Feds Pick Developer to Lead Penn Station

U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean P. Duffy and Amtrak’s board on May 20 selected Penn Transformation Partners — a team led by Halmar and Skanska — as the private master developer for the renovation of New York Penn Station. The decision gives the long-delayed Manhattan project a named private lead after the federal government took control from the Metropolitan Transportation Authority in April 2025 and put Amtrak in charge. The same announcement included another $200 million in federal funding for design and permitting work and set a target of breaking ground in 2027. Madison Square Garden will remain above the station under the selected concept, according to federal officials and local coverage. ### Who exactly did the feds pick? Penn Transformation Partners was named the master developer team after a competitive procurement run by Amtrak and overseen by special adviser Andy Byford, according to Amtrak and the U.S. Department of Transportation. The team is identified in the federal announcement as Halmar and Skanska. (media.amtrak.com) Gothamist reported that the group also includes Vornado Realty Trust, a major landowner around Penn Station. Amtrak said the developer was chosen based on factors including value, concourse capacity, passenger growth, operational efficiency and potential revenue generation for the railroad. ### Why is Amtrak, not the MTA, running this project? April 17, 2025, was the date the Federal Railroad Administration removed the MTA from the lead role on Penn Station reconstruction and shifted control to Amtrak, backed by the U.S. (media.amtrak.com) Department of Transportation. The Transportation Department said at the time that the move was meant to protect taxpayers and rescope the project. (gothamist.com) May 20’s announcement framed the developer selection as the next step under that federal takeover. Duffy said the government had taken over the project because it was “behind schedule, over budget, and hopelessly mismanaged,” a characterization attributed to him in the agency release. ### What does the selected Penn Station plan actually include? (transportation.gov) The federal plan calls for a new train hall entrance on Eighth Avenue, wider concourses, better wayfinding, new retail space and work on the station’s underground structure, according to the Transportation Department and Amtrak. The agencies also said the redesign would expand track capacity and allow at least limited through-running on the regional rail network. (transportation.gov) Gothamist reported that the concept would remove the Theater at Madison Square Garden to create the Eighth Avenue entrance and would rework the arena’s exterior with a more classical facade while leaving the arena itself in place. Local reports said the plan does not require demolishing the Hulu Theater site’s broader superstructure or relocating the Garden. (media.amtrak.com) ### Did this settle the Madison Square Garden fight? Madison Square Garden is not being relocated under the selected concept, ending one of the biggest open questions around Penn Station’s redesign. Gothamist, NY1 and other local outlets reported that federal officials approved a plan that keeps the arena where it is while redesigning the station beneath it. (gothamist.com) The New York Post separately reported that federal officials pegged the renovation at $8 billion while confirming the arena would stay put. That combination — a named developer, a price tag and a no-relocation approach — gave the project its clearest current outline. ### How much money is on the table now? The Transportation Department said on May 20 that it was adding $200 million for the Penn Station transformation through the Partnership-Northeast Corridor program. (gothamist.com) The agency said the money is intended to keep the project on track for a 2027 groundbreaking. One day earlier, Duffy said the federal government intended to spend $8 billion on the broader overhaul, according to The New York Times. (nypost.com) Reuters also reported on May 20 that the latest federal action added $200 million toward an $8 billion rebuild plan. ### What happens next, and when? August 2025 planning documents released by Amtrak and USDOT said the project schedule called for master developer selection in May 2026, preliminary design and National Environmental Policy Act review from summer 2026 through the end of 2027, and construction initiation by the end of 2027. (transportation.gov) Reinvent Albany compiled the public timeline from Amtrak project materials, and the federal agencies have continued to cite a 2027 start date. (nytimes.com) Andy Byford said in the May 20 announcement that the project was now “one step closer to having shovels in the ground next year.” The next public milestones are expected to be design development, environmental review and additional funding and implementation details from Amtrak and the Transportation Department. (media.amtrak.com) (reinventalbany.org)