As reported by The New York Times, Crain's New York and other news sources, Paul, Weiss client Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) closed on the lease and sale of the airspace over its 26-acre West Side Railyards, the largest undeveloped tract of real estate in Manhattan, to a joint venture established by Related Companies and Oxford Properties Group. The deal, valued at more than $1 billion to MTA, marks a major milestone in the most significant and transformative development project in New York City's recent history.

The Paul, Weiss Real Estate Department works with some of the most prominent real estate institutions in New York City and around the globe. Over the past year, we were honored to assist them on projects that will impact how we live, work, learn and play for decades to come. We are helping world-renowned educational and medical research organizations with projects that will transform the city into a major science and technology hub, producing the next generation of scientists, technologists and caregivers. Skyline-altering projects like the construction of New York's tallest residential building, the transformation of the West Side Rail Yards and the world's biggest observation wheel are fitting emblems of the unbounded ambition of our clients and our city.

Paul, Weiss client Jonathan Rose Companies, in conjunction with Harlem RBI, began construction on The East Harlem Center for Living and Learning. The building will be comprised of a permanent home for DREAM Charter School (grades K-8), 89 units of mixed-income housing, and a nonprofit office and community facility space. The $78.5 million development on East 104th Street is being built on land purchased from the New York City Housing Authority. Harlem RBI is a nonprofit youth development program with ties to Major League Baseball.

Paul, Weiss client Rose Associates, Inc., in partnership with affiliates of Eastbridge Sarl and AG Insurance NV/SA, closed the development financing to convert the historically designated former AIG headquarters building at 70 Pine Street. The project will consist of over 600 luxury residential units on the 7th through 66th floors, with the lower floors to be converted into either an extended stay hotel or corporate apartments together with ground floor retail. The second floor will be leased to Down Town Association and integrated into DTA's adjoining property at 60 Pine Street.

Paul, Weiss client The Lightstone Group completed the contribution of its ownership interests in Paragon Outlets Livermore and Paragon Outlets Grand Prairie, premium retail outlet centers in the San Francisco Bay area and the Dallas metropolitan area, respectively, to Simon Property Group, the largest owner of retail outlet centers in the U.S. As part of the transaction, Lightstone also contributed to Simon an expansion site adjacent to the Livermore Property. The closing completed a two-step transaction that commenced in 2011. 

Three new partners have been elected to the partnership effective January 1, 2013:  Salvatore Gogliormella, Michael S. Hong and William B. Michael.  All three are resident in Paul, Weiss's New York office. Sal will become a partner in the real estate department, Michael will become a partner in the corporate department as a member of the firm's Private Funds Group, and Bill will become a partner in the litigation department, where he focuses on antitrust litigation, including both civil and criminal government investigations, as well as general litigation and appellate matters. 

As reported in Crain's and other news sources, Mayor Bloomberg announced that Paul, Weiss client New York Wheel LLC, a consortium of private investors, will build the world's tallest observation wheel in Staten Island, overlooking New York Harbor and the New York skyline. The proposed wheel will be built on a City-owned site adjacent to the Staten Island Ferry and the Richmond County Bank Ballpark, and will rise 625 feet tall, higher than the Singapore Flyer, currently the tallest observation wheel in the world.

Paul, Weiss clients Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center and the City University of New York (CUNY) announced plans to build two science and medical facilities on Manhattan's Upper East Side. The transaction, which leverages an innovative partnership between the public and private sectors, will enable these institutions to make significant improvements to their facilities, thereby improving critical medical services to patients and providing modern education facilities to the next generation of health care providers and researchers.

Paul, Weiss represented the New York City Economic Development Corporation (NYCEDC), the City's economic development arm, in its agreement with Columbia University to create a new Institute for Data Sciences and Engineering. The agreement includes the creation of 44,000 square feet of new applied science and engineering space on Columbia's campus by 2016 and the addition of 75 new faculty over the next decade and a half. As part of the agreement, the City will provide $15 million in critical financial assistance to Columbia, as well as valuable lease flexibility leading to the development of the Institute.