The government of the United Arab Emirates is planning a 27-story mixed-use tower at 315 East 46th Street, a long-stalled construction site between First and Second Avenues in Midtown East.
While we’re not entirely sure, it looks like the UAE is going to build a new consulate or embassy. The building will include 75,170 square feet of community facility space and 15,043 square feet of apartments, according to new building applications filed this morning.
A lobby and a two-story auditorium will take up the first two floors, followed by a conference room on the third floor and office space on floors four through 20. The seventh floor will have event space and terraces. And apartments will occupy the 21st through 24th floors, before three stories of bulkhead.
There will only be nine apartments, for spacious, condo-sized units that average 1,671 square feet each.
Overall, the development will span 89,412 square feet and reach 392 feet into the air. There will be an underground parking garage with space for nine cars, which is included voluntarily. The city doesn’t require off-street parking for new buildings in Midtown East.
Also, the UAE squeezed an extra 14,000 square feet of interior space out of their site by counting their offices as community facility space. Normally, the property’s C1-9 zoning would limit the size of the planned building to 75,000 square feet.
Fisher Brothers, a developer based in Midtown East, filed the permit on behalf of the UAE, and Skidmore, Owings and Merrill are the architects of record.
The oil-rich Middle Eastern nation scooped up the 7,500-square-foot plot near the United Nations for $44.7 million back in 2009. The site had originally been slated for a 24-story condo project called Alexander Plaza, but the recession killed the development during construction.
Subscribe to YIMBY’s daily e-mail
Follow YIMBYgram for real-time photo updates
Like YIMBY on Facebook
Follow YIMBY’s Twitter for the latest in YIMBYnews
