Midtown

685 Fifth Avenue

Redesigned Retail Space, Five-Story Office Expansion for 20-Story Commercial Building at 685 Fifth Avenue, Midtown

General Growth Properties and Thor Equities have filed to expand, by five stories, the 20-story, 115,000-square-foot multi-use commercial building at 685 Fifth Avenue, located on the corner of East 54th Street, in Midtown. The property’s commercial square footage – 109,543 square feet – will remain the same, because a portion of the space on the lower levels will be utilized to build the vertical expansion. As a result, the structure will see an increase in height from 227 feet to 292 feet. Coach has already secured a lease to take 23,400 square feet of retail space on the first few floors for its new flagship store, The Real Deal reports. Midtown South-based Marin Architects is the architect of record. In June of 2014, GGP and Thor acquired the building for $460 million, and it was reported last November that Michael Shvo is in contract to acquire the building’s existing 90,000 square feet of office space for north of $100 million. It doesn’t appear the future office space on floors 21 through 25 was part of the deal with Shvo.

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500 West 22nd Street

Eight-Story, Eight-Unit Mixed-Use Building Filed at 500 West 22nd Street, West Chelsea

Rye Brook, N.Y.-based Brantwood Capital has filed applications for an eight-story, eight-unit mixed-use building at 500 West 22nd Street (a.k.a. 197 Tenth Avenue), in West Chelsea. The structure will encompass 33,662 square feet and will feature 1,959 square feet of retail space on the ground and cellar levels. We can’t calculate the size of the residential units, which will likely be condominiums, but there will be a full-floor unit on the second floor, two on the third floor, followed by full-floor units on the fourth through sixth floors, topped by two duplex units across the seventh and eighth floors. The top apartments will also feature rooftop terraces. Norman Cox’s Brooklyn-based Union Street Studio is the architect of record. Demolition permits were filed earlier this month for a four-story building (previously two tenement buildings).

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989 Sixth Avenue

Development Team Planning 80-Story Mixed-Use Tower Closer To 2020 At 989-993 Sixth Avenue, Midtown

Back in December of 2015, it was reported that AB & Sons and Sioni Group were in contract to acquire 235,000 square feet of air rights (from the landmarked Haier Building) for their development assemblage at 989-993 Sixth Avenue, located on the corner of West 37th Street, in the Garment District section of Midtown. They have since closed on the purchase for an undisclosed amount, and now, the development team is planning a roughly 80-story mixed-use building, which could likely include retail space near the street level, a hotel, and residential units, according to The Real Deal. The site could boast up to 375,000 square feet of as-of-right development potential if the 21-story, 90,000-square-foot office building at 989-991 Sixth is demolished. The building reportedly won’t be demolished until at least 2019, probably due to existing leases. The corner lot at 993 Sixth Avenue is occupied by a partially built 18-story hotel project, which will also probably be demolished (it’s five stories in height).

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139 East 56th Street

15-Story Senior Housing Building Planned at 139 East 56th Street, Midtown East

Hines and Welltower Inc. are planning a 15-story senior-housing facility at 139 East 56th Street, located at the corner of Lexington Avenue in Midtown East. The duo recently acquired the site, which is currently occupied by a two-story, 7,000-square-foot commercial building, for an undisclosed amount, according to Bloomberg. The planned structure would feature assisted-living units and memory car services, although the number of units plan is not currently known. The existing building will be demolished, although a TGI Fridays restaurant must first vacant the premises.

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The American Copper Buildings, 626 First Avenue. All photographs by the author

JDS and SHoP Show Off Skybridge at American Copper Buildings, 626 First Avenue

The developer and architect behind one of the most striking new developments in New York City showed off its signature feature on Wednesday. They also revealed its new name. 626 First Avenue, a product of JDS Development and SHoP Architects located at East 36th Street in what you would have to call Murray Hill, will hence forth be known as the American Copper Buildings.

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