At number two on our year-end countdown of the tallest buildings under construction in New York is 740 Eighth Avenue, a 1,067-foot mixed-use supertall skyscraper in Midtown, Manhattan. Designed by ODA with SLCE Architects as the architect of record and developed by Extell, the 52-story structure will span 776,000 square feet with an 825-room hotel on the lower half and a public observatory with a drop ride attraction above. The property will also feature lower-level retail space, a restaurant on two of the upper floors, and a pool deck for hotel guests. Lendlease is the general contractor, WSP is the structural engineer, and Ancora Engineering is handling excavation and foundations for the project, which is located along Eighth Avenue between West 45th and 46th Streets on the border of Times Square and Hell’s Kitchen.
Below-grade work has unfolded steadily since our last update in mid-April, when the plot was only partially excavated. Recent photos show the site almost fully unearthed and the majority of the concrete foundation slab and perimeter walls already formed. Only a small section of dirt around the center of the northern half remains.
Photo by Michael Young
Photo by Michael Young
Photo by Michael Young
Photo by Michael Young
Photo by Michael Young
Photo by Michael Young
The large rectangular core is positioned on the western end of the lot with three deep cutouts marking the bottom of the elevator shafts. YIMBY expects work to reach street level sometime next spring.
Photo by Michael Young
Photo by Michael Young
Photo by Michael Young
Photo by Michael Young
Photo by Michael Young
The below photograph highlights the depth of the new foundations and the engineering work to brace the remaining low-rise holdouts along Eighth Avenue.
Photo by Michael Young
ODA and SLCE Architects have yet to release a rendering for 740 Eighth Avenue apart from the preliminary diagram in the main photo, which previews the skyscraper’s highly idiosyncratic design. The bottom half features a more conventional massing before setbacks at the midpoint lead to a stem-like protrusion that will house the drop ride attraction. The building then widens through a series of stepped cantilevers and culminates in a slanted crown.
The Intamin-designed drop ride will consist of three enclosed 260-foot tracks within the northern, southern, and western sides of the building’s column structure. Each ride vehicle will carry up to four passengers with multiple lifts and free-fall drops over the course of a 90-second experience. The observatory will occupy the floors above, with the top level housing an exclusive VIP space. Elevator shafts, egress staircases, and other mechanical infrastructure will reside on the eastern side of the tower.
740 Eighth Avenue’s anticipated completion date is posted on site for the second quarter of 2027.
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I do not recall an NYC bulging at the top since the demise of the Singer Tower.
Good observation
Those 3 low rise holdouts along 8th Ave, that this ‘creature’ of a building will go up around are charming..it would have been nice to see more photos of them.
#TEAMHOLDOUTS! 🤗
Hideous. And that is coming from someone who is strongly pro-development.
Exactly the word I was looking for to describe this monstrosity, which isn’t strong enough to convey how I feel about this grotesque structure being the pinnacle of atrocious architecture. Well done.
I still am highly suspicious it will turn out like the diagram suggests. They seem to be going out of their way to make it aesthetically distasteful as possible.
H-I-D-E-O-U-S!! And I’m also usually very excited about new skyscrapers. This is going to be an eyesore. It’s just so unbalanced and awkward looking.
Looks like an Epi-Pen that expired in 1971.
Did they have those then?
I still feel like this is some weird joke. I can only hope that the rendering is not at all representative of the actual fate we will be exposed to and that the outcome will be something we can accept. But then I recall that Extell is the developer and I know what garbage they build so… here’s to hoping it gets cancelled or drastically changed.
Ditto
This is a joke, right?
A lot of foundation work for a joke 😀
The rendering does not fully describe what the building will look like as we can see any matériel detail. However, what is shown is basically a giant ratchet wrench in the sky. 🙁
I can’t believe they are building this thing.
…but I can’t wait to see it, so that I can hate it even more, or not as much..
The bracing on the 8th Ave side isto support the subway.
IIs there any bedrock left in New York?
Rimshot.
Seriously though, even in midtown, bedrock depth from surface can fluctuate wildly.
When pride for the absurd overpowers the basic elements of harmony, balance and equilibrium. To classify it as ugly would had been an understament
Well put.
Can’t believe this is being built, this is so tragic…smh
Can’t wait to see what this actually looks like.
The big project has begun I don’t question the design, because it is a unique skyscraper: Thanks to Michael Young.
Can’t possibly be that bad….Can it?
plenty of shiny glass will make it standout and bring some much needed attention
Please we need another decent size theatre to add to Broadway.
London lately seem to me to be the theatre capital. The space is centrally located and the area is the tourist mecca in New York. Give the structure a tax break and at the same time give Broadway a boost.
I kind of like it. It’s just so dam ballsy and insane looking. It doesn’t look like anything else in New York and I think there’s some merit to diversifying the skyline.