Demolition Wraps Up At 540 Third Avenue in Murray Hill, Manhattan

Photo by Michael Young

Demolition is finishing up at 540 Third Avenue, the site of a 22-story residential building in Murray Hill, Manhattan. Designed by Ismael Leyva Architects and developed by Robert Gilardian of Gilar Realty, the 235-foot-tall structure will span roughly 109,000 square feet and yield 160 rental units with an average scope of 625 square feet, as well as 3,747 square feet of ground-floor commercial space and a cellar level. Third Avenue Pavilions Residences is listed as the owner and Celtic Services NYC Inc. is the demolition contractor for the property, which is alternately addressed as 162 East 36th Street and located at the corner of Third Avenue and East 36th Street.

Recent photographs show demolition nearing street level with only portions of the ground floor of the former five-story corner structure still standing. Mounds of debris sit across the site around the remnants of the old building’s steel superstructure, which should be fully razed within the coming weeks.

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 below Google Street View image shows the former low-rise occupants of the property before their demolition.

540 3rd Avenue in Murray Hill, Manhattan

540 3rd Avenue via Google Maps

No finalized renderings have been released for the project apart from the following zoning diagrams filed with permits in late 2022. These illustrations show the structure rising with an L-shaped massing to a setback on the 16th floor, which will be topped with terraces. The building then continues to a flat parapet with additional terrace space on the 21st floor, and culminates with a short mechanical bulkhead. A rear outdoor courtyard is located on the western corner of the lot.

Zoning diagrams via NYC BOD.

Zoning diagrams via NYC BOD.

The nearest subways from the property are the 6 train at the 33rd Street Station to the west and the 4, 5, 6, 7, Shuttle, Metro-North, and Long Island Rail Road trains at Grand Central Terminal to the north.

Demolition is slated to wrap up in May, as noted on site. A construction timeline for the new building has yet to be announced.

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11 Comments on "Demolition Wraps Up At 540 Third Avenue in Murray Hill, Manhattan"

  1. Always happy to see new housing being built. However based on ILA’s history, this will be all glass façade, not much to look at.

  2. you are the biggest cry baby :'( !!

    Grow up

  3. None of the three old, short, entirely forgettable buildings that were demolished for this new development could’ve been retrofitted into something that would provide more desperately needed housing units! References to embodied carbon hold little merit when the alternative is that housing won’t be built and the folks who want to move to one of the most transit-connected areas in the country decide instead to move to other far more gas-guzzling U.S. cities and suburbs/exurbs where they can better afford the housing stock.

    • Guesser, you keep treating all these aging decrepit structures as if they’re historically significance as the Great Pyramids or the Great Wall of China. Newsflash, they’re not! They’re just a handful of old walk-ups that are not landmarked and are literally EVERYWHERE in the city. These deteriorating low-rises are a liability and disaster waiting to happen, like that partial building collapse in the Bronx.

      Bet you still wouldn’t keep your mouth shut if an all-affordable housing project goes up, but has to knock down a set of buildings like these. You clearly hate all progress no matter for what economic class

  4. Nice move! Get rid of all of those outdated and decrepit buildings. New York should be beautiful, modern, and green. Great step.

  5. David : Sent From Heaven. | January 31, 2024 at 9:27 am | Reply

    A setback on the 16th floor and then continues to a flat parapet, with additional terrace space on the 21st floor. This helps increase dimension of the sharp corners: Thanks.

  6. Is this AI written. ?? Asking for a Friend.

    • Bryan Berkowitz | February 1, 2024 at 1:30 am | Reply

      Jack, unfortunately Guesser is not a machine with an off switch, although I wish people like him would have one. He’s a long-time troll and reckless Karen and wonders why people hate him when getting called out for the way he indiscriminately attacks people and yells back as his defense mechanism.

      Look at how he ruined the comment section in Monday and Tuesday’s 8am articles. A real t.w.a.t when you manage to piss off both YIMBYs and NIMBYs at the same time.

  7. Bryan Berkowitz | February 1, 2024 at 1:20 am | Reply

    Guesser stop turning the comment section into a dumpster fire. Go burn yourself in hell instead

  8. Susan Verde Trilli | October 23, 2024 at 8:34 pm | Reply

    My grandfather Thomas Verde came from Italy and started a business .he bought 534 3rd Ave. My grandmother had 7 children in that building. He nurtured a fancy grocery store.. verde’sMarket since 1906…
    Slept under the fruit crates so no one coykd steal from him . Decrepit old building . Shame on you that was history

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