JDS Development

August 19, 2016

Tour the American Copper Buildings’ skybridge and roof, first look at its floating lap pool

After last week's rush of news surrounding the American Copper Buildings--the launch of its affordable housing lottery for 160 units and the first reveal of its interior renderings--6sqft decided to take a tour inside the SHoP Architects-designed project. JDS Development Group's dancing East River towers have become best known for their copper facade (made up of 5,000 metal panels) and its three-story, amenity-filled skybridge that hovers 300 feet above the site at 626 First Avenue. Not only did we walk through the bridge, but we also took a peek at the buildings' already greening copper patina, had a first look at the lap pool on the 28th floor that will float between the towers, and also checked out the insane views from the roof.
See it all this way

Architecture And Design

August 11, 2016

Renderings Revealed for SHoP-Designed Interiors at the American Copper Buildings

By Dana Schulz

Today is the day for big reveals at the American Copper Buildings. Earlier, 6sqft broke the news that the affordable housing lottery for the project's low-income units will begin Monday (with homes ranging from $833/month studios to $1,247/month three-bedrooms), and now Curbed has shared the first interior renderings of the 761 apartments, as well as some additional amenity details. SHoP Architects, who designed the pair of dancing towers for JDS Development, are also responsible for the interiors, an unusual occurrence for the firm. They've outfitted the residences with 10-foot ceilings and floor-to-ceiling windows, and custom-designed oak floors, kitchens, lighting, and shades.
Check out all the renderings

August 11, 2016

Live in SHoP’s American Copper Buildings for $833/Month, Lottery Launching for 160 Affordable Units

By Dana Schulz

One of the flashiest new residential projects on the horizon is the American Copper Buildings, the SHoP Architects-designed dancing towers along the East River that have become best known for their three-story, amenity-filled skybridge, the highest such structure in the city at 300 feet above street level. As 6sqft previously reported, when completed early next year, the shimmering buildings will offer 761 rental units, 20 percent of which will be earmarked for low-income households. This latter group of 160 apartments has now officially come online through the city's affordable housing lottery, ranging from $833/month studios to $1,247/month three-bedrooms.
Find out if you qualify here

June 29, 2016

JDS and SHoP’s Cherry Street Tower Will Be Taller Than Expected, May Reach 1,000 Feet

By Dana Schulz

Back in April, the power team of JDS Development and SHoP Architects unveiled plans for a 900-foot, 77-story rental building at 247 Cherry Street in the Two Bridges area of the Lower East Side. This neighborhood has become controversial for a recent influx of sky-high development; 247 Cherry will rise directly next to Extell's 850-foot One Manhattan Square and not far from two 50-story towers at 265-275 Cherry Street. Its 900-foot height would've made it the tallest tower between Midtown and Downtown, but left it 100 feet shy of the supertall status JDS and SHoP are known for (the duo is responsible for the 1,438-foot-tall 111 West 57th Street and 9 DeKalb Avenue, Brooklyn’s first 1,000+ foot tower). However, Bowery Boogie reports today that the height may actually be at or above 1,000 feet, rising 80 stories.
More details ahead

June 1, 2016

VIDEO: JDS Takes Us Behind the Construction of the American Copper Buildings’ Skybridge

By Dana Schulz

Aside from their "dancing" silhouette, what makes the SHoP-designed American Copper Buildings (named for the 5,000 metal panels that make up the facade) so unique is the three-story diagonal skybridge that connects the 470- and 540-foot towers. Floating 300 feet over the street at 626 First Avenue, it's the city's first major new skybridge in over 80 years and will be the highest such structure in New York when completed. Though the bridge is no small feat—its steel trusses weigh over 421,000 pounds, it has 24 connection points, and it will be close to one million square feet—it all started with a single piece of string. In a new video from their "Building Know-How" series, JDS Development takes us behind the construction of this architectural wonder, sharing their approach
Watch the full video here

May 11, 2016

Skyline Wars: Accounting for New York’s Stray Supertalls

By Carter B. Horsley

Carter Uncut brings New York City’s latest development news under the critical eye of resident architecture critic Carter B. Horsley. Ahead, Carter brings us his eighth installment of “Skyline Wars,” a series that examines the explosive and unprecedented supertall phenomenon that is transforming the city’s silhouette. In this post Carter looks at the "stray" supertalls rising in low slung neighborhoods. Most of the city’s recent supertall developments have occurred in traditional high-rise commercial districts such as the Financial District, the Plaza District, downtown Brooklyn and Long Island City. Some are also sprouting in new districts such as the Hudson Yards in far West Midtown. There are, however, some isolated "stray" supertalls that are rising up in relatively virgin tall territories, such as next to the Manhattan Bridge on the Lower East Side and Sutton Place.
read more from carter here

Architecture And Design

April 28, 2016

JDS and SHoP Architects Unveil Plan for 900-Foot Lower East Side Tower

By Dana Schulz

There's a new tallest tower taking over the Lower East Side, and unsurprisingly it comes to us via the supertall super-team of JDS Development and SHoP Architects, the same duo responsible for the 1,438-foot-tall 111 West 57th Street and 9 DeKalb Avenue, Brooklyn's first 1,000+ foot tower. Their latest record-setter is a 900-foot, 77-story rental building planned for 247 Cherry Street, reports The Lo-Down. It will rise directly next to Extell's One Manhattan Square, which made waves for its 850-foot height in the low-scale Two Bridges area. The newest tallest tower between Midtown and Downtown will have a 10,000-square-foot retail base with 600 rental apartments above, about 150 of which will be made permanently affordable. Though the design isn't finalized, SHoP says it will likely be terracotta brick and glass and feature outdoor terraces in the middle. There will also be a top-floor amenity space for all residents, and SCAPE Landscape Architecture has been tapped to create a publicly accessible plaza surrounding the structure.
More details this way

April 20, 2016

SHoP’s East River Towers Named American Copper Buildings; Go Inside Their Skybridge

By Dana Schulz

We've been referring to SHoP Architects' pair of East River rental buildings at 626 First Avenue as the "dancing towers," but now that they've shimmied up to their full 470- and 540-foot heights, they've been officially named with a more mature moniker, the American Copper Buildings. First reported by Curbed, the title is "a nod to the 5,000 metal panels that make up the facade," which weigh in at a whopping 2,100 tons. In addition, developer JDS has released a teaser site and a fresh set of renderings that finally show the interior of the three-story, amenity-filled skybridge.
Get a look inside

April 19, 2016

LPC Approves Brooklyn’s First 1,000+ Foot Tower; New Renderings and Details

By Ondel Hylton and Dana Schulz

Brooklyn is finally getting a new skyscraper development worthy of its 2.6 million populace. Today, the Landmarks Preservation Commission approved SHoP Architects' vision for 9 DeKalb Avenue, a rehabilitation of the landmarked Dime Saving Bank that will marry it with a dramatic, supertall skyscraper behind, the first 1,000+ foot building to arrive in the borough. The Beaux-Arts banking hall, which is both an interior and exterior landmark, hosted a J.P. Morgan Chase branch up until last year. Now, its new owners, Michael Stern's JDS Development and the Chetrit Group, plan to transform the hall into a public and retail space that will complement their new tower. To bring back more of the building's grandeur, its exterior and interior spaces will be restored, and to accommodate the tower behind, the team is calling for the demolition of two nondescript one- and five-story rear annexes, which will then allow for a grand entrance to the skyscraper and a public through-space. The LPC was enamored with the project, calling it "flawless" and "enlightened urbanism at its best," as well as touting that it "improved the vision of this historic landmark." One commissioner even went so far as to say "It's similar to the Parthenon sitting on the Acropolis." The LPC had only a few minor modifications, the most notable being that the teller cages be retained until the team can show a plan detailing how the retail tenant (there will only be one) will use the space.
Get a look at all the presentation materials

SHoP’s Dancing East River Towers Top Out With Plenty of Flood-Proofing Below

Construction shots via R. Douglas/Tectonic

March 25, 2016

SHoP’s Dancing East River Towers Top Out With Plenty of Flood-Proofing Below

By Ondel Hylton

Three-and-a half years after Superstorm Sandy, New York developers are taking to the sea at a faster pace than ever. The most dramatic changes are in store for the East River shoreline, where more that two dozen developments are in construction or planned on both the Brooklyn and Manhattan sides. Ranging from the two million-square-foot Cornell Tech campus to the second largest condominium tower in the city going up at One Manhattan Square, the developments will usher in thousands of new residents and a sprinkling of workers to the flood-prone areas. As of late, the tidal strait's most striking addition has been a pair of asymmetrical, copper-clad towers at 626 First Avenue in Murray Hill. Last week, the team led by Michael Stern's JDS Development topped off construction on the 470-foot-tall southeastern tower. The taller 49-story, 540-foot northwestern tower finished its vertical rise some time earlier this month.
How is the project protecting itself from another possible storm?

New Close-Up Renderings of Brooklyn’s Future Tallest Tower

By Dana Schulz

About a month ago we were treated to a lone rendering of Brooklyn’s future tallest tower at 340 Flatbush Avenue Extension (now re-dubbed 9 DeKalb Avenue) that showed its full 1,066-foot height, towering against the rest of Downtown Brooklyn. Now, Curbed has spotted a full set of views, these showing more facade details and close ups of the building's triangular base next to the historic Dime Savings Bank.
All the renderings ahead

March 10, 2016

Property Markets Group Shares New Eye Candy of 111 West 57th Street

By Ondel Hylton

Here's a new set of images of Property Markets Group's and JDS Development's 111 West 57th Street. In case you haven't been paying attention, the highly-anticipated tower will be among the tallest residential skyscrapers in the world, climbing some 1,421 feet high to its tip. Designed by SHoP Architects, the feathery spire is sheathed in terra cotta, bronze and a glass curtain wall. The tower will be the most slender skyscraper in the world with a height to width ratio of 24:1.
More renderings ahead

February 18, 2016

New Rendering, Details of Brooklyn’s Future Tallest Tower

By Dana Schulz

A little over a month ago, 6sqft learned that Brooklyn’s first 1,000+ foot tower, designed by SHoP Architects, would rise a whopping 1,066 feet, amounting to 556,164 square feet of total space. It all started back in 2014 when developers Michael Stern and Joe Chetrit purchased 340 Flatbush Avenue Extension (a five-story mid-century building that takes up about one third of the triangular site in Downtown Brooklyn) for $46 million with plans to demolish it. Then, in December, they closed on the adjacent Dime Savings Bank building for $90 million, providing 300,000 square feet of air rights needed to construct the 73-story tower. Along with a new rendering, a piece today in the Times reveals some additional details, namely that the supertall will have nearly 500 rental units, at least 20 percent of which will be affordable under the city's 421-a program. But there's one issue that could make things a little complicated...
More on that, here

January 25, 2016

First Look at JDS Development’s Boutique Condos Coming to Williamsburg

By Heather Cooper Vivares

Near the Williamsburg waterfront and steps away from Bushwick Inlet Park (home to the famed Smorgasburg), Largo Investments and minority partner JDS Development have hatched plans to build a boutique condominium building at 71-73 North 7th Street. The four-story, 15,000-square-foot development will expand upon the structural bones of an existing single-story building, ultimately creating four capacious apartments.
More details on the project

January 12, 2016

Brooklyn’s Future Tallest Tower to Hit 1,066 Feet

By Dana Schulz

Less than a month ago, developers Michael Stern and Joe Chetrit closed on Downtown Brooklyn's Dime Savings Bank building for $90 million, which provided them with the 300,000 square feet of air rights needed to construct Brooklyn's first 1,000+ foot tower at 340 Flatbush Avenue Extension. Since news of the future tallest building outside Manhattan first came to light in August, the exact height hadn't been reported. But now NY Yimby has uncovered the number, and it's a whopping 1,066 feet, amounting to 556,164 square feet of total space.
READ MORE

New Developments

December 24, 2015

Brooklyn’s First 1,000+ Foot Tower Moves Forward, Developers Close on Last Site Needed

By Diane Pham

It's official, developers Michael Stern and Joe Chetrit have closed on the Dime Savings Bank building at 9 DeKalb Avenue in Downtown Brooklyn for $90 million, providing them with the air rights needed to build the borough's tallest tower. According to Crain's, who first broke the news, Stern and Chetrit will be able to transfer the bank building's 300,000 square feet of unused development rights to the new structure's site at 340 Flatbush Avenue Extension. As 6sqft previously reported, the new tower will soar more than 1,000 feet and is being designed by SHoP Architects. It will also be the city's tallest building outside of Manhattan when complete.
on the deal here

New Developments

The Most Important Towers Shaping Central Park’s South Corridor, AKA Billionaires’ Row

Carter Uncut brings New York City’s development news under the critical eye of resident architecture critic Carter B. Horsley. This week Carter kicks off a nine-part series, “Skyline Wars,” which will examine the explosive and unprecedented supertall phenomenon that is transforming the city’s silhouette. To start, Carter zooms in on the biggest developments shaping the southern corridor of Central Park.

November 25, 2015

The Most Important Towers Shaping Central Park’s South Corridor, AKA Billionaires’ Row

By Carter B. Horsley

They did not come from outer space when they landed on our front yard while the NIMBY folk and the city’s planners and preservationists weren’t looking. Some are scrawny. Some are dressed like respectable oldsters. They’re the supertalls and they’re coming to a site near you.
read more here

November 9, 2015

Rendering Revealed for Brooklyn’s First 1,000-Foot Tower

By Dana Schulz

News broke back in August that Brooklyn's first tower over 1,000 feet might rise in Downtown Brooklyn as the result of the $90 million acquisition of Brooklyn’s landmarked Dime Savings Bank building by JDS Development. Previously, they bought the site next door for $43 million, and combined with the bank's 300,000 square feet of development rights, they acquired the means to build a tower of nearly 600,000 square feet at 340 Flatbush Avenue Extension. 6sqft got a taste of what's to come when we revealed a video that showed the insane views from the top of the could-be tower, but now Yimby has unveiled the official renderings and specs for the project, which come courtesy of starchitects SHoP. As previously speculated, it will reach 1,000 feet, making it the tallest building in the outer boroughs. The 90-story, vaguely Art Deco tower will have 466,000 square feet of residential space, amounting to 550 condo units, as well as 140,000 square feet of commercial space.
More on the development ahead

October 26, 2015

Check Out the Views From 1,438 Feet in the Air at 111 West 57th Street

By Ondel Hylton

Last week, 6sqft brought you an up close and personal look at 111 West 57th Street's exterior facade mock-up, and now Property Markets Group (PMG), who is co-developing the super-tower with JDS Development Group, posted a nifty interactive panorama of the building's out-of-this-world views. Rising from the heart of Billionaires' Row (New York's very own Mount Olympus and preferred residence of our anonymous overlords), the building is 80 stories and 1,438 feet high and is nearly perfectly on axis to Central Park–an egotistical perk that Extell's Central Park Tower and Macklowe/CIM Group's 432 Park aren't granted despite having higher apartments.
This way for the views

October 21, 2015

A Behind the Scenes Look at How SHoP’s Stunning Facade at 111 West 57th Street Will Come to Life

By Ondel Hylton

Last month, JDS Development wowed us with an image showing a visual curtain wall mockup of their super-tower underway at 111 West 57th Street. Now the Michael Stern-led development team in partnership with Property Markets Group has released a new video and a handful of images to keep our mouths watering for what is poised to become New York's most daring skyscraper in generations. Designed by the local talents at ShoP Architects, the tower has already nervously impressed us with its extraordinary height of 1,438 feet and its jaw-dropping slenderness (a ratio of 1:24). Now that its engineers, the WSP Group, and the Times have thoroughly convinced us that the building will not fall over, we can focus our attention on the tower's elegantly detailed facade, composed of a feathery mix of terra-cotta, bronze, and glass. A recent video posted by JDS provides us with more glimpses of the cladding, a time-lapse video of how the facade will transform throughout the day, as well as some behind-the-scenes insight of the extraordinary undertaking involved to sheath this future landmark.
Watch the video and get more details

September 25, 2015

Check Out These Insane Views From Brooklyn’s First 1,000+ Foot Tower

By Ondel Hylton

Seeing the boroughs from sky-high heights is nothing new thanks to all the supertall towers in Manhattan, but it's not as common to have a panoramic view of our main island, which is why we had to share this video. JDS Development posted the short clip on their Instagram stream yesterday that shows potential views from their upcoming mixed-use skyscraper planned for Downtown Brooklyn using air rights from the Dime Savings Bank site. If constructed as intended, it will be the first 1,000+ foot tower outside of Manhattan. The nine-second video, whose camera height seems nearly eye-level to the 1,368-foot roof of One World Trade Center, depicts far-reaching, panoramic views to the west and northwest over Manhattan and beyond.
Check it out here

September 22, 2015

SHoP’s Billionaires’ Row Supertall Gets a Spectacular Real-Life Mockup

By Diane Pham

Rendering versus reality? SHoP can certainly boast that the real thing will look as good, if not better, than the drawings they've put out. Yesterday afternoon, JDS Development Instagrammed (h/t Curbed) an amazing shot of a scale model facade of their ultra-skinny tower going up at 111 West 57th Street. The mockup features the same materials and finishes that will be applied to the actual construction, and by any stretch of the imagination, if you multiply this beauty's terracotta, glass, and bronze filigree to its 1,428-foot potential, it will certainly be one of the city's most striking buildings. Who says architects don't care about detail anymore?
More this way

Architecture And Design

July 13, 2015

New Video Reveals How SHoP’s 626 First Avenue Will Dance into Midtown’s East River Skyline

By Ondel Hylton

SHoP Architects' copper-clad fraternal pair of towers is finally rising along the East River, and a handful of newly uncovered images and a fly-through video reassure us that this dancing couple will be the boldest addition to the East River skyline in decades. Developed by Michael Stern's JDS Development Group, the nearly one-million-square-foot project, now known by its address 626 First Avenue, will contain a whopping 800 rental units, placing it in the league of other recent mega-rental developments such as Two Trees' Mercedes House (864 units), Silverstein's River Place (921 rentals), and Moinian's Sky (1,175 units). Like these others, JDS is promising to provide an extravagant amenity package that they claim "will set a new benchmark for rental developments."
Watch the video and find out everything 626 First Avenue will offer

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