ESDC Approves Javits Center Expansion

NEW YORK CITY-A $463-million plan to renovate and expand the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center was approved Tuesday by the Empire State Development Corp. board of directors. The plan is scaled down considerably from a more ambitious proposal earlier this decade to nearly double the West Side convention center’s exhibition space, which was quashed in early 2008 by then-Gov. Eliot Spitzer.

Top priority in the general project plan released by the New York Convention Center Development Corp. is a full roof replacement with a “green” roof. Parts of the 23-year-old convention center’s existing roof are said to leak during especially rainy weather. Other renovations will include replacing the exterior curtain wall to create a translucent façade for the “Crystal Palace,” installing high-efficiency rooftop mechanical units and repairs and upgrading of building systems.

The 100,000-square-foot expansion will contain 40,000 net square feet of exhibition space, down from earlier iterations of the plan that would have expanded the current 790,000 square feet of convention space by 500,000 square feet or more. A headquarters hotel that was part of the $1.7-billion expansion approved by the Public Authorities Control Board in July 2006 is not within the scope of the current plan.