By Dana Schulz, Wed, January 22, 2020 All renderings by COOKFOX
The entire city block bound by 11th and 12th Avenues and 27th to 28th Streets in West Chelsea is occupied by the Terminal Warehouse complex, a former freight distribution hub built in 1891. After losing its place in the shipping industry in the 1930s, it then became infamous in the 1980s and ’90s as the home of The Tunnel nightclub. Now, after years as a mini-storage facility and commercial offices, the structure will once again see new life, this time as a wholistic, modern office complex. L&L Holding and Normandy Real Estate Partners have partnered with COOKFOX architects to adaptively reuse the building, preserving and restoring its historic elements, as well as to add shops and restaurants on street level, a central courtyard, and a contemporary glass addition. Yesterday, the Landmarks Preservation Commission unanimously approved the plans.
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By Michelle Cohen, Tue, January 21, 2020 Flooded Battery Park Tunnel after Hurricane Sandy. Image: Timothy Krause via Flickr.
A barrier wall proposed by the Army Corps of Engineers as one of several options being evaluated to shield the New York area from rare storms–which may well become less rare and more destructive with global warming–is the subject of a heated debate among planners and environmental experts. Supporters suggest that a barrier be constructed in the outer New York Harbor where it’s mostly hidden from view, saying it would go the farthest in protecting people, land and valuable landmarks along the waterfront from a storm surge. Others fear the idea is a short-sighted measure that doesn’t address major climate threats–and could even worsen matters by trapping sewage and toxins during flooding from high tides and storm runoff. President Donald Trump, however, remains the sole proponent of the mop-and-bucket approach, as the New York Daily News reports.
What will save us from a tweetstorm?
By Michelle Cohen, Fri, January 17, 2020 Image courtesy of Gammahaus
A new design–the third so far–has been revealed for 3 Hudson Boulevard, the next office tower to rise at Hudson Yards. Located at the northwest corner of West 34th Street and Hudson Boulevard, the tower, which has long been in planning stages, will have 1.85 million square feet of office space. The latest designs reveal a height of just under 1,000 feet with 56 stories, the New York Post reports. Some floors will have ceilings of almost 30 feet with terraces at the end.
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By Alexandra Alexa, Thu, January 16, 2020 Previous rendering of 2 World Center via DBOX, courtesy of Bjarke Ingels Group
It looks like Norman Foster’s design for 2 World Trade Center might rise after all. First unveiled in 2006, the original Foster + Partners proposal was scrapped in 2015 for Bjarke Ingels’ stacked tower, which was deemed more suitable to prospective media tenants. After leases with Fox and News Corp. fell through in 2016, the future of the tenant-less tower has remained uncertain. Absent any takers, developer Larry Silverstein is now pivoting back to the Foster vision, the New York Post reports. The old design is being “significantly modified to be more reflective of contemporary needs and taste,” Silverstein said.
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By Alexandra Alexa, Wed, January 15, 2020 Renderings by Gabellini Sheppard Associates courtesy Tishman Speyer; via NYC Landmarks Preservation Commission
Tishman Speyer proposed a plan to revamp certain aspects of Rockefeller Center during a hearing at the Landmark Preservation Commission on Tuesday, as CityRealty reported. With Gabellini Sheppard Associates at the helm, the design proposal makes tweaks to the gardens and outdoor plaza spaces at the 22-acre site. The upgrades—which mostly seek to improve circulation—come as city officials have been discussing the permanent restriction of traffic around Rockefeller Center following the successful pedestrianization of the area during the recent holiday season.
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By Alexandra Alexa, Tue, January 14, 2020 Rendering courtesy of Rockwell Group
The Olayan Group released a new batch of renderings giving us a sneak peek inside the amenity floor at 550 Madison Avenue. Designed by Rockwell Group, the seventh floor offers a mix of “hospitality-driven” spaces for tenants, including food and beverage options, lounges, shared workspaces, and fitness and wellness areas. The center of it all will be the iconic Philip Johnson-designed oculus—which greets visitors as soon as they step off the elevator on the club floor—framed by two floor-to-ceiling artworks by Dorothea Rockburne, which were commissioned in 1993 specifically for the building.
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By Alexandra Alexa, Fri, January 10, 2020 Image by Timothy Schenck; courtesy of Related-Oxford
Related Companies is gearing up for the second phase of Hudson Yards—the Western Yard—but there’s uncertainty about what exactly the developer has planned. To balance the addition of another batch of towering skyscrapers, the Western Yard promised to open itself up to the public with a new school and accessible, High Line-adjacent green space. Now Related appears to be considering walling that part of the development off with a 700-foot-long structure “that would overshadow the High Line, accommodate a parking garage and help make the site more like a quasi-gated community,” as the New York Times reports.
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By Alexandra Alexa, Fri, January 10, 2020 Photo of Lantern House on 1/3/20 by CityRealty
Related Companies has released new renderings of the residential interiors in Thomas Heatherwick’s Lantern House condo development on the High Line. The quirky towers—one is ten stories tall and the other rises to 22 stories—flank the High Line at 18th Street and stand out with their billowing glass walls that reinterpret “the modern bay window.”
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By Devin Gannon, Thu, January 9, 2020 Rendering of Wizarding World by Studio Superette, courtesy of Manhattan Community Board 5
The landmarks committee of a Manhattan community board this week dismissed the design for a proposed Harry Potter-themed store and exhibit in the Flatiron District. Warner Brothers Entertainment announced plans last September to open Wizarding World at 935 Broadway, a landmarked building constructed in 1861. But the company’s proposal to alter the historic structure by adding wand-style flagpoles and a fiberglass dragon was rejected as “inappropriate” by Manhattan Community Board 5’s landmarks committee on Tuesday, as the Wall Street Journal first reported.
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By Alexandra Alexa, Tue, January 7, 2020 All renderings courtesy of Tishman Speyer
As The Spiral continues to rise in Hudson Yards—it’s currently the eighth-tallest skyscraper under construction in NYC—its future offices are getting scooped up at a fast pace. Despite being two-and-a-half years away from completion, the Bjarke Ingels Group-designed tower at 66 Hudson Boulevard is now 54 percent pre-leased after adding law firm Debevoise & Plimpton to its roster of tenants. That list also includes pharmaceutical giant Pfizer, who will relocate its global headquarters to the building, and investment management firm AllianceBernstein. Once complete, the 66-story tower will reach 1,032 feet and feature signature cascading terraces and hanging gardens wrapped around the facade in a spiral-like arrangement.
Here’s the latest update
