Earlier today, Gamma Real Estate secured approval from the Board of Standards and Appeals to continue with construction of the Foster + Partners designed residential tower that will rise over 800 feet above its surrounding context, at 3 Sutton Place. Located just south of the Ed Koch Queensboro Bridge on East 58th Street between Sutton Place South and 1st Avenue, and only a stone’s throw away from the East River, the project has continued to stir controversy and disapproval from local NIMBYs, who have been attacking the plans since renderings were revealed back in December 2015.
Demolition permits were filed in December 2017 while work on the foundations has been underway since last year. The project was put on hold back in November 2017 while the site was in foreclosure, and the East River Fifties Alliance (ERFA) brought the developer to court. They requested, and succeeded, in obtaining a rezoning of 10 blocks in the neighborhood, hoping to stop construction and implement a height cap on new construction. However, despite the approval for the rezoning efforts, the BSA allowed 3 Sutton Place to continue its construction since work on the foundation had been mostly completed before ERFA took the developers to court.
Gamma Real Estate requested an extension from the Board to complete the foundations for the skyscraper, which they were able to obtain in today’s hearing, since the city law indicates that a construction project can avoid any newly established rezoning regulations if the foundation work had been substantially completed before the new changes were taken into effect. The site was purchased for $98 million from Bauhouse Group back in December 2016 when the original owners wanted the project to stand 80 stories and rise nearly 1,000 feet.
For now it seems construction is set to restart, though completion is likely to be a year or two later than the initial target of 2019.
Nonetheless, the views from the skyscraper will be some of the most unique perspectives in New York City. On the upper floors, residents will have access to unimpeded views of the Ed Koch Queensboro Bridge and Roosevelt Island to the northeast, the rest of Midtown and Central Park to the west, and views up and down the East River and Lower Manhattan, to the south.
The views can be seen in a previous YIMBY article here.
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Please pardon me for using your space: Well-groomed report and I enjoy reading so much. Well-spoken.
Awwww.
My heart bleeds for the ulra-wealthy denizens of Sutton Place, who are getting a little taste
of the out-of-control development that is called gentrification in the outer boroughs.
They’re ruining you neighborhood? Ha ha ha