Financial District

Construction company Skanska USA stopped work at the St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church this month after the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America failed to make payments on the project. The cost of rebuilding the church, which was destroyed in the terror attacks on 9/11 more than sixteen years ago, increased to an estimated $78 million from a 2013 estimate of $20 million. While the archdiocese raised $37 million in donations, it was still unable to pay its bills, prompting an independent investigation of the church's financial mismanagement, as the New York Times reported. Since learning of its deficit, the archdiocese has cut 25 percent of its staff and 25 percent of its expenses. A new treasurer and a chief financial officer have also been hired.
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New Developments

December 22, 2017

The Urban Lens: How Temple Court went from an abandoned shell to a romantically restored landmark

By James and Karla Murray

In 1883, one of NYC's first skyscrapers opened at the corner of Nassau and Beekman Streets. Known as Temple Court, the nine-story red brick and terra cotta structure was designed in the Queen Anne style by architect James M. Farnworth to attract accountants and lawyers who needed to be close to the city's courthouses. Its most impressive feature was its central atrium that rises the full height and is topped by a large pyramid-shaped skylight and two rooftop turrets. In the 1940s, this romantic atrium was walled in from top to bottom, and by 2001, the last commercial tenant moved out, ultimately sending the building into disrepair, a crumbling shell open to the elements. Plans to restore Temple Court into The Beekman hotel and add an adjacent 51-story condominium tower first surfaced in 2008, but before work got underway in 2012, we were granted the rare opportunity to explore the architectural gem in its eerily beautiful derelict state. And now that guests are filling up the 287 hotel rooms, the main floor is buzzing with restaurants from restaurateurs Tom Colicchio and Keith McNally, and the atrium's skylight and Victorian cast iron railings and ornamentation have been restored, we went back in to document how this one-of-a-kind landmark has been restored.
See the before-and-after photos and learn about our experience

First official look at David Adjaye’s 800-foot Financial District condo tower

Renderings courtesy of Lightstone

December 15, 2017

First official look at David Adjaye’s 800-foot Financial District condo tower

Nearly four years after wrapping up his first NYC project, Harlem's Sugar Hill affordable housing development, renowned British architect David Adjaye is inching closer to completing his first skyscraper in the city. Preliminary plans for his Financial District condo tower surfaced in May, but developer Lightstone has shared the first official reveal of the tower, now known as 130 William. The height has increased from 750 to 800 feet, or 61 to 66 stories, and it will hold 244 residences. Adjaye says the "rich history" of one of "the city's earliest streets" influenced the building's unique concrete form. "I was inspired to craft a building that turns away from the commercial feel of glass and that instead celebrates New York’s heritage of masonry architecture with a distinctive presence in Manhattan’s skyline," he said.
More details and renderings ahead

Rafael Viñoly’s 88-story tower at 125 Greenwich Street gets new renderings

Rendering of 125 Greenwich Street, courtesy of March

November 9, 2017

Rafael Viñoly’s 88-story tower at 125 Greenwich Street gets new renderings

Shortly after the launch of condominium sales last month, new renderings of 125 Greenwich Street were released Thursday, revealing its imposing height over neighboring Financial District towers (h/t YIMBY). The proposed 912-foot tall luxury condo designed by Rafael Viñoly Architects, the firm behind staggering 432 Park Avenue, features 273 total units, including 190 studios and one-bedrooms. Upon its completion, 125 Greenwich will have the third-highest apartments in lower Manhattan, after the Four Seasons Private Residences at 30 Park Place and nearly complete 45 Broad Street.
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Architecture And Design

October 19, 2017

City officially pitches four neighborhoods for Amazon’s HQ2

Mayor Bill de Blasio and the New York City Economic Development Corporation released their official pitch for Amazon's second headquarters on Wednesday, one day before the deadline. Boasting the city's talented tech workforce, the de Blasio administration has pitched Midtown West, Long Island City, the Brooklyn Tech Triangle (DUMBO, Downtown Brooklyn and the Navy Yard), and Lower Manhattan as the four best spots for Amazon to call home. The tech giant's nationwide competition, announced in September, set out to find their next headquarters, called HQ2. The company promises the headquarters will bring 50,000 new jobs and $5 billion in initial city investment.
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Policy

October 18, 2017

Construction kicks off on Trinity Church’s Pelli Clarke Pelli-designed community center and office tower

One year ago, Trinity Church Wall Street revealed plans for a $300 million mixed-use tower designed by Pelli Clarke Pelli that would link to the historic Neo-Gothic church by a footbridge over Trinity Place. Earlier plans for luxury condos were squashed by the community, so Trinity decided instead to build an office tower and community space that will "allow the church to continue to shape the area and advocate for the community in the future," as the Rector, Rev. Dr. William Lupfer, explained. And it looks like the future is now; according to CityRealty, the Department of Buildings approved plans for the 26-story building and construction is underway.
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Beyer Blinder Belle overseeing $50M restoration of FiDi’s iconic Equitable Building

Rendering via MAQE

October 17, 2017

Beyer Blinder Belle overseeing $50M restoration of FiDi’s iconic Equitable Building

By Emily Nonko

One of New York's best-known office buildings will get a major restoration. According to Curbed, Equitable Building owner Silverstein Properties plans to spend $50 million to return the Financial District building to its former glory, restoring many design elements that were on display when it first opened in 1915. Beyer Blinder Belle will oversee the reno, which includes the restoration of the entrance, a new lighting system with hanging bronze fixtures, a new reception desk, and a granite accent wall. For those unfamiliar with the Equitable Building, it actually played a huge role in the city's current zoning laws. The H-shaped tower, which takes up the entire block on Broadway between Pine and Cedar Streets, caused a scandal when it opened due to the long shadows it cast on nearby streets, leading the city to establish the first-ever zoning laws to regulate the height of future tall buildings.
Read about the restoration details

Architecture And Design

October 3, 2017

Live in NYC’s highest rental at New York by Gehry for $45K/month

"I designed a building I would want to live in as a New Yorker... you could say this is my love letter to New York City," said starchitect Frank Gehry upon completing his rippling stainless steel rental building at 8 Spruce Street. Officially dubbed New York by Gehry, the 76-story tower is the city's tallest rental building, making its top-floor penthouses the highest rental units in New York. The largest and most expensive, a 3,771-square-foot, five-bedroom spread that occupies its own wing, has just hit the market for $45,000 a month ($40,154 net effective based on the offering of one month free), a unique opportunity to live in the epitome of this romantic notion.
See it all right here

September 29, 2017

INTERVIEW: Architect Lee H. Skolnick on designing New York City’s 9/11 Tribute Museum

By Diane Pham

This summer, the 9/11 Tribute Museum opened in a brand-new space at 92 Greenwich Street in the Financial District. The 36,000-square-foot gallery became the second iteration of the museum which originally occupied the former Liberty Deli from 2006 until earlier this year. While many are more likely to be familiar with the 9/11 Memorial Museum just a few blocks up the street, the Tribute Museum differs in that rather than focusing on the implications of the tragedy, documenting the events as they unfolded and examining its lasting impact, it assumes a more inspired take, dedicating its exhibits and installations to the stories of the survivors, first responders, relatives of victims, and others with close connections to the tragedy who found hope in the terror and stepped up to help their fellow New Yorkers. Ahead, Lee Skolnick, principal of LHSA+DP and lead architect of the 9/11 Tribute Museum, speaks to 6sqft about the design and programming of this important institution, and how he hopes its message will inspire visitors to do good in their communities during these uncertain times.
read 6sqft's interview with Skolnick here

New renderings of Lower Manhattan’s second tallest tower reveal golden Art Deco design

Rendering of 45 Broad Street found on-site, via CityRealty

September 26, 2017

New renderings of Lower Manhattan’s second tallest tower reveal golden Art Deco design

The Financial District’s second supertall located just one block south of the New York Stock Exchange is getting ready for construction. The tower, found at 45 Broad Street, will reach 1,115 feet, feature 66 floors and include about 200 condominiums. As CityRealty discovered, new on-site renderings show a slender structure with an Art Deco style and pointed Gothic architecture. Designed by CetraRuddy, the tower will be the second tallest tower in Downtown Manhattan after 1 WTC, and the architecture firm's tallest tower yet.
See the supertall

Architecture And Design

Radio Row: A tinkerer’s paradise and makerspace, lost to the World Trade Center

Radio Row, looking east along Cortlandt Street towards Greenwich Street, by Berenice Abbott Image via NYPL.

September 25, 2017

Radio Row: A tinkerer’s paradise and makerspace, lost to the World Trade Center

By Michelle Young

Before the internet and before television, there was radio broadcasting. The advent of radio at the turn of the 20th century had major repercussions on the reporting of wars along with its impact on popular culture, so it's not surprising that a business district emerged surrounding the sale and repair of radios in New York City. From 1921 to 1966, a roughly 13-block stretch going north-south from Barclay Street to Liberty Street, and east-west from Church Street to West Street, was a thriving small business stronghold known as Radio Row.
Read more about Radio Row here

History

Massive penthouse in the Woolworth Building’s iconic copper ‘Pinnacle’ lists for $110M

Rendering of the Pinnacle via Williams New York

September 20, 2017

Massive penthouse in the Woolworth Building’s iconic copper ‘Pinnacle’ lists for $110M

When the neo-Gothic Woolworth Building was erected in 1913 as the world's tallest building, it cost a total of $13.5 million. Now, 104 years and a partial condo conversion later, its massive, seven-story penthouse has hit the market for an exorbitant $110 million. The Wall Street Journal first got wind of the not-yet-public listing, which could be the most expensive sale ever downtown, far surpassing the current $50.9 million record at Chelsea’s Walker Tower. Dubbed the Pinnacle for its location in the 792-foot tower's iconic green copper crown, the penthouse will encompass 9,710 square feet and boast a private elevator, 24-foot ceilings, a 400-square-foot open observatory, and views in every direction, from the World Trade Center to New Jersey to the East River.
More details ahead

Distinctive Homes

August 23, 2017

Loft in an 1896 Newspaper Row skyscraper has a sunroom and a terrace for $8.3K a month

The Beaux Arts skyscraper known as the American Tract Building at 150 Nassau Street is among the city's oldest landmarks. It was built in 1896 as the headquarters for the American Tract Society, one of the nation's largest religious printing companies. As an anchor of the Seaport district's Newspaper Row, it was among the city's tallest office towers of its time and one of the city's first steel skeletal frame skyscrapers. Like many historic NYC buildings, it has since been transformed into luxury condominiums like this sprawling 1,700 square-foot two-bedroom designer loft, now on the rental market for $8,250 a month.
Check out the space

Distinctive Homes

July 28, 2017

125 Greenwich Street gets new rendering, taller 912-foot height

Earlier this month, developers Bizzi & Partners and New Valley finalized a $450 million loan for their Rafael Viñoly-designed skyscraper at 125 Greenwich Street, and they've now released a finalized rendering of the slender condo tower and filed plans that show it will top out at 912 feet (h/t Yimby). The height is only slightly above the most recent reporting of 898 feet, but the project was originally supposed to rise a whopping 1,400 feet. Though it's no longer in line to be downtown’s tallest residential building, it will still offer impressive views and a wind-resistant design.
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June 15, 2017

Architect claims SOM stole his design for One World Trade Center

An architect from Georgia sued architectural firm Skidmore, Owings & Merrill (SOM) on Wednesday for allegedly stealing his design for One World Trade Center. Jeehoon Park says the firm has unfairly taken credit for the tower, a design he says he developed in 1999 as a graduate student at the Illinois Institute of Technology, as the New York Post reported. At 1,776 feet high, One World Trade Center, also known as the Freedom Tower, is the tallest building in the Western Hemisphere and the sixth tallest in the world.
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Policy

9/11 Tribute Museum reopens in new 36,000-square-foot space to tell victims’ personal stories

Image © 9/11 Tribute Museum

June 13, 2017

9/11 Tribute Museum reopens in new 36,000-square-foot space to tell victims’ personal stories

When it comes to remembering the 9/11 terror attacks, personal stories can be the most moving reminder. The 9/11 Tribute Museum opened in 2006 in a former deli near the National September 11 Memorial and Museum site, intended as a temporary shrine to the victims during construction of the larger museum–and it has grown even since the latter opened. The Tribute Museum offers tours of the rebuilt World Trade Center site led by survivors, first responders, relatives of victims and others with close connections to the tragedy. Crain’s reports that the museum reopened today in a much larger location, slightly further from the memorial but with more space dedicated to victims’ personal stories.
Find out more

History

May 30, 2017

Artist installs ‘Pissing Pug’ next to controversial ‘Fearless Girl’ statue in Wall Street standoff

Image: Gabriella Bass via @dawn_images via Instagram You can almost guarantee that if you put something out in public in NYC, it's going to attract more than just attention. As 6sqft previously reported, Kristen Visbal's “Fearless Girl” statue, installed by asset manager State Street Global Advisors and advertising firm McCann back in March to challenge sculptor Arturo Di Modica’s “Charging Bull” with her defiant gaze attracted controversy and selfies, seen as both an empowering statement and corporate drivel. According to the Post, NYC-based artist Alex Gardega’s Memorial Day weekend installation of "Pissing Pug"–a crudely rendered statue of a dog lifting its leg on the steadfast “Girl”–was his reaction to “corporate nonsense,” and that the fearless female “has nothing to do with feminism, and it is disrespect to the artist that made the bull."
New Yorkers are a tough crowd

Events & Things To Do

May 23, 2017

REVEALED: Early studies of David Adjaye’s Wall Street Tower, his first skyscraper in NYC

Three years after completing his first New York City building, an affordable housing complex in Harlem called the Sugar Hill Development, starchitect David Adjaye is back. This time, he'll be working with David Lichtenstein's Lightstone Group to design a 61-story, 750-foot-tall condominium in the Financial District at 130 William Street known as the Wall Street Tower. Early conceptual studies uncovered by CityRealty show a gold-trimmed prism set against rigid rows of arched windows, as well as a glimpse at what the 244 apartments and amenity spaces will look like.
See the impressive renderings

The history of New York’s Newspaper Row, the epicenter of 19th century news

Image via Library of Congress

May 10, 2017

The history of New York’s Newspaper Row, the epicenter of 19th century news

By Michelle Young

While the news industry today continues to shift from bustling offices to laptops in coffee shops, it may be hard to imagine that the publishing industry was at the epicenter of some of the world's most important architectural feats. But this was the case in late 19th century New York City, when the daily newspaper industry was centered at Park Row, near City Hall. Such institutions included The New York Times, The New York Tribune and The New York World.
Take a trip back in time with us and explore Newspaper Row

Demo permits filed for South Street Seaport site of proposed 1,436-foot supertall

Diagram of 80 South Street proposal, via Oceanwide Holdings

May 10, 2017

Demo permits filed for South Street Seaport site of proposed 1,436-foot supertall

After a long-planned but never executed plan to develop buildings at 80 South Street and 163 Front Street in the South Street Seaport, the site’s owner has officially filed demolition permits at both buildings, Curbed learned. As 6sqft previously covered, the Howard Hughes Corporation sold 80 South Street to China Oceanwide Holdings for $390 million last March. Although the developer hasn't released construction plans yet, the building is expected to be 113 stories tall, reaching an impressive 1,436 feet (to give you an idea of just how tall this is, 432 Park is 1,396 feet tall, and One World Trade Center is 1,368 feet tall by roof height).
More details ahead

New Developments

April 20, 2017

$5.8M Financial District duplex off a cobblestone street comes with a lofty, open layout

By Emily Nonko

This FiDi duplex was designed to impress. Location within a historic brick townhouse at 150 Beekman Street, the interior of the apartment has been completely modernized. You might say the apartment offers the best of both worlds: cobblestone streets and a historic facade, as well as a modern, open layout with luxury finishes throughout the interior. For five bedrooms, four bathrooms and 3,232 square feet, it is now asking $5.795 million.
Take a deeper look

Distinctive Homes

March 27, 2017

World Trade Center Performing Arts Center may be delayed again

It's been almost 13 years since Frank Gehry initially designed the Performing Arts Center at the World Trade Center (PACWTC). After his plans got shelved in late 2014 due to fundraising issues and construction delays on the transit hub below, it seemed like the last vacant site at the complex would forever remain that way. That is until this past fall when a $75 million gift from billionaire businessman and philanthropist Ronald O. Perelman brought the $243 million project back to life and made it possible to proceed with new designs. Despite this new optimism, it looks like the Center will be delayed yet again, as Crain's reports that unresolved issues between the Lower Manhattan Development Corp. and the Port Authority are setting things behind schedule, which could cost the project $100 million in federal funds.
Get the full scoop

Real Estate Trends

March 21, 2017

Artist who created Wall Street’s ‘Charging Bull’ angered by ‘Fearless Girl’ statue

A post shared by Melanie Hunt (@melaniehunt1331) on Mar 7, 2017 at 4:50am PST The creator of the iconic Wall Street "Charging Bull” is snorting mad over the appearance of the bull's new companion, artist Kristen Visbal’s bronze "Fearless Girl” statue. 76-year-old Arturo di Modica, the artist who made the iconic sculpture that, like its young challenger, was installed in the wee hours, says the girl is “an advertising trick,” reports MarketWatch.
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Events & Things To Do

March 8, 2017

Kristen Visbal’s ‘Fearless Girl’ statue defies Wall Street’s bull to promote women in business

A post shared by Melanie Hunt (@melaniehunt1331) on Mar 7, 2017 at 4:50am PST Early Tuesday morning a bronze statue of a young girl in high tops, face defiant, hands firmly on her hips, was placed in front of the iconic charging bull statue in lower Manhattan’s Bowling Green park. The statue, created by artist Kristen Visbal, was installed by international asset management company State Street Global Advisors (SSGA) to bring attention to the need for more women on corporate boards–and for more female business leaders in general.
What's behind the girl

Events & Things To Do

February 27, 2017

Interactive 3D map of Lower Manhattan updates new developments daily

Lower Manhattan is the nation's third-largest business district and in recent years its residential building stock--both conversions of historic structures and new developments--has exploded. To track this booming urban landscape, the Alliance for Downtown New York launched an interactive 3D map to serve as a "comprehensive visualization" of the area, tracking all current and future developments within the square mile below Chambers Street. In addition to residential, office, and hotel properties, LM3D also breaks down restaurants, retailers, transit, parks and open space, landmarks, and vacant land.
Learn more about the map

Uncategorized

February 1, 2017

The history of Little Syria and an immigrant community’s lasting legacy