Below-grade work is ramping up at 258-278 Eighth Avenue, site of a 14-story mixed-use project in Chelsea, Manhattan. Designed by FXCollaborative and developed by Alchemy-ABR Investment Partners and Chelsea 23rd Realty Corporation, an LLC affiliated with JJ Operating, the 173-foot-tall structure will yield 132,700 square feet with 190 rental apartments and multiple levels of retail space on the lower floors. Leeding Builders Group is the general contractor and Square Mile Capital and Pacific Western Bank provided $183 million in construction financing for the Midtown, Manhattan project, which is located along Eighth Avenue between West 23rd and West 24th Streets.
At the time of our last update in mid-January, demolition of the former low-rise occupants of the plot was still ongoing, with the structures standing two stories above street level. Excavation progressed quickly through the spring season and crews are now in the process of forming the reinforced concrete foundation walls and multi-level foundation slab, with only a minor amount of excavation remaining. Steel rebar protrudes where the inner columns and walls will soon be poured.
258-278 Eighth Avenue. Photo by Michael Young
258-278 Eighth Avenue. Photo by Michael Young
258-278 Eighth Avenue. Photo by Michael Young
258-278 Eighth Avenue. Photo by Michael Young
258-278 Eighth Avenue. Photo by Michael Young
258-278 Eighth Avenue. Photo by Michael Young
258-278 Eighth Avenue. Photo by Michael Young
Several black steel frames have been put in place against sections of the foundation walls for temporary support. We could likely see the superstructure begin to rise above street level in a few more months, followed by the topping out of the edifice sometime next year.
258-278 Eighth Avenue. Photo by Michael Young
The following photographs were taken in early June.
258-278 Eighth Avenue. Photo by Michael Young
258-278 Eighth Avenue. Photo by Michael Young
258-278 Eighth Avenue. Photo by Michael Young
258-278 Eighth Avenue. Photo by Michael Young
258-278 Eighth Avenue. Photo by Michael Young
258-278 Eighth Avenue. Photo by Michael Young
Below is an aerial photograph of the area from late April showing multiple excavators working behind the sidewalk fencing.
258-278 Eighth Avenue. Photo by Michael Young
The rendering in the main photo illustrates a relatively tall design clad in contrasting light and dark paneling framing a staggered grid of floor-to-ceiling windows. A U-shaped setback around the middle of the building separates the podium from the upper floors, and a landscaped rooftop and mechanical bulkhead sit on top. A pocketed open-air terrace sits behind a tall column on the northeastern corner of the building.
However, our recent visit shows a different iteration represented in a black-and-white elevation diagram of the main western façade.
258-278 Eighth Avenue. Photo by Michael Young
This drawing closely resembles the envelope and setback layout in the following renderings seen on loopnet.com. The web page dates them from February 2021 and depicts Target anchoring the southern end of the ground floor, with smaller commercial spaces to the north. Above are subtly recessed floor-to-ceiling windows arranged in an asymmetrical layout of rectangular and square cutouts. Dark mullions further divide much of the glass surface.
258 Eighth Avenue. Rendering see on loopnet.com
258 Eighth Avenue. Rendering see on loopnet.com
YIMBY last reported that the development will contain 33,000 square feet of ground-floor and below-grade retail space with Target occupying 28,000 square feet. Residential amenities will include a roof-level terrace, an additional outdoor terrace on the second floor, a fitness center, a communal lounge, a speakeasy, touchless elevator and lobby access, and a bicycle room.
258-278 Eighth Avenue is slated for completion on May 16, 2024, as noted on the construction board.
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The new design is much better. The old one was very messy and clunky.
As far as I have seen, both are beautiful and just change the details. For openness on exterior design, with visibility does not look too dense: Thanks to Michael Young.
Either rendition is a hulk, bearing down on a residential neighborhood. This corner could have contained enobled architecture……which ever is built is equally out of scale and cheesy.
New rendering does not include trees. Why can’t the planting & maintaining of street trees be part of the approval process?
Excellent point NjAl! That area of Chelsea is the last patch of greenery before the dearth of Penn Station.. Every tree is a gem in this location
Those street level renderings look like they were done in-house by the interns at FX would hardly take a lack of trees as any indication whether they will exist or not.
Really disappointed by this building design from FX architects. For starters a corner site in an historic neighborhood is ‘special’ but the architects and developer chose for whatever reason to ignore the sites location. The rendering of the proposed building gives one the impression of just another apartment building located anywhere in the City. What a lost opportunity!
Which is the correct updated rendering? Who at FX did this? It is such a mess. It’s hard to believe that any architect designed this. Are the lower rendering the new ones? Have they given up on the rear portion sitting on awkward stilts? The rendering on the construction fence looks like neither of the two schemes.