Downtown Brooklyn has seen an incredible number of new residential buildings rise up in recent years, redefining the neighborhood and boosting its overall visibility relative to the rest of the Borough. Today, we have a look at a new kind of development for the area, featuring a fusion of design that will bring much-needed modern office space to the booming district.
The last time YIMBY reported on progress at 66 Hudson Boulevard was back in September of 2016, when Tishman Speyer filed permits for the 64-story office giant, designed by Bjarke Ingels Group/BIG. Now, demolition has wrapped on the site’s former low-slung structures, which means work can officially begin on the spiraling supertall.
Downtown Brooklyn’s Macy’s parking garage redevelopment is finally moving forward, and applications filed with the Department of Buildings show that the new tower will rise 664 feet and 51 floors to its rooftop. The existing structure will be reduced down to one floor, then rebuilt into the tower. There will be a 150-car garage in the cellar, 99,652 square feet of retail between the cellar and first floors, and then 586,141 square feet of residential space up above, to be divided amongst 476 condominiums. Tishman Speyer is developing, and Hill West Architects are behind the plans, which were first spotted by Brownstoner.
Six of the seven subway lines that connect Queens to Manhattan converge at the foot of the Queensboro Bridge, where Queens Plaza meets Queens Boulevard, Northern Boulevard, and Jackson Avenue. There, the elevated Queensboro Plaza station handles the N, Q, and 7 trains, while the E, M, and R serve the underground Queens Plaza stop. The two stations face increasing pressure from steady growth in both Long Island City and the borough as a whole, as well as the impending overflow of Brooklyn commuters displaced by the L train shutdown. The need for a transfer connection between them has become more pressing than ever.
Last year, Tishman Speyer paid two tenants $25 million to vacate a small apartment on its development site in Hudson Yards. The hefty settlement cleared the way for the commercial real estate developer to build a massive office tower at 509 West 34th Street, between 10th and 11th avenues. Now the firm has filed plans for the 64-story building, which has been named “The Spiral” and comes with a second address at 66 Hudson Boulevard.
