Citadel’s $6 Billion Park Avenue Skyscraper Begins Demolition Despite Griffin-Mamdani Tax Feud

Demolition has officially commenced at 350 Park Avenue to make way for a $6 billion commercial tower anchored by Ken Griffin’s Citadel, signaling that Midtown Manhattan’s most ambitious commercial real estate project is moving forward despite a high-profile feud between the billionaire hedge fund founder and New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani.

Vornado Realty Trust Chief Executive Officer Steven Roth announced during the company’s earnings call on Tuesday that site work is active and the real estate investment trust plans to exercise its full investment option in the joint venture. Under the deal structure, Griffin holds a controlling 60% stake, while Vornado will hold up to 36% alongside partner Rudin. Citadel and its market-making arm, Citadel Securities, will occupy 1 million square feet as the skyscraper’s primary anchor tenant.

“If you drive or walk past Park Avenue at 52nd Street, you will see that our 350 Park Avenue site is now under construction, actually under demolition. We intend to shortly exercise our investment option to participate in this deal at our maximum ownership alongside Ken Griffin as our 60% partner and with Citadel as our 1-million-square-foot anchor tenant,” Roth said.

The multi-billion-dollar development represents one of the largest corporate office investments in New York City history. In an internal employee memorandum distributed on April 23, Citadel Chief Operating Officer Gerald Beeson outlined the scale of the commitment, writing that “The project – if we move forward – will entail more than $6 billion dollars of spending,” while noting it would generate “6,000 highly paid construction jobs” and support the “creation of more than 15,000 permanent jobs in Midtown New York.”

Physical progress on the tower comes after weeks of intense political friction over municipal tax policy targeting ultra-wealthy non-resident property owners. Controversy erupted after Mayor Mamdani published an April 15 video recorded directly outside Griffin’s $238 million Central Park South penthouse to promote a new annual pied-à-terre tax on secondary luxury properties valued over $5 million.

“When I ran for mayor, I said I was going to tax the rich. Well, today we’re taxing the rich… This is an annual fee on luxury properties worth more than $5 million whose owners do not live full-time in the city – like this penthouse, which hedge fund CEO Ken Griffin bought for $238 million,” Mamdani said in the video.

Griffin pushed back forcefully against the targeted campaign, describing the video as “creepy and weird,” adding that such public callouts raised personal safety concerns and demonstrated a “profound lack of judgment” by city leadership. The exchange led Citadel executives to publicly question whether the firm would proceed with its New York construction commitments, even as Griffin continues executing plans to shift Citadel’s corporate headquarters to Miami, Florida, to leverage a lower-tax, business-friendly environment.

Mamdani subsequently softened his stance, publicly expressing appreciation for Griffin’s civic contributions, including funding a memorial wall at NYC Police Headquarters honoring officers killed during the September 11 terrorist attacks and those who died from recovery-related illnesses, which is scheduled to open later this year.