The Midtown Plateau’s block-to-block coverage of behemoth skyscrapers knows no rivals in terms of sheer density, which is why it is increasingly difficult for towers to penetrate above the still-rapidly-growing thicket. But at an imminent height of 1,050 feet, and after ten years of watching and waiting, the Jean Nouvel-designed 53 West 53rd Street is about to do exactly that.
YIMBY has covered the tribulations of the Collegiate Church redevelopment since the wrecking ball descended upon the Bancroft Bank Building, and several of its neighbors. The project, given the address of 8 West 30th Street, then wound its way through the Landmarks Preservation Commission. Now, the Moshe Safdie design has been ditched for an office tower by Bjarke Ingels of BIG Architects.
As the 57th Street boom’s western bookend at 606 West 57th Street nears completion, another new tower around the corner is getting ready to break ground. Demolition has yet to begin on the site’s existing occupant, but Curbed featured the first full rendering for the project, which is being designed by Portuguese architect Álvaro Siza. Dubbed 823 Eleventh Avenue, it will rise 35 floors and 440 feet to its rooftop, with 80 condominiums within. Sumaida+Khurana is the site’s developer, having acquired the existing building at 611 West 56th Street for $55 million last year, and completion is expected by 2019.
A White Castle that has now been demolished will not be the worst thing to have ever occupied 525 Eighth Avenue, which YIMBY reported on back in October of 2016, when permits were filed for a 24-story hotel designed by Gene Kaufman Architects. Revised plans approved in August show a slight increase in the height, to 26 floors, and today, we have the reveal for what the project will look like.
When it comes to the Manhattan skyline, 217 West 57th Street, aka Central Park Tower, will soon reign supreme, reaching 1,550 feet above the streets below. But a new concept proposed by DFA would provide Central Park with an actual tower of its own, though its existence would be limited to a temporary duration.
