobody who read my column of Jan. 16 can be surprised that Gov. Kathy Hochul has given up on the state’s proposal to fund Penn Station improvements with cash spun off from office towers to be built mostly by Vornado.

She will now “shift gears” and pursue an “alternate plan” to pay for a new station. 

But I noted in January that she made no mention of her pet plan for a redeveloped Penn area in her State of the State address even though it was a priority of her administration and of her predecessor Andrew Cuomo’s.