Construction has reached the halfway point on The Torch, a 52-story supertall skyscraper at 740 Eighth Avenue in Midtown, Manhattan. Designed by ODA and developed by Extell, the 1,029-foot-tall structure will span 885,902 square feet and yield an 825-room hotel topped by a public outdoor observation deck with a drop ride. The mixed-use project is also slated to include lower-level retail space, a restaurant on two of the upper floors, a VIP lounge, and a pool deck for hotel guests.
SLCE Architects is the architect of record for the development, which is located along Eighth Avenue between West 45th and 46th Streets on the border of Times Square and Hell’s Kitchen.
Nearly all floors of the building’s lower half have been formed since our last update in late December, when the first few levels of the superstructure had begun to rise above the abutting holdouts along Eighth Avenue. The bulky hotel component of the skyscraper is nearly topped out, while installation of the façade is not far behind. Based on the pace of work so far, YIMBY expects the structure to reach its 1,029-foot pinnacle sometime next year.
The Torch. Photo by Michael Young.
The Torch. Photo by Michael Young.
The Torch. Photo by Michael Young.
The Torch. Photo by Michael Young.
The Torch. Photo by Michael Young.
The Torch. Photo by Michael Young.
The Torch. Photo by Michael Young.
The Torch. Photo by Michael Young.
The Torch. Photo by Michael Young.
The Torch. Photo by Michael Young.
The Torch. Photo by Michael Young.
ODA has not released any updated renderings of The Torch that reflect the simplification of the upper levels from the first concept below to the illustration on the construction board in the next photo.
740 Eighth Avenue. Photo by Michael Young.
The following zoning diagram shows the stem’s spiraling, funnel-shaped profile simplified into a more squared-off design, though the exterior staircase at the observatory appears to be retained.
740 Eight Avenue. Screenshot via https://a810-bisweb.nyc.gov/bisweb/bispi00.jsp.
The observatory was planned to incorporate an Intamin-designed drop ride within 300-foot-tall transparent tubes mounted to the stem. It is unclear whether this design element has also been modified.
YIMBY expects The Torch to complete construction within the latter half of 2028.
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I wish they would stop the vertical rise while they are ahead.
I get all the criticism for this project (in fact I’m a little disappointed that they may be scaling down the upper spiral) – but F it – if you can’t do something totally ridiculous in Times Square, where can you do it?
I know this is the building everyone loves to hate, but this facade so far has a nice vertical feel to it, and what are those dark areas around half way up? they seem too haphazard to be any kind of mechanical sections.