Supertall 111 West 57th Street Nears the 16-Story Mark
One of many supertall buildings rising in Manhattan is about to mark a milestone, as the tower portion of 111 West 57th Street is about surpass the height of the landmarked Steinway Hall.
One of many supertall buildings rising in Manhattan is about to mark a milestone, as the tower portion of 111 West 57th Street is about surpass the height of the landmarked Steinway Hall.
Centered just below Central Park’s southern edge, super-slender supertall 111 West 57th Street will probably be iconic before it is even finished. Of course, that won’t be for a couple of years. However, some visible progress is being made at the construction site in Midtown.
Property Markets Group is in contract to purchase the vacant 166,000-square-foot property at 455-459 Smith Street, in Gowanus, for roughly $50 million, DNAinfo reported. The site – bound by Huntington Street to the south, Smith Street to the west, Fifth Street to the north, and the Gowanus Canal to the east – is zoned for manufacturing. It can support 332,000 square feet of commercial development as-of-right in the form of offices, hotels, retail, and manufacturing/industrial space. The eventual new owner is mulling the idea of building a mixed-use development with a hotel, offices, and retail space, although development plans are in very early stages. The site, once home the Citizens Manufactured Gas Plant, is currently undergoing a remediation headed by National Grid. The plant’s last warehouse structure was demolished years ago. The Smith-Ninth Streets stop on the F and G trains is located a block to the south.
One of the greatest single engineering challenges currently under construction in New York City has risen above ground. That project is the supertall mixed-use residential tower 111 West 57th Street, located just west of Sixth Avenue in Midtown, and we can see the construction progress on the Billionaires’ Row building thanks to several photos posted by YIMBY Forums users.
The stunningly tall towers rising along 57th Street are taking the Manhattan skyline to a whole new level. Despite their relatively small footprints, some projects are actually replacing true architectural gems. Between the end of 2014 and the beginning of 2016, the LeFrak Organization and Vornado Realty leveled three pre-war buildings at 27-33 West 57th Street. Although the latest reports indicated a “seven star hotel,” final plans are still unknown. Given the site’s Billionaires’ Row location and proximity to Central Park, whatever gets built will most likely be very tall, and very expensive.