Silverstein Properties

August 1, 2023

See plan to convert FiDi office tower 55 Broad into 571 market-rate apartments

The plan to convert the Financial District office tower at 55 Broad Street into apartments is finally moving forward, with a closed deal and the release of new renderings this week. Silverstein Properties and Metro Loft Management on Monday announced they bought the tower for $172.5 million with plans to turn the 30-story office tower into a residential building with 571 market-rate apartments; upon completion, it will be one of New York City's largest office-to-residential conversions ever. Construction is expected to start in August and take roughly two years.
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July 27, 2023

400 units of affordable housing approved for 5 World Trade Center

The 900-foot-tall mixed-use skyscraper planned for 5 World Trade Center will include 400 units of affordable housing, a slight increase from the original proposal. After stalled negotiations, the Public Authorities Control Board on Thursday approved the mixed-use development at 130 Liberty Street, which calls for 1,200 new apartments, one-third of which will be permanently affordable to New Yorkers earning between 40 and 120 percent of the area median income. Plus, 20 percent of the affordable apartments will be offered to individuals who lived or worked in the neighborhood on September 11, including first responders and families of victims. Construction is scheduled to start next year, Gov. Kathy Hochul said.
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June 23, 2023

NYC’s latest casino bid calls for two 46-story skyscrapers across from the Javits Center

Larry Silverstein of Silverstein Properties has joined the cast of prominent developers competing for one of three downstate casino licenses. Silverstein Properties on Friday announced plans for "The Avenir," a hotel, casino, entertainment, and residential development on a vacant plot of land on the border of Hudson Yards and Hell's Kitchen. Located at 41st Street and 11th Avenue, just north of the Javits Center, the proposed 1.8 million square foot project includes two 46-story towers with a luxury hotel, a top-floor performance hall, affordable housing, and an eight-story casino run by Greenwood Gaming and Entertainment at the base.
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November 23, 2022

NYC Council approves two projects that together bring 5,000 apartments to Brooklyn and Queens

The New York City Council on Tuesday voted to approve rezonings Innovation QNS in Astoria and Innovative Urban Village in East New York, two mixed-use districts that will create more than 5,000 units of housing, with 65 percent of them designated affordable. Over 34 percent, or 1,900 of the new housing units, will be deeply affordable for extremely or very low-income households.
Details here
November 18, 2022

Two major projects that would bring 3,200+ affordable homes to Brooklyn and Queens get key approval

Two major housing developments proposed for Brooklyn and Queens are moving forward. The New York City Council Committee on Zoning and Franchises on Thursday voted to approve rezonings Innovation QNS and Innovative Urban Village, which together would create more than 5,000 units of housing, 3,200 of which would be affordable. The two developments also include over 1,600 apartments for extremely or very low-income households.
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October 6, 2022

Whimsical ‘Wonderland’-inspired art exhibit and bar opens in Midtown

A new interactive art experience is bringing the whimsical world of Alice's Adventures in Wonderland to Midtown. Created by artist Alexa Meade, the Wonderland Dreams art installation includes more than 20 playfully hand-painted rooms in Meade's signature 3D style. Meade has painted every inch of the 26,000-square-foot space, from floor to ceiling, creating a multi-dimensional work of art inspired by the Lewis Carroll novel. Taking over the old Best Buy at 529 Fifth Avenue, the limited exhibition opens on Friday, October 7 and runs through April 2023. The accompanying wine bar is expected to open later this month.
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September 22, 2022

Proposed $2B mixed-use district with 2,800 new apartments in Astoria moves forward

A plan to build a large-scale development with 2,800 apartments in Astoria is moving forward. The City Planning Commission on Wednesday voted in favor of Innovation QNS, a $2 billion mixed-use district proposed for five blocks in the Queens neighborhood, spanning 37th Street to Northern Boulevard, between 35th and 36th Avenues. The project will then head to the City Council for a final vote where it may face resistance from the local representative, Council Member Julie Won, who said she wants at least 50 percent of the apartments to be affordable.
Details here
June 24, 2022

Empty Financial District offices at 55 Broad will be converted to 571 apartments

As many of New York City's workers remain remote and office vacancy shows no signs of reversing, many have suggested the city's empty offices be used for living. In one of the largest office-to-residential conversions to be launched during the pandemic, two local developers have purchased the one-third vacant 55 Broad Street with the intention of creating 571 market-rate apartments, the Wall Street Journal reports.
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September 9, 2021

With Norman Foster back as the architect, 2 WTC construction could begin soon

Twenty years after the terrorist attacks of September 11, the redevelopment of Lower Manhattan's World Trade Center complex is nearly complete. But one tower still hasn't got off the ground. After architecture firm changes and financing problems, developer Silverstein Properties said construction is set to begin in the coming months on 2 World Trade Center with a new design from Norman Foster's Foster + Partners. As first reported by Commercial Observer, the developer is close to securing an anchor tenant, which would lead to a construction loan and the start of work within "the next six to 12 months."
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February 12, 2021

Plan for 900-foot tower with 1,325 rentals at 5 World Trade Center moves forward

Plans to build a 900-foot mixed-use tower with 1,325 units of housing at 5 World Trade Center are moving forward. The boards of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey and the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation voted on Thursday to approve the recommendation of the selection committee for the proposal from Brookfield Properties, Silverstein Properties, Omni New York, and Dabar Development Partners. The site is the former location of the Deutsche Bank building which was damaged in the September 11 terrorist attacks and later demolished. The developer will now enter negotiations for a lease for the residential tower, expected to measure 1.56 million gross square feet.
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July 2, 2020

$2B project in Astoria calls for massive mixed-use district with 2,700 housing units

A proposal to build a mixed-use district in Queens that would encompass five blocks and create thousands of new housing units was unveiled this week. Dubbed "Innovation QNS," the $2 billion project would bring 2,700 units of mixed-income housing, 250,000 square feet of creative office space, 200,000 square feet of retail, a new school, two acres of public open space, and new neighborhood amenities to Astoria. With ODA Architecture as the architect of the master plan, the mixed-use district is a joint private venture led by Silverstein Properties, Kaufman Astoria Studios, BedRock Real Estate Partners.
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January 16, 2020

Developer scraps Bjarke Ingels-designed 2 WTC for revamped Norman Foster tower

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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July 5, 2019

Developer Silverstein Properties funds a new artist residency at 3 World Trade Center

As rents and costs of living continue to rise in the city, artists have an increasingly hard time finding affordable studio space—particularly in Manhattan. In an effort to help struggling artists, a new artist residency is launching at 3 World Trade Center this fall. Funded by developer Silverstein Properties, Silver Art Projects is a “corporate social responsibility initiative” that will host 30 artists every September for up to eight months, providing them with 44,000 square feet of free studio space on the 50th floor of the building.
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February 11, 2019

Bjarke Ingels-designed 2 WTC may move forward without anchor tenant

Silverstein Properties, Inc. chairman Larry Silverstein has said construction may begin on the final World Trade Center tower before a committed tenant signs a lease, Bloomberg reports. Following work on the building's foundation, the developer was waiting to progress with further work until a lease was signed. But optimism about the economy and strong leasing progress at neighboring towers may mean the building might rise "on spec." The 2.8 million-square-foot office tower, designed by Bjarke Ingels Group, will be the last of Silverstein’s four skyscrapers to occupy the site.
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June 11, 2018

3 World Trade Center officially opens, the fourth WTC building completed

Right on schedule for a June opening, developer Silverstein Properties took the lead in celebrating on Monday the highly anticipated opening of 3 World Trade Center with a ribbon-cutting ceremony. Led by CEO Larry Silverstein, the morning celebration at 3 World Trade Center at 175 Greenwich Street marked the official completion of four of the five buildings in the new World Trade Center complex. With nearly 40 percent of the building leased on opening day, the 80-floor tower designed by Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners rises to 1,079 feet. "Starting with 7 WTC and the rest of the towers that followed, we sought to create modern, environmentally-conscious and technologically-advanced offices," Larry Silverstein, the chairman of Silverstein Properties, said in a statement. "Places that foster creativity where young people would want to work and collaborate. That meant great architecture and sustainable design, but also improved transportation, a more vibrant streetscape, new shops and restaurants, great public spaces, and exciting and fun public space art."
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April 19, 2018

New looks for 3 World Trade Center ahead of June opening

Less than two weeks ago, developer Silverstein Properties released a pair of renderings of 3 World Trade Center's huge outdoor terrace, not only the first outdoor terrace in the WTC complex but the first and tallest private outdoor terrace in all of Lower Manhattan. Today, a fresh batch of views, these of the 1,079-foot-tall, 80-story building's exterior and interior, also come with a new list of superlatives. Designed by Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners, 3 WTC will be the fifth tallest building in NYC, the only building in the world with a three-sided cable net wall, and the first building in the world with an annealed glass exterior.
See all the renderings
April 10, 2018

First look at 3 World Trade Center’s huge outdoor terrace

Rendering via Silverstein Properties New renderings have been unveiled for an 11,000-square-foot outdoor terrace at 3 World Trade Center, expected to open when the skyscraper does so in June. Designed by Ken Smith Workshop, the space will be fully landscaped and feature a lush garden. As the first outdoor terrace on the World Trade Center campus, 3 WTC tenants will enjoy unbeatable views of 1 WTC and the WTC Transportation Hub. Another perk? A special operator will serve coffee to tenants in a furnished, canopied area on the terrace.
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October 17, 2017

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

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
July 5, 2017

City seeks to revoke access to office rooftops made for employee mingling

Update 7/31/17: The Post reports that the DOB recently sent landlords a draft memo clarifying that, aside from minor details, terraces are allowed "as open passive recreation space."  To give workers a comfortable and conducive work space, some companies have outfitted their offices with amenities like on-site fitness centers, free coffee and outdoor space. However, the city’s Department of Buildings has launched a campaign to stop or delay these rooftop terraces on office towers, claiming the spaces can only be used for plants, not people. As the New York Post reported, DOB may not approve office terrace plans and may even rescind already approved plans.
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December 10, 2016

VOTE for 6sqft’s 2016 Building of the Year!

For new developments, 2015 was the year of reveals, but 2016 was all about watching these buildings reshape our city. Ahead we've narrowed a list of 12 news-making residential structures, each noted for their distinctive design, blockbuster prices, or their game-changing potential on the skyline or NYC neighborhoods. Which of these you think deserves 6sqft's title of 2016 Building of the Year? Have your say below. Polls for our third annual competition will be open up until 11:59 p.m., Sunday, December 11th*, and we will announce the winner on Tuesday, December 13th!
Learn more about each of the buildings in the running here
September 8, 2016

REVEALED: World Trade Center Performing Arts Center will be a translucent marble cube

After stalling for years, the $243 million World Trade Center Performing Arts Center started to make headway in recent months, first with a decision to go with REX as the designers and then with a $75 million gift from Billionaire businessman and philanthropist Ronald O. Perelman (who is gaining naming rights). And finally, the official renderings have been revealed, and they showcase a nearly 90,000-square-foot, translucent veined marble cube that both stands out as an impressive piece of cultural architecture and co-exists with the other structures on the WTC complex such as the 9/11 Museum and transportation hub. According to a press release from developer Silverstein Properties, "The Perelman Center is inspired by the Center’s mission to defy experiential expectations. Its design cues were taken from [an] aim to foster artistic risk, incubate original productions, provide unparalleled flexibility, and deliver the most technologically advanced and digitally connected spaces for creative performance."
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August 30, 2016

Apply for 116 brand new apartments at an amenity-loaded UWS tower, units from $833

Starting tomorrow, qualifying New York residents can apply for 116 sparkling new apartments at 10 Freedom Place South in Christian de Portzamparc’s masterfully planned Riverside Center on the Upper West Side. The affordable offer is part of Silverstein Properties and the Elad Group's luxurious new Pelli Pelli Clarke-designed 1 West End Avenue project, built through the city's 421-a Inclusionary Housing Program. As such, the development's 365 units have been divided into two sections served by two separate entrances—116 affordable apartments located in the lower eight floors marked by stone, and 249 lavish market-rate units topping them off in the glass tower.
Pricing and income requirements this way
May 5, 2016

Norman Foster Still in the Running to Design 2 World Trade Center

Nearly one year ago it was revealed that starchitect Bjarke Ingels would be taking over the design of 2 World Trade Center from Norman Foster as developer Silverstein Properties was in talks with Fox and News Corp. to make the tower their new headquarters. However, plans fell through in January when the media companies opted to remain at their Midtown headquarters at 1211 and 1185 Sixth Avenue. Now without a tenant and two different designs in hand, Chairman Larry Silverstein is said to be weighing both options. “[The top of] Two was a distinguishing feature of Norman Foster’s design,” Silverstein told The Post. “Opposed to what Bjarke Ingels proposed. We can go in either direction. Which way, we are not sure yet.” But he did add that they were leaning towards Ingels' design in discussions being had with prospective anchor tenants, which include BlackRock and JPMorganChase.
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February 29, 2016

Riverside Center’s One West End Avenue Tops Off, Cantilevering Pool and All

Propelled skyward by the still-sizzling Upper West Side residential market and its dearth of buildable sites, the final phase of the Riverside South master plan is coming together alas. After decades on the drawing board, this southern-most, eight-acre segment collectively known as Riverside Center/Waterline Center has already spawned a pair of residential buildings designed by SLCE Architects  and another by Pelli Clarke Pelli with Goldstein, Hill & West Architects (GHWA). Three other parcels to the west are now undergoing site preparation. Those lots will give rise to a trio condo and rental buildings whose developer, Boston-based General Investment and Development Companies (GID), has enlisted a trio of high caliber designers working with GHWA, the executive architect of record. Work has moved forward swiftly on the the plan's first two towers. The shorter of the pair, known as One West End , has just topped off its 491-foot concrete skeleton and is being developed through a partnership between the Elad Group and Silverstein Properties. The robust 41-story spire is the second tallest building on West End Avenue, only behind its more anonymous 521-foot-tall rental neighbor 21 West End.
Details, renderings, and construction photos this way
January 15, 2016

Fox and News Corp. Ditch Plans to Move Into 2 World Trade Center

Big news on the 2 World Trade Center front. After several months of negotiation and hashing out design plans, News Corp. and 21st Century Fox Inc. have decided not to move into the new tower. The Post first broke the news, reporting that the media companies will remain at their Midtown headquarters at 1211 and 1185 Sixth Avenue where they currently have a lease in effect until 2020. "After much careful consideration we have decided to maintain our New York headquarters and other business operations. We have extension options that could continue our occupancy on Sixth Avenue through 2025,” the companies wrote in a joint statement. Sources added that the move would have been "a huge distraction for the companies' global operations."
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