The final touches are underway on 425 Park Avenue, an 897-foot-tall commercial skyscraper in Midtown East and number 14 on our year-end countdown. Designed by Norman Foster of Foster + Partners for L&L Holding Company, Tokyu Land Corporation, and co-managing partner BentallGreenOak, the 47-story building yields around 667,000 square of office space, as well as a ground-floor restaurant run by world-renowned Chef Daniel Humm, proprietor of the Three Michelin-starred Eleven Madison Park. Tishman Construction is the general contractor of the Midtown, Manhattan property, which is bound by Park Avenue to the west, East 55th Street to the south, and East 56th Street to the north. The structure is expected to achieve LEED Gold certification and debut as New York City’s first WELL-certified building.
Since our last update in May, the remainder of the glass and metal façade has been completed and work has now shifted to the completion of the lobby and ground floor, which remains covered with sidewalk scaffolding.
425 Park Avenue. Photo by Michael Young
425 Park Avenue. Photo by Michael Young
425 Park Avenue. Photo by Michael Young
425 Park Avenue. Photo by Michael Young
425 Park Avenue. Photo by Michael Young
425 Park Avenue. Photo by Michael Young
425 Park Avenue. Photo by Michael Young
425 Park Avenue. Photo by Michael Young
425 Park Avenue. Photo by Michael Young
Recent photos show the completed look of the glass curtain wall, the reflective gray spines that run the entire vertical height of the tower, the diagonal perimeter columns on the western elevation, the entire back side of the steel superstructure facing the East River, and the landscaping populating the outdoor terraces on the setbacks. Three illuminating fins top the structure along with BMUs provided by R&R Scaffolding, Ltd.
425 Park Avenue. Photo by Michael Young
425 Park Avenue. Photo by Michael Young
425 Park Avenue. Photo by Michael Young
425 Park Avenue. Photo by Michael Young
425 Park Avenue. Photo by Michael Young
425 Park Avenue. Photo by Michael Young
425 Park Avenue. Photo by Michael Young
425 Park Avenue. Photo by Michael Young
425 Park Avenue. Photo by Michael Young
425 Park Avenue. Photo by Michael Young
425 Park Avenue. Photo by Michael Young
425 Park Avenue. Photo by Michael Young
425 Park Avenue. Photo by Michael Young
The temporary bracing that was scattered across various sections of the envelope and fins at the time of our last visit have been removed. The sidewalk scaffolding should be dismantled in the coming weeks, revealing the ground-floor entrance to the property.
425 Park Avenue. Photo by Michael Young
Confirmed tenants include Citadel Enterprises, which is planning to occupy 331,800 square feet spread across 16 full floors, including the penthouse office floor, mezzanine, and one of the signature three-story diagrid-framed floors at the setbacks. One of the setbacks will be home to “The Diagrid Club,” a retreat for office workers with hospitality by both Daniel Humm and Make It Nice. The space will also feature an avant-garde sculpture by Japanese contemporary artist Yayoi Kusama, called “Narcissus Garden,” which can be seen below the green wall in the rendering below. The Diagrid Club will also feature meditation spaces and a dining area.
The Diragrid Club. Rendering from the main website of 425 Park Avenue
425 Park Avenue should be finished sometime in the early months of 2022.
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I love 425 Park Avenue. I think it’s one of the most handsome buildings recently built in the City. The silver spines that run up the building and then reach the peak as fins is one of the most unique and nice-looking elements of any modern-style building. From that, it creates the Christmas-tree-like silhouette of the building, which is a very welcome shape than the mob of cubes. Even the back has been done well, with the inclusion of the lovely spine design and even a bit of glass. I think it’s the single best backside I’ve ever seen. I just can’t get enough of the quality that this tower has, and I’m grateful that such a building like this exists among the many other lifeless designs.
Sorry, I’m late because I’m in love with someone. We talk on sweet words, and progress to the crown is so unique; only one in the world: Thanks to Michael Young.
I’m no fan of Foster but, compared with that beanpole thing behind it, 825 looks positively divine.
This turned out as nicely as the renderings. That is really saying something these days. Really beautiful execution on all fronts (and backs!). A huge improvement over its predecessors. Let’s hope its future supertall neighbors are just as great and form a fantastic 21st century collection.
The renderings are way better than the result.
The clear transparent glass in the render beats the blue reflective glass of the actual building. Instead of floating cubes with a steam punk vibe you get a very heavy unapproachable building.
On the plus side, the ground floor lobby entrance uses clear class and is beautiful.
The metal cladding is a great touch but looks flimsily applied in reality.
Man that things ugly.
I think its a sharp looking modern tower. That being said they probably would have been better off taking it down and building a bespoke supertall on the site.
It certainly leaves a distinctive mark on the skyline from Queens.
Much better than the previous incarnation
Touches of ‘Art Deco’, a generous sprinkling of ‘Gothick’, 1930’s ‘Retro’ Buck Rogers imagery, and who knows what else glued onto an ungainly ‘Modernist’ carcass that in itself offends with its tortured unstructural character. This thing is bad, really bad— a latter day rendition of ‘Grandma does Archigram’. Lamentable on Park Avenue. Seemingly displaced from the Vegas Strip or some ‘C’ tier ‘Worlds Fair’