The bustling blocks of the mid to upper-40s are a bit of an urban oddity, existing within the low-rise confines of Hell’s Kitchen, but abutting the skyscraper canyons of Midtown. And while most of the area is already built-out, a few opportunities for infill both large and small still exist, like at 343 West 47th Street, where an existing structure from 1920 is now being renovated and expanded.
Since New York’s earliest days, church organizations have held a considerable amount of the city’s real estate, which they use not only for direct religious services, but also as a means of generating income. Over the past year, we witnessed the destruction of one of the oldest properties of the kind, as the 119 year old Bancroft Building has been reduced to a pile of red brick rubble.
Microsoft is planning to open their first Manhattan flagship store in the five-story building at 677 Fifth Avenue, between East 53rd and 54th Street, according to The Wall Street Journal. The structure has undergone an extensive renovation, acquiring a new façade and updated interior spaces. The store will span 22,269 square feet over five floors, and opening is expected on October 26th at noon.
Earlier this week, we posted photos of work at 217 West 57th Street as viewed from the street level, and now we have a fresh set of overhead shots from reader Andrew McKeon, featuring both 220 Central Park South and 217 West 57th Street. And when comparing with the last set of similar shots from February, progress has been very significant.
Earlier this September, YIMBY broke news that Extell’s 99-story Nordstrom Tower lost its spire and will rise 1,550 feet to the parapet, and today, the building is on the rise at 217 West 57th Street, per Curbed. Since YIMBY’s last construction update in July, significant progress has been made. The tower’s concrete core is currently above street level, and the rest of the building is slowly rising out of the pit. Nordstrom will occupy a significant chunk of the building’s base, and the 1.3-million square-foot tower is expected to be finished by 2019.
