Railroads and Air Rights
Posted on:3/30/2006
| Railroads were the first companies to realize the potential of making money from their air rights. |
Railroads were the first companies to realize the potential of making money from their air rights. A good example of this is Grand Central Terminal in New York City. At first, the railroad simply constructed a terminal on a platform over the tracks. This was simply an efficient use of space, as opposed to using land adjacent to the tracks. By the 1950s, the railroad began to realize it could sell its air rights and let other companies build buildings on platforms over the tracks. This is how the PanAm Building (now MetLife Building) came to be built next to Grand Central Terminal.
Building on platforms over railroad tracks is still potentially very profitable, especially in New York. Recently the Metropolitan Transportation Authority attempted to sell air rights to the New York Jets so that they could build a stadium over railyards near Penn Station as part of the Hudson Yards Redevelopment Project. The MTA has even proposed building a platform themselves to encourage development.
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