Excavation and pilings are progressing for Strata Tower, Bjarke Ingels Group‘s 34-story commercial office skyscraper at 3 West 29th Street in NoMad. Formerly known as 29th & 5th, the project is being developed by HFZ Capital Group and is slated to top out at 551 feet, making it one of the tallest structures in Midtown below the Empire State Building. Pavarini McGovern, LLC is the general contractor for the nearly 300,000-square-foot development.
Photos from through the green construction fence show the piling machines all in use, while multiple excavators throughout the site continue to dig deeper into the earth. All of this activity is happening directly next to the backside of the Marble Collegiate Church and near a number of old low-rise structures.
3 West 29th Street, photo by Michael Young
3 West 29th Street, photo by Michael Young
3 West 29th Street, photo by Michael Young
The photo below is from the parking lot across the street to the south of the property, where a perfectly centered view of the Empire State Building aligns with the construction site.
3 West 29th Street, photo by Michael Young
Strata Tower will also be seen clearly from Fifth Avenue. Based on the pace of excavation, it is conceivable that the superstructure could begin to rise above street level before the end of this year.
3 West 29th Street, photo by Michael Young
Bjarke Ingel’s office tower will certainly transform the southern Midtown skyline and contribute to the growing vertical density of NoMad. This neighborhood is in the midst of a construction boom with several hotels, office towers, and residential buildings nearby under construction or recently completed. We likely won’t see Strata Tower make a substantial impression on the skyline until the latter half of 2021.
The closest transit options are the R and W trains at the 28th Street-Broadway station to the west and the B, D, F, M, N, Q, R, W, and PATH trains to the north at Herald Square.
3 West 29th Street is expected to be completed in the spring of 2023.
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This will be a fairly brutalizing addition to the skyline.
BIG designs buildings in NYC that have no respect for or contextual relationship with the surrounding community.
We are going to lose the iconic view of the Empire State Building from Madison Square Park and lower 5th Ave.
This building may be one of the last buildings built for a while as the economy hits bottom, loans dry up, and businesses pull back due to the coronavirus pandemic. Hopefully things will change in the future.
I’m optimistic the virus will be a momentary blip. The city and the economy were fundamentally strong before it.
It’s disgraceful and disrespectful to put a tall building so close to a historic NYC icon. Plus, this new box of a building adds nothing to the skyline. It’s like a big middle finger facing the Empire State Building.
What a shame this huge tombstone will be placed directly in front of the Empire State Building. The world famous view of Midtown will never be the same.
The best part is how the rendering implies it is “taller and more impressive” than the ESB! ?
This souless I-BEAM design is another in the “Crapitecture Style”, that spoils the neighborhood. ?
This horrible tower looks like a giant storage facility. Lifeless.
I’d love to see a rendering of this that is actually to scale, unlike the above, before I make up my mind whether this is a boring POS or a tolerable addition to the Midtown South skyline.
Soulle$$ tra$h
Another BIG NYC addition going to to Midtown South. Bringing more people to the ‘hood.
This is a joke right? Like what was on the inspiration board for this design… Peoria, Illinois???