Stephen M. Ross, chief executive of Related Companies, signed an agreement Sunday night with the Metropolitan Transportation Authority to develop 12 million square feet of office towers, apartment buildings and parks over the 26-acre railyards, which sit on both sides of 11th Avenue, between 30th and 33rd Streets.It was a welcome turnabout for the authority, which is counting on the railyards deal to provide hundreds of millions of dollars for new trains, stations and rail work. The speed of the new agreement, occurring 10 days after the collapse of the authority's earlier deal with Tishman Speyer Properties, is also a measure of how much Mr. Ross, one of the city's most prolific developers, wants control over the railyards.
Mr. Ross, who had bid on the yards before and clearly suffered loser's remorse, essentially agreed to the same tentative $1.054 billion deal that Tishman had signed in March. The deal requires the approval of the authority's board, which will vote on the agreement at a special meeting on Thursday. The two sides will take the next four months to complete a contract to buy the development rights.
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