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The Zaha Hadid design from an article in today's Wall Street Journal

https://si.wsj.net/public/resources/...0320144038.jpg

This tower is ridiculously epic, though I'm not sure it feels very New York.

But I would be very happy with this design.

I waver on Hadid. I've liked some of her work but I do not like this design for our city.

Follow up: I actually don't mind the tower but there's something about the base that irks me.

I would like to see more detail, but I'm cautiously optimistic based on the initial rendering.

The alien curvature of her work is great for neighborhoods with a lot of architectural experimentation (perfect fit in West Chelsea), but can seem a little out of context in neighborhoods with a more established architectural character (like her proposal for 425 Park, which would have drawn too much attention from modern classics like Lever House nearby). With that in mind, I was a bit worried that we would get an overly bold proposal for a tower that totally disregarded the 5th Ave aesthetic.

This design might actually be a really nice compromise, though.

5th Ave is the height of glamorous architecture in NYC, whether historic beaux-arts structures (the St. Regis, the Crown Building) or sophisticated modern facades (Valentino or the Rolex Building). This tower is certainly very different than anything else on the street, but it seems to echo that same glamour and semi-royal tone with its high arches and what appears to be gold/copper detailing. I think it has a ton of potential.

On a side note, I was completely confused for a moment by the park they rendered on the east side of 5th.

Quote:

Originally Posted by De Minimis NY (Post 7747337)

I would like to see more detail, but I'm cautiously optimistic based on the initial rendering.

Higher Resolution Rendering

https://cdn-standard.discourse.org/u...a6f2e6a0b1.jpg
Credit: https://twitter.com/morninggloria

Quote:

Originally Posted by streetscaper (Post 7747056)

The Zaha Hadid design from an article in today's Wall Street Journal

https://si.wsj.net/public/resources/...0320144038.jpg

I knew it would be something like this, covering the base, because of her proposal for 425 Park Avenue. Not bad at all, in fact it could be spectacular. Still trying to decide if it needs a spire or not. Also, not sure why that added that green space to the rendering, but 53W53 should be added to the background in the render for extra punch. Also, you can make out the original building, or at least the dimensions of it, so we need the render from the north/south side to get a full picture.

https://therealdeal.com/2017/03/21/k...al-12-billion/

Kushner has even bigger plans for 666 Fifth Avenue — and they total $12B
But Anbang's involvement in project is tenuous

March 21, 2017

Quote:

Kushner Companies has a whole bag of tricks it’s been keeping secret for its planned conversion of the office tower at 666 Fifth Avenue into a mixed-use luxury destination.

Bloomberg, citing investor documents, reported last week that the redevelopment would be valued at $7.2 billion when completed. But Kushner Companies believes that the number could even hit $12 billion, sources familiar with the plans confirmed to the Wall Street Journal Tuesday. The newspaper also reported that Anbang Insurance’s involvement in the project is far more tenuous than was stated in the Bloomberg report.

The rebuild plan, Kushner Companies confirmed to the Journal, includes tearing out the building’s steel frame and adding an additional 40 floors, a process that could take until 2025 to complete.

Current zoning allows them to build a 1.45 million-square-foot tower as-of-right. The rendering for the plan designed by the late Zaha Hadid reveals a 1,400-foot skyscraper that seems more synonymous with the skylines of oil-rich states in the Middle East and Eastern Europe than contemporary Midtown.

To increase the building’s value and revenue potential, Kushner would devote 11 stories in the tower to a hotel and quadruple the retail space. The residential portion of the building would total 464,000 square feet, and Kushner Companies said they expect condos to sell for around $6,000 a square foot, a fair amount below the average at the other 1,400-foot-tall residential development, 432 Park, where 33 past sales have averaged $7,774 per square foot, according to StreetEasy. (A source told The Real Deal last week, however, that for the math to work under even the $7.2 billion plan, condos at 666 Fifth would have to sell north of $9,000 a square foot.)

Another planned for 666 Fifth is the name itself. Kushner Companies plans to take the opportunity to shed the building’s devil-tinged 666 address for a new one — 660 Fifth Avenue.

If the Kushners went full-tilt with the $12 billion plan, it would leave them with a 20-percent stake in the finished project, the company confirmed to the newspaper. Demolition could start as soon as 2019.

To do all of this, current office tenants would have to be bought out of their leases, $1.15 billion in outstanding debt would need to be refinanced and Vornado Realty Trust, which holds a stake in the building and owns most of the retail space, would need to be bought out. Anbang was reported earlier this month to be in talks with Kushner Companies to provide more than $1 billion in equity to the project. Anbang, however, has denied any such investment plans.

A little more from curbed...

http://ny.curbed.com/2017/3/21/15016...adid-supertall

Quote:

... if the deal with Anbang doesn’t materialize, Kushner Companies seems to think it could move forward anyway; a spokesperson for the firm told the WSJ that equity could be raised from other investors.

In the event that the building moves forward, its new 1,400-square-foot height would be achieved by taking the structure down to its inner steel core and adding 40 floors.

...Assuming all goes according to plan, the building would be home to ultra-luxury condos (going for as much as $6,000 per square foot), along with a hotel and nearly 500,000 square feet of retail.

Quote:

Originally Posted by streetscaper (Post 7747056)

The Zaha Hadid design from an article in today's Wall Street Journal

https://si.wsj.net/public/resources/...0320144038.jpg

it s look llike almost 1300ft tower !!!!!!!

I like the bottom third of it. The sum of all it's parts looks very phallic though. I wish she'd have continued the interesting cladding on the bottom part of the tower up to the top.

Quote:

Originally Posted by O-tacular (Post 7748065)

I wish she'd have continued the interesting cladding on the bottom part of the tower up to the top.

Agreed. Overall, a killer design though which will mix things up a bit in that part of town. Hopefully this design sticks.

It looks like the Salesforce Tower in SF.

Reminds me of IM Pei's 1956 Grand Central Station tower proposal.

Its beautifull , is diferent , is not an horrible box !!!!!!!!!

About a third of the proposal would be condos, but about a third of it would also be retail, a significant development for Fifth Avenue. Nordstrom, if you had only waited.

It's noteworthy that the earliest this thing could likely get built is 2025 - eight years from now. By then, the towers rising now, and even some that have yet to begin will have been built. This would be among the new product, possibly along with a built 80 South Street, maybe Gary Barnett's own Fifth and Eighth Avenue towers.

As simply a rebuilding project, it will be an amazing sight to see.

http://m7.i.pbase.com/o10/06/102706/...tAaU6Kj.w1.jpg

http://m8.i.pbase.com/o10/06/102706/...0PLf6yI.w2.jpg

http://m9.i.pbase.com/o10/06/102706/...Jy04h48.w3.JPG

http://m5.i.pbase.com/o10/06/102706/...Kd8vLT.r1b.JPG

Does Zaha's proposal involve renovating/adding to the existing structure?

Quote:

Originally Posted by NYguy (Post 7748806)

It's noteworthy that the earliest this thing could likely get built is 2025 - eight years from now. By then, the towers rising now, and even some that have yet to begin will have been built. This would be among the new product, possibly along with a built 80 South Street, maybe Gary Barnett's own Fifth and Eighth Avenue towers.

Also good that it will let the current supply thats rising become absorbed, only helping the probability that this rises. By then, the 10 super talls u/c will have become finished and 2025 is a long way in NY tower construction. Who knows what treats may arise. Even by the end of this year. Still have a crapload of potential pipeline supertalls to keep us busy.

Hopefully some of those Vornado or Extell Assemblages will become super talls.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Zerton (Post 7749418)

Does Zaha's proposal involve renovating/adding to the existing structure?

Quote:

The rebuild plan, Kushner Companies confirmed to the Journal, includes tearing out the building’s steel frame and adding an additional 40 floors

It won't really be a renovation, but a rebuilding, similar in nature to the new 425 Park Avenue.

Looking at the lower levels of the tower, I would prefer the transition from the second setback to the tower be similar to the transition from the first setback.
But I'm sure they would prefer to have that open deck. The base and first setback of the building would be primarily for the retail.

https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/20...s-usa_hero.jpg
https://www.dezeen.com/2017/03/23/za...cture-offices/

Quote:

Originally Posted by NYguy (Post 7750105)

It won't really be a renovation, but a rebuilding, similar in nature to the new 425 Park Avenue.

425 Park, 666 5th Ave, and 5 Beekman are examples of what I think will be a trend, especially as the Midtown East Rezoning ramps up.

Its expensive as it is to buy a tower and demo the whole thing, so I could see many "425 Park like" developments springing up. Where height, due to the benefits of rezoning, is further added to an existing structures and the functionality of an existing tower is changed (hotel, residential, office, ect.).

This project is a little more extreme as the structure will be stripped to its steel-core, but in terms of cost, a 425 Park like scenario makes more sense for when there isn't a crazy amount of capital available.