685 Fifth Avenue’s Mandarin Oriental Conversion and Expansion Now Underway, in Midtown
Work is underway to prepare 685 Fifth Avenue for a 100,000-square-foot office-to-condominium conversion. The first batch of scaffolding has been assembled on the northern profile of the address, and a green scaffold board runs along the top of the retail section. The 20-story building will eventually be a 30-story building, with ten additional floors to be built atop the current roof parapet. The residential component will comprise 69 condos, to be managed by Mandarin Oriental Hotel Group. SHVO is the property developer and has partnered with BLG Holdings and Deutsche Financial to spend $135 million on the expansion and conversion of the property, which will stand 350 feet tall and rise 30 stories when complete. Marin was the architect of record and the design architect, with March & White handling the interior design. Brookfield Properties is in charge of marketing the Fifth Avenue retail space.