Renovation work continues to progress on PENN 2, a 31-story commercial building at Two Penn Plaza in Midtown. Designed by MdeAS Architects and developed by Vornado Realty Trust, the project involves the replacement of the 53-year-old structure’s façade with a modern glass curtain wall. The 412-foot-tall, 1.61 million-square-foot tower was originally designed by Charles Luckman Associates and stands along Seventh Avenue between West 31st and 33rd Streets. PENN 2 is immediately to the east of Madison Square Garden and is one component within the Penn District revitalization scheme that calls for the construction and redevelopment of several buildings surrounding Penn Station in the coming years. Turner Construction Company is the general contractor for the project.
A lot more of the new paneling has been installed since our last update in November, and a construction crane has been erected at the corner of Seventh Avenue and West 31st Street. This will help with the assembly of the multi-story cantilever that will hang over the eastern side of the tower, supported with several pairs of thin V-shaped columns.
PENN 2 revamped design by MdeAS Architects
The outline where the old and new structures will eventually meet can be seen on the façade around the lowest levels of floor-to-ceiling glass panels. Work on this part of the project will not begin until the current exterior is removed. The mid-section level of ventilation grilles will eventually come off and be replaced with a wider set of panels that span twice the distance between the perimeter of columns.
2 Penn Plaza. Photo by Michael Young
2 Penn Plaza. Photo by Michael Young
2 Penn Plaza. Photo by Michael Young
2 Penn Plaza. Photo by Michael Young
2 Penn Plaza. Photo by Michael Young
2 Penn Plaza. Photo by Michael Young
2 Penn Plaza. Photo by Michael Young
2 Penn Plaza. Photo by Michael Young
2 Penn Plaza. Photo by Michael Young
2 Penn Plaza. Photo by Michael Young
2 Penn Plaza. Photo by Michael Young
2 Penn Plaza. Photo by Michael Young
2 Penn Plaza. Photo by Michael Young
2 Penn Plaza. Photo by Michael Young
PENN 2 will incorporate a 430-foot-long frontage spanning 88,000 square feet with double-height, column-free space. Also expected are upgraded entrances to the subterranean levels that link to the subways below Penn Station, corner loggias on the upper floors of the Two Penn Plaza, flexible tenant spaces for public or private events, a 275-person town hall, casual lounges, a rooftop pavilion, outdoor green space, and over one acre of outdoor terraces for occupants. A triple-height office entrance, relocated against a new tree-lined plaza, will be made along West 33rd Street.
The main lobby. Rendering by DBOX for Vornado Realty Trust.
The outdoor terrace atop the western cantilever. Rendering by DBOX for Vornado Realty Trust.
The outdoor terrace atop the eastern cantilever. Rendering by DBOX for Vornado Realty Trust.
An office conference room. Rendering by DBOX for Vornado Realty Trust.
A loggia. Rendering by DBOX for Vornado Realty Trust.
A corner loggia. Rendering by DBOX for Vornado Realty Trust.
A corner loggia. Rendering by DBOX for Vornado Realty Trust.
An outdoor terrace. Rendering by DBOX for Vornado Realty Trust.
An outdoor terrace. Rendering by DBOX for Vornado Realty Trust.
An outdoor al fresco dining area. Rendering by DBOX for Vornado Realty Trust.
YIMBY last reported that MdeAS Architects expects PENN 2’s overhaul to be completed in 2022, as indicated on its website, though it looks like sometime next year seems more plausible.
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I have a strong belief, that re-cladding would complete as indicated on its website. Now the progress is happening, when I entered your photos without expectation of success: Thanks to Michael Young.
Renovating is always the better option and this project could become the roadmap for other major projects. All of the upper floor outdoor spaces full of people is rather laughable, but it probably sells the client.
“Renovating is always the better option” Not necessarily, but this one is nice.
Not interesting at all. It’s true, most of the interest in the rendering is at street level which we can’t see but what we can doesn’t look anything like the renderings. That’s a cursed building, a big ugly slab as tombstone for the beautiful building it replaced. Lipstick on a pig.
Who’s letting that dog in the building?
Probably some of these FAKE support dogs that the generation X crowd seems to need , all the while downing Xanax for their anxieties.
Get pseudo health-care professionals to write up a letter of their need to bring their puppies to work
Ugly building made uglier. At least the first iteration expresses it’s structure with the limestone or concrete columns. It now looks like a house covered in aluminum siding.
There are unleashed dogs in several renderings. Are they just asking us if we’re paying attention, or is there a prize for whoever finds the most dogs?
That’s funny! Most likely they are marketing to tech firms that allow their folks to bring their pets to work. Of which I am NOT a fan. I love dogs, but not at work.
Having dogs in the office has been shown to increase productivity and reduce stress amongst all the employees in the building, not just the companion humans.
Glassy
A cursed building indeed. And plans are in the works to raze the area, destroying many, many historic buildings and structures around Penn Station, unique to NYC. On the razed land, Vornado plans to build 10 supertall, hermetically sealed, Dubai-style glass towers. The State still hasn’t learned the lessons from the urban renewal disasters of the 1960s, including the destruction of the original Penn Station, the McKim Mead and White Beaux Arts masterpiece. The historic buildings and structures around Penn Station should be repurposed and adapted for modern use. There are many examples in NYC, most obviously the High Line and Moynihan Train Station. Also, Google’s purchase and renovation of a former freight terminal, St. John’s, and Colin Jost’s and Pete Davidson’s purchase of an historic Staten Island Ferry to repurpose as an entertainment center. The new generation has a love of the retro, and is intensely interested in recycling and repurposing, not these soulless towers!!
I like this project.
A big upgrade to an otherwise dreary building and neighborhood
Don’t bother. Tear it down & do something worthwhile
I will cry ugly as hell
What was originally called the Pan Am Building blocks the view along Park Avenue and hovers menacingly over Grand Central. This building likewise blocks 32nd St. in terms of light, etc. It was always an unfortunate decision.
Lipstick, meet pig.
At least it is an improvement from the dark ugly buildings in the area.
Tear the thing down. Keep the historic surrounding buildings. Professional architects at work here?
As someone previously mentioned the new exterior curtainwall is nothing more or less than “new lipstick on a pig”!
A respectable project,not legendary, but a solid upgrade to the neighborhood..