Disney Will Move New York Operations to Lower Manhattan

NEW YORK — In a move that could speed the transformation of two Manhattan neighborhoods, the Walt Disney Co. said Monday that it would move its New York operations from its longtime home on the Upper West Side to Hudson Square, the downtown neighborhood once known as the printing district now being refashioned into a home for media, advertising, internet and other “creative” companies.

Disney, which is in the midst of acquiring 21st Century Fox, plans to build a modern, 1-million-square-foot complex that would house ABC headquarters, WABC News, offices, production facilities and studios, including those for “The View” and “Live With Kelly and Ryan,” on an entire block bounded by Hudson, Varick, Van Dam and Spring streets. The company is leasing the property, known as 4 Hudson Square, for 99 years from Trinity Church in a deal valued at $650 million.

Tuesday, Disney plans to close on a separate agreement to sell its two Upper West Side campuses to the developer Larry Silverstein for $1.155 billion. Disney is leasing back the eight buildings that comprise its operations from Silverstein for up to five years while it draws up plans for the downtown complex, demolishes the existing buildings at Hudson Square and erects a new home.

Robert A. Iger, the chairman and chief executive of The Walt Disney Co., said in a statement Monday that the new building will let it adapt new technology and that the “move represents a historic step forward toward our long-term vision for our New York operations. The Hudson Square district is rapidly becoming a dynamic, innovative hub for media, technology and other creative businesses.”

Disney has not yet settled on an architect for the complex, but a spokeswoman said the company is working with Hines, a development and management company, on the project. Eastdil Secured, a real estate investment bank, worked on both the sale of its campus and the deal to build downtown at Four Hudson Square.

Trinity Church, the Lower Manhattan Episcopal parish, remains one of the city’s biggest landowners, and it owns many of the buildings in Hudson Square, once the home of New York’s printing industry. While some of the former industrial space has been converted to industrial chic office space for tech companies over the last two decades, Disney plans a new high-tech complex that it could not create at its buildings on the Upper West Side.

Several years ago, the 18-block Hudson Square area was rezoned at Trinity’s behest to allow for new residential development and modern office space, though not for the super-tall towers rising in midtown.

The area’s evolution is similar to the transformation of other Manhattan industrial neighborhoods, like the garment district, the flower district and the meatpacking district, which have become havens for white-collar companies and luxury apartment dwellers.

“This is a significant development in Trinity’s centuries-long commitment to this neighborhood and to the area’s continuing growth and transformation,” said the Rev. Dr. William Lupfer, rector of Trinity Church Wall Street.

Disney will retain ownership of the Armory it renovated on West 66th Street, where its sports broadcasting arm, ESPN, has offices.

But the sale could accelerate the profound changes that have hit the Upper West Side, in recent years, as Disney vacates its buildings on Columbus Avenue and 66th and 67th streets and on West End Avenue between 66th and 67th streets. Silverstein Properties has not disclosed its plans for those properties, or for a parking lot it owns nearby. But the most likely outcome would be a new series of tall residential towers.

Silverstein promised to work with the local community in defining what could be built there.

Marty Burger, chief executive of Silverstein Properties, said, “We look forward to working collaboratively with all our stakeholders, as we have always done, as we assume responsibility for Disney’s properties in the heart of Manhattan’s Upper West Side.”

Disney had already sold air rights to its properties to the developer Gary Barnett, the principal at Extell Development, who is planning to build a super-tall tower on West 66th Street. The plan has faced stiff opposition from many in the neighborhood.