Demolition is underway on the final two buildings at 12 West 57th Street, the site of a 672-foot-tall residential skyscraper in Midtown, Manhattan. Designed by Skidmore, Owings & Merrill and developed by Solow Management Corp., the tower will rise along Billionaires’ Row between Fifth and Sixth Avenues and West 56th and 57th Streets.
Little exterior progress was evident between our last update in December 2021 and the past few weeks, when the remaining two structures on the western end of the parcel were covered with scaffolding and black netting. Interior gutting had been progressing over the past year, but it appears that the mid-rise buildings will now begin to be razed to street level. YIMBY expects that this process will conclude before the end of summer.
Photo by Michael Young
Photo by Michael Young
Photo by Michael Young
Photo by Michael Young
Photo by Michael Young
The tower is planned to rise to only half the height of some of its supertall residential neighbors lining Billionaires’ Row, but it will still contribute nicely to the growing density along this famous corridor and will be visible on the Midtown skyline from Central Park. For reference, the skyscraper will be roughly the same height of Sheldon Solow’s nearby 9 West 57th Street, which also features a black-tinted glass curtain wall on the majority of its exterior.
Below are additional exterior renderings of 12 West 57th Street detailing the entrance and multi-story podium, which is offset from the main tower with retail frontage and a white exterior cladding, as well as the rear southern elevation and its narrow annex with frontage along West 56th Street.
Rendering of 12 West 57th Street by Skidmore, Owings & Merrill
Rendering of 12 West 57th Street by Skidmore, Owings & Merrill
Rendering of 12 West 57th Street by Skidmore, Owings & Merrill
Rendering of 12 West 57th Street by Skidmore, Owings & Merrill
Rendering of 12 West 57th Street by Skidmore, Owings & Merrill
A completion date for 12 West 57th Street remains unclear, though YIMBY will continue to keep an eye out for updates.
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I hate this. These Solow buildings are a dark blight on the cityscape. I’m pro development and am not opposed to glass curtain walls at all, but these black glass monoliths suck the life out of whatever block they inhabit.
I totally agree. These black boxes look like abandoned filing cabinets covered in gloss black paint. This building is a negative.
This new SOM building, although terrible looking, is not a black monolith. I think the Solow building is a work of modernist art indicative of the era it was constructed in.
I guess it’s not possible to preserve the facade of the existing buildings and build the tower behind them? Also, I’m not sure why a black clad building ever gets traction in nyc. Isn’t 9West also a Solow building? It’s clad in white, correct?
The front of 9 West is clad entirely in glass. The side walls are clad in travertine
Glad to hear there isn’t a shortage of Billionaire “housing”?! 🤔🤣
This black monolith looks like a shorter 432 Park “wastebasket”, or something a 5 year would draw of a big building with grid windows, with crayons on butcher paper! 🤗
Another bank vault in the sky, and about as boring as a bank vault – at least they are all so close together!
They knocked down some nice looking buildings for this garbage. NYC continues to become more soulless.
such a blight on NYC and what a shame to destroy and demolish those 2 beautiful stone buildings that say Metropolitan and we get a glass scar on the block instead.SAD
They don’t build stone buildings like that anymore.
They do, and they are very expensive.
The existing building at 12 W 57th is a commercial building that has a deep footprint. It likely is not in compliance with city building and energy codes. It would require a massive amount of investment to convert the existing building or upgrade it to nonsensical commercial use.
Every time the city or state passes another law for sustainability, accessibility, or other idealogical pursuit, it reduces the economic viability of the reuse of older buildings. People seem to forget this when sto.ping their feet in front of city hall.
I don’t know how true that is. The Union Carbide building was taken down despite having reaching energy efficiency.
It’s more about landlords/developers being money hungry.
If so, then the Union Carbide building is a poor example because it was refurbished, torwn down and is now being re-built by the tenant. So it’s not a “landlord/developer being money hungry,”, in that particular example. Right?
the black glass darkens the streetscape.
Hate it. Did we not learn anything from the 1980s? Think 55 Church St. How many people walk by this today and think it’s a great piece of architecture? Zero (sorry Eli Attia….but zero). Basically this is going to be a big, black, downtown anywhere bank….that happens to be condos on 57th. Waste of the air rights owned by the existing masonry buildings.
Grim and a slap in the face of exuberant Crown Building. I wonder how you’ll market this when there’s already so much available at the high end of the market. Needs a redesign.
Beatiful stone buildings to be replaced by ugly block for billionaires
I know for certain that my heroine Ada Louise Huxtable is spinning in her grave as she she hated buildings like these soulless black high rise boxes.
A project brings to a close demolition within reach of update progress, from photos that show in North America. It is crowning moment to catch sight of its razed, black netting now and then a black-tinted glass curtain wall would crystal clear to how dark it is: Thanks to Michael Young.
So fun reading non-billionairs speak to what billionairs may or may not want. And If it had a blue glass exterior, I bet all those that say they hate the black curtain wall would complain about it being blue.