Grand Central Madison TERMINAL DISCUSSION THREAD

Retail rentals: https://commercialobserver.com/2023/03/ ... n-feature/

The MTA Wants One Master Tenant for Its Grand Central Madison Retail
...
On the heels of the February opening of the 700,000-square-foot Grand Central Madison — that two-decade-long and nearly $13 billion project to connect Grand Central Terminal to the Long Island Rail Road — one would think the retail component of the addition would have been fully leased up prior to welcoming commuters.

But it has been more complicated than simply getting tenants to sign leases for storefronts in what are now the deepest depths of Grand Central, according to David Florio, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority’s chief of real estate transactions and operations, who has been on the hunt for one entity to manage leasing for all 25 spaces in Grand Central Madison.

The maximum amount of retail space that the MTA believes it could lease would be around 25,000 square feet between built-out space and kiosks.
...
At this stage, the MTA has not established asking rents for the Grand Central Madison’s retail spaces, a process that could take about two more months when the agency establishes what foot traffic will look like on a regular basis and prospective tenants give Florio and his team their first impressions. The agency had only eight days worth of ridership data as of March 8 to indicate foot traffic since East Side Access opened for full service on Feb. 27.
...
The agency is even open to leasing space on the platforms, 170 feet below the surface, similar to a coffee grab-and-go installation on the platforms of the 96th Street Q train station.
...

Well they'd better do something soon because right now there are no stores to buy anything in the main concourse. You can't get coffee or a donut, a bottle of water, a slice of pizza, an ice cream cone or anything else except from one very small portable kiosk with very limited choices. If they (the MTA) expect this place to be successful, they'd better start making it more attractive and useful to the public.

And provide more conspicuous signage at the main entrance at 1 Vanderbilt (on 42nd St.) and at the other big entrance at Madison Ave. and 47th St. in the lobby of J.P. Morgan Chase so people can at least find the new terminal !

How can anyone know what a fair rent would be without knowing how much foot traffic can be anticipated? Right now even LIRR doesn't know what the future passenger traffic is going to be. I suppose MTA would have to start with a very low introductory rent and an agreed-upon formula for future increases tied to some neutrally determined foot-traffic standard. Lots of room for negotiation on that point -- imagine doing that with a multitude of renters. No wonder MTA wants to subcontract the rentals.

Mr. Ex-Con, I once learned from a Tishman Realty type, when I was at their offices in New York doing an audit of their transactions regarding the CUS air rights (they then managed 10, 120, and 222), that within the commercial real estate rental industry, it is customary to offer a rental "concession" until such time as sales and foot traffic can be established.

Funny how, when addressing this fellow, I used the term "concession" as it applies to an airport or busy train station such as CUS. He was confused and was unaware that the shops were referred to as such.

Thank you for the information, Mr. Norman. I might have known there must be some recognized procedure for handling such chicken-or-the-egg situations.

Can someone kindly post or message me a track map of the new East Side Access?

https://www.vanshnookenraggen.com/_inde ... ackmap.pdf shows it

Perhaps this works:

Behind a paywall: https://www.newsday.com/amp/long-island ... t-kgzin3k0

Biltmore Room access opens.

A newly opened entrance and exit at Grand Central Madison gives Long Island Rail Road commuters their quickest access to Manhattan’s streets.

The Metropolitan Transportation Authority on Monday unveiled the LIRR terminal’s new link to the Biltmore Room on Grand Central’s main level.
...

After several trips to and fro using GC instead of Penn, my overall impressions are:

• By the time I've walked from the 4/5/6 Grand Central subway stop to the platform where I am to catch the LIRR, it feels like I've walked all the way to Penn Station. I know it's psychological — the built-in expectation that once I'm at the subway stop that corresponds to the LIRR station, it should be a short dash away.

• They need more signs indicating next departures, and on which tracks, and they really really need far better signs explaining where the hell one needs to go to get to those tracks, which are very definitely not all in a logical linear arrangement (as perceived by the hurrying pedestrian) the way they are at Penn.

Rode the LIRR tonight for the first time in many many years. Flawless experience on both ends, although I wish it was easier (or maybe it's not signed well enough) to get from the 4/5/6 train to the LIRR. Hicksville station was nice, Penn/Moynihan was super nice, and GCM was beautiful (and really quiet). Took a Ronkonkoma train inbound to Penn, on time, and was struck by how much faster and smoother it is than MNR - I suppose that's what a perfectly straight and recently rebuilt line will do. Not crowded, plenty of open seats. The return out of Grand Central (to Huntington) was very quiet - 100 passengers. The Penn train behind it had 200+.

You're not the first to comment on the signage in Grand Central being a little too subdued, instead of it being big and bold like it should be.

I think the signage, font/sizing wise, should fit that of the station as a whole. But there needs to be more of it, especially from the subway. It was alright coming from the main concourse (not great, but alright) but virtually non-existent down there.

I noticed the new GCM terminal has what looks like transit-style red, yellow, and green signals. Do these work the same as the Reduced Aspect Signals installed on the Main Line (rule 298?)