Feds Seek Master Developer for Penn Station, Hope to Break Ground in ’27

The Trump administration announced that it was pressing forward on a brisk timeline with rebuilding Penn Station and improving service even though President Trump says he has “terminated” money for the new Gateway tunnel to bring more trains into the station.

In a vital first step, the feds outlined a plan to seek a master builder to oversee the multi-billion-dollar development that has seen years of delays as various stakeholders haggle.

“We’re rebuilding Penn Station on Trump Time and we are tapping our partners in the private sector to make it happen on time and on budget,” said US Transportation Secretary Sean P. Duffy. “Under President Trump, USDOT is cutting through the red tape to meet our ambitious timeline, and I’m confident we’ll bring together the greatest minds to create an unmatched symbol of American architecture and infrastructure for visitors and daily commuters to enjoy for decades to come.”

Specifically, the administration announced that it opened the process for selecting a master developer, who will be chosen based on architectural vision, financing plans, and scheme for improving track-level service. This approach is sometimes described as a P3, a public-private partnership, and was used successfully to rebuild LaGuardia airport among other major infrastructure projects.

“This will be one of the biggest and most significant construction projects in US history, and we want the most skilled and knowledgeable partners to help make it a success,” said Andy Byford, who oversees the project as Special Adviser to the Board of Amtrak, which owns the station.

“By working with the private sector, we will be working with advisers who focus on the project’s goals while minimizing costs for taxpayers.” The developer will be selected by next May, and the goal is to break ground by the end of 2027, the Department of Transportation said. “This project is a crucial piece of the Trump administration’s broader initiative to build big, beautiful infrastructure that Americans can take pride in,” said a statement from Secretary Duffy’s office. Among other things, the plan for a “transformed” station must eliminate the current warren of corridors and levels and replace them with a single-level concourse with higher ceilings and better visibility to find tracks, amenities and, of course, exits, all of which must be renovated. The request also calls for total modernization of the track and platform level.

Officials said that Byford would identify a master developer and submit the recommendation to the board of Amtrak, which is owned by the federal government, to provide rail service that private railroads could no longer offer. If Amtrak approves the developer, the plans will then go to Secretary Duffy and President Trump, a former New York developer. Duffy has said that naming the station for Trump has a “nice ring.”

Original McKim Mead & White Station

Potential bidders have been recalibrating their designs to appeal to the classical architectural tastes of the administration. Ironically, the federal announcement came 63 years to the day after the start of demolition of the original Penn Station, built for cash by the Pennsylvania Railroad in 1910. One firm in the hunt is The Beaux-Arts Atelier. “Our founder, Richard Cameron, is the only architect whose vision for Penn Station has remained consistent over 30 years—to bring back the lost masterpiece by McKim Mead & White as much as possible, restored and enhanced for contemporary sensibilities and ultimate transit efficiency,” said one firm, which has been closely aligned with ReThinkNYC, an advocacy group.

Other likely bidders in the master plan derby are The Grand Penn Community Alliance, funded by conservative supporters of both President Trump and classical architecture, and Halmar International, the American subsidiary of the Italian firm ASTM.

The final footprint?

Two unresolved issues hang over the project. Will the station be expanded beyond its present footprint, and will Madison Square Garden remain on top of it?

Byford has said that the discussion of expansion, which could force the demolition of the block just south of the station, is on hold pending a federal study of how to optimize service in and out of the station “to accommodate passenger-service growth at New York Penn Station and the surrounding region,” as the statement from the DOT framed it.

Officials said that study would be conducted in two parts. The first, to be completed in six months for inclusion in rebuilding plans, will look at the present platforms and other infrastructure to see how they could be improved or replaced to increase service.

The second, over 18 months will study whether running trains through the station, rather than ending their passenger service in the station, could increase capacity without physically expanding the station. While Amtrak owns the station, its largest users are the Long Island Rail Road and New Jersey Transit. NJ Transit has said demand for service in and out of New York will increase considerably in the next decade. Which is where the future of Gateway enters the conversation. The current rail tunnels under the Hudson were built by the Pennsylvania Railroad at the same time as Penn Station, more than 100 years ago. They were damaged in Super Storm Sandy. Gateway was designed to create an alternative so those tunnels can be repaired.

Once that is done it will be possible to double service under the Hudson. The optimization study will include a review of the potential market for more service, including service through Penn station to points on either side. Amtrak itself is considering service from Ronkonkoma to Philadelphia and Washington. But the potential for that has been thrown into doubt by President Trump’s recent announcement that he had “terminated” funds for the Gateway project. He explained his move, coming during the standoff with Democrats over the federal government shutdown, by saying that Senator Chuck Schumer, the Democratic leader, had long wanted the Gateway project.

Byford said at a meeting of contractors the other day that the dispute involves a lot of short-term politics, and he is not for the moment concerned. Officials said the optimization study was being conducted on the assumption that Gateway would be completed. Construction has continued with previously provided funds and, tragically, a worker was killed Oct. 23 when he fell 60 feet off a wall into a construction pit at Hudson Yards, where the Gateway had started to dig the tunnels.

Whither Madison Square Garden?

On another crucial question is whether to move Madison Square Garden, and Amtrak left that to individual bidders to make what they considered the best proposal. This apparently opens the possibility of a new round of negotiations and pressure on the owner of the Garden, James Dolan, who has repeatedly said he likes where he is, right on top of the biggest intersection of mass transit in the region.

The timing is noteworthy. Two years ago the City Council gave Dolan only a five-year permit to continue operating his arena above the train station. So, the government has leverage. But if Dolan were to agree to move, it would take years to build a new Garden, significantly delaying the project and undercutting one of the administration’s stated goals. Indeed, in announcing the appointment of several advisers on the project, the administration said they would “help ensure this critical infrastructure project stays on schedule, under budget, and is built at the speed of Trump.”

Samuel Turvey, leader of ReThinkNYC, greeted the federal announcement with what he called “cautious optimism.”

“We need the tunnels for public safety reasons and for everything else to work,” Turvey said of the Gateway project. “The master developer selection process and Capacity Study are transparent and have stated deadlines and milestones. . . . The option to convert Penn Station’s operating model to through-running without tearing up the adjacent neighborhood in order to hasten our ability to unify our regional rail network heads our list of options that need to be fairly explored.”