Ken Griffin, Vornado, Rudin to Form JV for $6B 350 Park Ave. Development

Vornado Realty Trust and Rudin Management have formally agreed to enter into a joint venture with an affiliate of Ken Griffin, Citadel’s founder and CEO, to develop a 1.9-million-square-foot trophy office building at 350 Park Ave. In connection with the development, Citadel will lease 1.05 million square feet for 15 years as its primary New York office.

The JV will be owned 60% by Griffin, 36% by Vornado and 4% by Rudin. The project is budgeted at approximately $6.2 billion, of which $3.3 billion will be financed through a construction loan.

Vornado will serve as the developer, operating member, property manager and leasing agent. Vornado and KG will be the co-managing members and have joint control over decisions.

On Vornado’s recent second-quarter earnings call, chairman and CEO Steven Roth dismissed claims from analysts that the REIT would be better off walking away from the deal, originally forged in 2024. “In our business, there is no better place to invest than prime Park Avenue with a million-square-foot tenant and a 60% partner already committed,” he said.

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About Paul Bubny

Paul Bubny serves as Senior Content Director for Connect Commercial Real Estate, a role to which he brings 16-plus years’ experience covering the commercial real estate industry and 30-plus years in business-to-business journalism. In this capacity, he oversees daily operations while also reporting on both local/regional markets and national trends, covering individual transactions across all property types, as well as delving into broader subject matter. He produces 7-10 daily news stories per day and works with the Connect team and clients to develop longer-form content, ranging from Q&As to thought-leadership pieces. Prior to joining Connect, Paul was Managing Editor for both Real Estate Forum and GlobeSt.com at American Lawyer Media, where he oversaw operations at both publications while also producing daily news and feature-length articles. His tenure in B2B publishing stretches back into the print era, and he has served as Editor in Chief on four national trade publications. Since 1999, Paul has volunteered as the newsletter editor of passenger rail advocacy groups (one national, one local).

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