Solow Project Could House U.N. Offices

Developer Sheldon Solow is now floating the possibility of housing U.N. offices at his $4 billion development planned for a 9-acre site on Manhattan's East Side.

A vote by the City Council next week will determine the fate of the latest plan, which calls for the construction just south of the United Nations of six soaring residential glass towers with about 4,000 apartments, one office tower, and more than 500 public parking spaces.

Yesterday the United Nations signed a 6-year lease to occupy 460,000 square feet of space at another one of Mr. Solow's buildings, located at 380 Madison Avenue. The relocation of U.N. employees to 380 Madison would allow for the renovation of the U.N.'s Secretariat building on First Avenue.

Mr. Solow's spokesman, Michael Gross, said the UN is also considering occupying the planned 47-story office tower. The commercial tower is an aspect of the developer's proposal that has drawn resistance from Community Board 6 and the local City Council member, Daniel Garodnick.

"This is part of the major commitment Mr. Solow is making to developing the area around the U.N., including the $4 billion mixed-use development now under consideration by the City Council. The new development includes a commercial building virtually next door to the U.N., and at the end of its lease, the U.N. has said it would consider taking permanent space in this building if the Council approves the project," Mr. Gross said in a statement.

State Senator Martin Golden, a Republican representing Brooklyn, said the idea of the United Nations occupying the tower would likely pose a number of security and logistical issues.

"Unless they had separate entrances they would have difficulty finding other tenants. Or they would have to be the sole tenant," he said. "It's an interesting idea; I just think it has a host of more questions to ask than are answered here."

A spokesman for the U.N. office coordinating the renovation, Werner Schmidt, said the idea of moving to the Solow site was too far off even to speculate.

"At this point this is far, far, far into the future," he said. "We might as well be talking about life on Mars."

News of the potential U.N. tenancy at the site and of the lease at 380 Madison was reported yesterday at the Web site of the New York Times.