Forest City president and CEO Bruce Ratner previously said he expects there will be a 35-month construction process. In a deal valued at $175 million, a Tishman Speyer Properties-led limited partnership acquired the Times' current home, the 750.000-sf building at 229 West 43rd St. The Times Co. will stay in that site until its new headquarters is ready for occupancy in early 2007. Ratner estimates that total cost is expected to be between $830 and $850 million with $100 million for the New York Times portion.

Once completed, FCRC will have 700,000 sf of rentable space on floors 29 through 50. The New York Times will occupy floors two through 28 and there will be approximately 20,000 sf of retail space. Italian architect Renzo Piano Building Workshop designed the class A building which will be located in the Times Square submarket.

FCRC has participated in other Times Square-area development projects including the 42nd Street hotel, entertainment and retail development, a 335,000-sf complex that features a 25-screen AMC Cineplex and Madame Tussaud's Wax Museum, topped with a 25-story, 455-room Hilton Hotel with sky-lobby restaurant. Other FCRC projects include MetroTech Center, a $1-billion, 6.4-million-sf complex in Downtown Brooklyn.