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As part of an effort to revitalize the west side of Midtown Manhattan, the state of New York purchased the 1.4 million-square-foot James A. Farley Post Office Building for use as a transportation facility and mixed-use development, Gov. George Pataki announced Oct. 8.



Empire State Development Corp., the state’s economic development agency, completed a Memorandum of Understanding with U.S. Postal Service (USPS) to purchase the two-block-long building, which sits across from New York Penn Station, for $230 million. Port Authority of New York and New Jersey is picking up $145 million of the tab.



Pennsylvania Station Redevelopment Corp. (PSRC) now may proceed with its plan to convert 400,000 Farley building square feet into a transportation hub for use by Long Island Rail Road, New Jersey Transit, Amtrak and subway passengers.



USPS plans to vacate the building except for the 30,000 square foot historic retail post office and 170,000 square feet of support space.



Penn Station currently serves more than 500,000 people daily. Converting the Farley building into a transportation hub would increase the area’s passenger capacity 30 percent.