Midtown

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

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 29, 2015

Owner of Grand Central Sues City and One Vanderbilt Developer for $1.1 Billion

Grand Central owner Andrew Penson is back in the news again, this time suing the city and One Vanderbilt developer SL Green for a princely sum of $1.1 billion. As the NY Times reports, Penson is claiming that the 65-story behemoth slated to rise next door to the historic structure has led to the devaluation of his air rights atop the terminal. Penson claims that the de Blasio administration, the City Council and SL Green "deprived him of his property rights when the city gave SL Green permission to build a 1,501-foot tall office tower, without having to buy any air rights from him." By allowing for a tower twice the size of what was zoned for the block "for free" (but really, in exchange for a $220M investment into the subway infrastructure beneath Grand Central), his air rights have been rendered "worthless."
More on the lawsuit here

Real Estate Trends

September 27, 2015

This $6,500/Month Murray Hill Rental Says City Apartment in Front, Suburban House in Back

Here's a NYC apartment that's thoroughly Manhattan, but, if you're standing in the right spot, could be any suburban home. Located in a bustling East Side spot that's either Gramercy, Kips Bay, Murray Hill or Midtown South, depending on whom you talk to, this two-bedroom garden condop at 242 East 25th Street just hit the rental market for $6,500/month. And if you can't bear to part with it, you're in luck, it's also for sale (asking $1.995 million). The apartment is only 939 square feet, but it's well-configured, with bedrooms on either side of spacious common areas–and, more importantly, one of those areas is a glass-walled solarium that overlooks a 785-square-foot private deck and backyard that extends your space in a way most New Yorkers envy.
See more

Distinctive Homes

September 22, 2015

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

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

September 17, 2015

New York Public Library Hires Dutch Architecture Firm Mecanoo to Lead Renovation

On Tuesday, news surfaced that eight architecture firms were being considered for the redesign of the New York Public Library's main branch, the landmarked Stephen A. Schwarzman Building on 42nd Street, one of whom was starchitect Bjarke Ingels. The list also included Ennead Architects, Studio Gang Architects, and Robert A.M. Stern Architects. One name that wasn't mentioned, however, was the Dutch firm Mecanoo, but the New York Times is reporting that the architects from the Netherlands have been selected by the library to lead the $300 million renovation, which also includes a complete overhaul of the Mid-Manhattan branch at Fifth Avenue and 40th Street.
More details ahead

Architecture And Design

September 17, 2015

First Renderings of Moshe Safdie’s 800-Foot Bancroft Building Replacement Revealed

Plans for the Bancroft Building have been ultra-hush with much speculation swirling around the design that would ultimately replace the recently demolished, and much beloved, landmark building. But now, the NY Post has the first official rendering of the luxury condo tower that could rise in place of the historic structure located on a block-through site between West 29th and West 30th streets. Though 6sqft was previously told by reps of the development that the rendering seen here was in no way an affiliated project, the two designs do remain visually similar.
more details here

September 15, 2015

Is Bjarke Ingels Redesigning the New York Public Library Flagship?

Bjarke Ingels is most certainly on his way to New York architectural greatness, and scattered on the path behind him are the remains of Norman Foster's abandoned designs. Curbed has caught wind that the baby-faced starchitect is currently being considered for the redesign of the New York Public Library's landmarked Stephen A. Schwarzman Building on 42nd Street. Yesterday afternoon, Theodore Grunewald, Vice President of the Committee to Save the New York Public Library, tweeted that both Bjarke Ingels and Ennead Architects were among the eight finalists being considered for the project—a list that also includes Studio Gang Architects and Robert A.M. Stern Architects.
Find out more here

Architecture And Design

September 14, 2015

VIDEO: Take a Sweeping Drone Tour of Bjarke Ingels’ West Side Pyramid

Few NYC projects are as architecturally exciting as the massive tetrahedron on the rise along West 57th Street. The design, which is the creation of starchitect-of-the-moment Bjarke Ingels, will soar 460-feet from its site (fun fact: the Great Pyramid of Giza stands 455 feet tall) and is slated for completion later this year. While the final form can already be appreciated by passersby from street level at this point—the architect has by now led camera crews through what he calls the "courtscraper" ("the lovechild of a courtyard building and a skyscraper," to be exact)—here's a spectacular, and quite poetic we might add, new video produced by Dark Horse that gives us expansive ariel views of the whole thing through the eye of a drone.
watch the drone tour here

Times Square Characters and Performers May Get Confined to Designated ‘Activity Areas’

Map courtesy of the Times Square Alliance

September 11, 2015

Times Square Characters and Performers May Get Confined to Designated ‘Activity Areas’

It looks like Mayor de Blasio's wish of coralling the costumed characters and topless performers in Times Square may be coming true. The Daily News reports that the Times Square Alliance has endorsed the "Times Square Commons" plan, which Manhattan Borough President Gale Brewer and Councilmen Daniel Garodnick and Corey Johnson publicized in an op-ed in the paper yesterday. The proposal would rezone Times Square's pedestrian plaza so that instead of being mapped as a street it would become a special district called Times Square Commons. This area would be divided into three zones: general civic zones, which would feature tables and chairs and arts events; pedestrian traffic flow zones, areas to walk with no physical obstructions; and the aforementioned designated activity zones, small slivers of space that "would allow any activity involving the immediate exchange of money for goods, services or entertainment."
More this way

Policy

September 9, 2015

Channel the Spirits of Tesla, Carnegie and Edison in the Former Engineers’ Club HQ for $14K/Month

Like so many places in this fascinating city, this listing comes with some interesting history: Known today as Bryant Park Place, the primarily residential co-op building at 32 West 40th Street was once the clubhouse of the Engineers' Club. Founded by Andrew Carnegie in 1907, members included–in addition to Carnegie himself–Thomas Edison, President Herbert Hoover, H.H. Westinghouse and Nikola Tesla, who was honored here upon receiving the Edison Medal in 1917 and enjoyed feeding the pigeons in the park across the street. Units 1A and 1K currently comprise a commercial listing–with residential possibilities if you're willing to do your homework. The property–two connected co-op units–is for sale for $3.1 million, and also for rent at $14K a month (in the latter case it would make a pretty impressive HQ for that hot new startup–and since there's a small kitchen, those all-nighters won't be a problem). Buyers may need to unwind some red tape, but according to the listing, residential conversion is possible along with some serious subsequent upside.
Find out more

September 8, 2015

Hedge Fund Tycoon May Be the Buyer of $200M Penthouse at 220 Central Park South

We first got wind of the potentially record-setting penthouse listing at 220 Central Park South back in March, when it was reported that the unit could sell for between $150 and $175 million. In June, sources said that a Qatari billionaire was looking to combine multiple apartments in the Robert A.M. Stern-designed building to create a $250 million mega-penthouse. Then last month, the Post speculated that another high-profile buyer was Ken Griffin, the billionaire hedge fun tycoon who is currently in the midst of a messy divorce from wife Anne Dias-Griffin (she's asking for $1 million a month in child support). Now the paper reveals that it's Griffin who's looking to snatch up the $200 million+ penthouse in what's being called the "billionaire's bunker."
More details this way

Real Estate Trends

August 27, 2015

Construction Update: Loggia-Crowned Condominium Finally Rises Next to Bryant Park

Bryant Park is one of the city's most cherished spaces, providing a much-needed oasis from the stone and glass canyons of Midtown. But debuting in 2017, a mixed-use tower will grant home buyers their first opportunity to purchase condos directly alongside the ten-acre respite. Simply named the Bryant, the 200,000-square-foot building at 16 West 40th Street will house 57 condo units perched 200 feet above a five-star boutique hotel within the tower's lower levels. The 32-story, 361-foot-high building is being developed by the very-active HFZ Capital, led by Ziel Friedman, and is designed by renowned British architect David Chipperfield, with Stonehill & Taylor serving as the architects of record.
More details ahead

August 26, 2015

POLL: Should We Rip Out Times Square’s Pedestrian Plazas?

New Yorkers can’t stop talking about Mayor de Blasio’s idea to rip out Times Square’s pedestrian plazas, just six years after they were put in place under the Bloomberg administration. As a way to rid the tourist destination of “jiggly panhandlers,” both the Mayor and Police Commissioner Bill Bratton have suggested opening Times Square back up to […]

August 21, 2015

VIDEO: Flashback to When Times Square Was a Car-Filled Hellscape

There's currently no hotter topic in NYC than Mayor de Blasio's backwards proposal to rid Times Square of its pedestrian plazas. Because how could returning one of the city's busiest areas back to a battle between man and vehicle (and man and man) be a good idea? Let's remember the Times Square of just a few years ago, shall we? In this video filmed back in 2006, Streetsblog publisher Mark Gorton brings Danish architect and urban design consultant Jan Gehl to the center of Times Square to get his opinion on the area and his thoughts on what could be improved. The pair's fascinating conversation is punctuated with cars honking and brakes screeching, but Gehl makes his views clear despite all the distraction: “It would be completely idiotic to chase people away by giving them very poor conditions. If we are to talk about the conditions for pedestrians here, it’s really lousy... The balance is all wrong and something ought to be done to celebrate this unique place, so that more people, in a dignified way, can enjoy it."
watch the video here

Uncategorized

August 21, 2015

Mayor de Blasio Proposes Ripping Out Times Square’s Pedestrian Plazas

There are a lot of nuisances to be found in Times Square, but apparently for Mayor de Blasio, none are as bothersome as the topless women and aggressive Elmos traipsing around the area's overly lit streets. As the NYDN reports, de Blasio and Police Commissioner Bill Bratton have formed a special task force aimed at ridding the bustling tourist destination of its "jiggly panhandlers." And the solution at the top of their list is tearing up the pedestrian plazas and letting cars back in.
Find out more on the issue here, as well as alternative plans

August 20, 2015

City Defends Supertalls, Won’t Limit Size of Midtown Towers

The Department of City Planning announced that although it shares residents' concerns about the effects of the new crop of supertall towers rising near Central Park, it does not intend to lower the size limits on buildings in the dense Midtown district. Crain's reports that department director Carl Weisbrod said in a written response to elected officials on August 12 that the slender structures may actually preserve historic buildings nearby and that they enhance the city's iconic skyline.
Read more on the city's response

August 20, 2015

Spin FAILE’s 7-Foot Prayer Wheel in Times Square; Fly Over the Most Majestic Spots in the Hamptons

By Alyssa Alimurung

Find some peace in Times Square at FAILE’s hand-carved, seven-foot tall prayer wheel installation. [Gothamist] Enjoy the Hamptons without all the popped collars in this amazing drone video. [Curbed Hamptons] A Homepolish designer works her magic on her own Columbus Circle home. [Design Milk] Good job, New Yorkers. Our most used emoji is the Statue […]

Uncategorized

August 18, 2015

The Final Design of Extell’s Nordstrom Tower Still Undecided

Back in May it was reported that the official rendering for Extell's Nordstrom Tower—a.k.a. Central Park Tower, a.k.a. NYC and the country's future tallest tower (by roof height)—had finally been released by the developer, showing a glassy construction rising 1,523 feet from its 217 West 57th Street address. But now comes news from The Post's Steve Cuozzo that the tower's final design is actually "still up in the air."
Find out more here

First 1,000+ Foot Tower Outside Manhattan May Rise in Downtown Brooklyn

Rendering based on potential height, via CityRealty

August 5, 2015

First 1,000+ Foot Tower Outside Manhattan May Rise in Downtown Brooklyn

As the result of the $90 million acquisition of Brooklyn's landmarked Dime Savings Bank building by developers Michael Stern (111 West 57th) and Joe Chetrit, a new residential skyscraper in Brooklyn could nearly reach the height of the Empire State Building. The historic Neo-Roman building at 9 DeKalb Avenue in Downtown Brooklyn–next door to the famed Junior's Restaurant–comes with 300,000 square feet of development rights, which, combined with existing air rights next door at 340 Flatbush Avenue Extension (which the pair bought last summer for $43 million), could be used to build an adjacent tower of nearly 600,000 square feet. The likelihood of a tower that reaches between 1,000 and 1,200 feet has been mentioned by sources close to the deal.
find out more about the planned Brooklyn skyscraper

New Developments

July 31, 2015

LinkedIn’s Remodeled Offices Have a Speakeasy and Plenty of Lounge Space

By Shiloh Frederick

The Empire State Building is already one of the most unique places to work in the city, but the LinkedIn offices on the 28th floor have made the iconic building even cooler. Interior Architects recently remodeled the 33,005-square-foot space, which houses the social network's sales team. The result is a floor that is "fun and vibrant," but maintains the professionalism of a "club level of a hotel." Just a warning, though, everything about this office–from a wall of rotary phones that conceals a speakeasy to a photo display that celebrates employees' pets–is going to make you pretty bummed about your boring cubicle.
Take a tour of the office here

July 24, 2015

$51M Time Warner Center Penthouse Sale Sets a Record for the Building

Maybe it's the location near Lincoln Center and lots of shopping, or maybe it's the unobstructed views of Central Park, or maybe it's the ease of planting tons of one's foreign cash without worry within its walls, whatever the case may be, the ultra-luxe Time Warner Center has just drawn in a record $50.92 million sale. The owner, Russian billionaire Andrey Vavilov, listed the sprawling 14-room penthouse for $75 million early last year, then dropping the price to $68 million in November, finally landing on $51 million with a buyer known only as "Columbus Family LLC," according to city documents filed today. As CityRealty reveals, the transaction is the highest ever recorded at the building; the runner-up, incidentally, the same unit, which traded hands last in 2009 between Vavilov and Austrian investor Gerhard Andlinger for $37.5 million.
Have a closer look inside

Real Estate Trends

July 22, 2015

How You Can Live in a Billionaire’s Row Condo for Free AND Make Six Figures

Get a job as one of their building managers. As DNA Info reports, if you're just a regular Joe or Jane looking to take up residence in one of the city's priciest towers, you don't need to be a billionaire—or even a millionaire for that matter. The resident managers at four headline-stealing, ultra-luxury towers will live rent-free, in very large apartments, while also earning respectable six-figure salaries for their services.
Find out more here

July 21, 2015

BIG Ideas: Bjarke Ingels Talks 2 WTC and Why Today’s Skyscrapers Lack Confidence

Helping to kick off the 2015 New York Times Cities for Tomorrow conference, Danish architect Bjarke Ingels—principal of Bjarke Ingels Group (BIG), the firm responsible for 2 World Trade Center, Google HQ in Mountain View (with Thomas Heatherwick), the Dry Line and the pyramid-shaped “Via,” AKA 625 West 57th Street, among many others—talked “social infrastructure” with New York Times architecture critic Michael Kimmelman. The baby-faced “starchitect 2.0” was his usual quotable and slightly mischievous self, yet, as always, provided plenty of insight on the topic at hand. Well-known for his suggestion that “Architecture at its best is really the power to make the world a little bit more like our dreams," Ingels offered his views on the ideal workspace design, what makes a memorable skyscraper and what some of his toughest challenges have been, in addition to speaking to the architect’s role in the social evolution of modern cities.
Find out the highlights and watch a video of the discussion

Architecture And Design

July 15, 2015

One57 Received $66M in Tax Breaks in Exchange for Just 66 Units of Affordable Housing

If you need more proof that there are some serious flaws with the 421-a program, once again, look no further than One57. As reported by the Journal, the super-luxe tower was the beneficiary of a whopping $65.6 million tax cut, an abatement granted in exchange for a paltry $5.9 million contribution to help cover the cost of 66 affordable apartments in the Bronx. That means your tax dollars subsidized apartments at nearly $1 million per unit—the highest known subsidy under the program—when affordable units on average cost a mere $179,000 apiece. It's estimated that the generous cut could have provided for 367 affordable apartments. The findings came from the latest review by the city’s Independent Budget Office (IBO).
FInd out more here

Affordable Housing

Construction Update: Robert A.M. Stern’s 220 Central Park South Begins Race into the Sky

Image courtesy of Desimone Engineering

July 8, 2015

Construction Update: Robert A.M. Stern’s 220 Central Park South Begins Race into the Sky