The blocks of Hudson Yards are the current hotspot for office construction in New York City, with supertall after supertall rising from nothing. But Midtown East might be the only location in Manhattan where major office projects are rising alongside existing fabric. While One Vanderbilt is only beginning to rise above 42nd Street, work is substantially further along at 425 Park Avenue, where Norman Foster’s vision is now climbing past the stump remaining from the site’s former occupant.
425 Park Avenue, image by Andrew Campbell Nelson
The building is one block southeast of 432 Park Avenue, directly on Park, between East 55th and East 56th Streets. Foster + Partners’ design for the site was chosen in a competition, and renderings and videos were out by 2014.
The site’s partially-extant occupant was built in 1957, and demolition took quite some time as the lower floors were required to be preserved in order for the developer, L&L Holding Company, to be able to build to the existing building’s FAR.
425 Park Avenue, image by Andrew Campbell Nelson
In fact, 425 Park Avenue will not increase the square footage compared to the previous structure, though the quality of space will improve enormously, with massive ceilings. The 41-story tower will have a parapet 893 feet above street level, though the actual roof height is a bit below that.
The tower already secured an anchor tenant in Chicago-based Citadel back in 2016, when the firm committed to taking 200,000 square feet of the 670,000 square-foot building.
425 Park Avenue, image by Andrew Campbell Nelson
Now that the concrete backbone at the site’s eastern edge has progressed past the original floors, steel appears to be following suit, and the building’s vertical profile is finally on the rise. Completion is anticipated by late 2018, though at the current pace, 2019 may be a better estimate.
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Of all the buildings rising in the city, this is my favorite one.
Is that design bad for birds that might be flying up there??