Excavation is underway at 656 Lexington Avenue, the site of a 19-story residential building in Midtown East, Manhattan. Designed by Zproekt Architecture and developed by Sergey Rybak under the 660 Lexington Avenue Development LLC, the 233-foot-tall structure will span 52,558 square feet and yield 23 condominium units with an average scope of 2,123 square feet, as well as 2,551 square feet of commercial space, 1,174 square feet of community facility space, and a cellar level. Rybak Development Corp. is the general contractor for the property, which is alternately addressed as 133 East 55th Street and located at the corner of Lexington Avenue and East 55th Street.
Recent photographs show two excavators unearthing the plot below street level as crews assemble wooden formwork in preparation for the foundations. Portions of the perimeter have wooden shoring in place to hold back the walls as excavation continues to descend.
Photo by Michael Young
Photo by Michael Young
Photo by Michael Young
Photo by Michael Young
Photo by Michael Young
The below aerial perspective shows the site before excavation began.
Photo by Michael Young
The preliminary black and white rendering in the main photo shows 656 Lexington Avenue rising uniformly to a midpoint setback, above which the building steps back gradually up to a tiered crown. The façade is composed of a grid of floor-to-ceiling windows framed with gray paneling, and thick white cornices line the top of each stepped volume. Two terraces are depicted on the upper two levels and at the large midpoint setback, and a stack of balconies rises on the western half of the southern elevation along East 55th Street.
The following Google Street View image details the two-story commercial structure that formerly occupied the parcel.
656 Lexington Avenue in Midtown East, Manhattan via Google Maps
The closest subways from the property are the E and F trains at the Lexington Avenue-53rd Street station to the south, with a connection to the 6 train at the 51st Street station.
656 Lexington Avenue’s anticipated completion date is slated for the winter of 2025, as noted on site.
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Can you imagine one less camera/luggage store in midtown? Hope they hat that right back in there as part of the commercial space. 😊
Have you not heard of B&H???
Zproekt Architecture is a firm of dubious talent, so brace yourselves.
They are light-years better than Badaly, and most of their projects look at least halfway decent. This should be an overall improvement to the block and better looking than either of the buildings next to it.
Looks like it will fit in perfectly with the cheap white-brick schlock of neighboring buildings. Contextual lowest common denominator. Wouldn’t it be wonderful if it could take up some of the motifs and architectural elements of the beautiful Central Synagogue directly across the street? At least the colors. A pipe dream.
This will make the neighbors look better.
Glad to see you included a picture of the previous use of this site however unremarkable it may have been.
It’s not just an ordinary thing that construction is in progress, so they have chosen beautiful materials for sure: Thanks to Michael Young.