It sounds to me like Barnett is not entirely in charge of the design. With Nordstrom paying hundreds of millions of dollars for their part (not to mention picking the architect to design the "Nordstrom Tower") it seems likely they also had say in the matter. If they are going to pay that much for their portion of the tower and the tower is already so close to becoming the tallest building in the city, why not just make it the tallest building? Keeping the tower under the height of the 1WTC might be important to Barnett but maybe not so much to Nordstrom.

Thinking more in line of sales. Tallest in the U.S. is a big catch phrase.

Well, to go along with that line of thinking would suggest that before 9/11, NY lacked height. That is simply not true. It's been the one city that has consistently been known for the height of its skyscrapers. As far as the somewhat constant shift these days into what would be the city's tallest tower, or tallest residential, its just a repeat of skyline drama that went on decades ago. I really do hope that Nordstrom comes in as a new tallest.

Barnett has other things on his mind, regardless of height rankings...

http://www.wsj.com/articles/BL-DVB-22806

Tallest in the US. is short changing itself.

Tallest in the hemisphere is good, but even saying "One of the tallest in the world" sounds even better. Or just "Tallest residential tower in the world" because it will be as far as we know.

New York YIMBY: http://www.yimbynews.com/2015/05/off...rom-tower.html

http://www.yimbynews.com/wp-content/...68AqTiRBJ9.jpg

Regardless of how the final design has turned out, if you're not excited about this you are dead inside.

Its so tall, gives you goosebumps inside! That looks like the taller version of the tower, the 1,795 feet. Although Yimby is seeming to deny that for some reason? :)

However I'm very divided about the Stern tower right across from it. I would much rather just have Nordstrom by itself. The two don't really fit together.

^^^
On that rendering 220 CPS kind of reminds me of Barclay Tower downtown. Anyway, I personally don't mind it rising in front of Nordstrom, like the juxtaposition of limestone and glass

holy crap that is amazing.. someone needs to mock that latest render into a view with the neighbors ( steinway, 432, TV, etc ). That central park view above is the best looking perspective on this thing i think we've seen.. i think it looks great. so damn tall holy crap haha

It looks like they forgot to add the dreaded shadow of doom :whistle:

http://i.imgur.com/nfq7pRd.jpg
Edit of NY Yimby's photo

One57 is indisputably tall. Then this rendering comes along and my heart skipped a beat and I forgot my name for a second. :shrug:

Not the best we could have hoped for as far as design goes, but at this point, just get it built.

They need to get Steinway into that rendering though.



http://www.pbase.com/nyguy/image/160059066/original.jpg

To NYguy, I think Nordstrom will come out better than you think. This is another tall+slender, which is already going to make it totally unique. It may end up being more dramatic than it looks right now.

Wow.

Still looks 1480' and 1775' compared with the other two but it looks great!

i like how that setback on the east side kinda mirrors the One 57 setback a little bit.. just noticed that.

The top of the tower however looks like the renders that Yimby released recently. So it leads me to believe it is the taller version. The spire is too difficult to tell on, however its not the order version that's for sure. At the very least it would seem this design is slightly taller than 1WTC, if not 1,795 feet.

http://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/800...540/8D5S4C.jpg
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/arti...et-higher.html


http://www.yimbynews.com/wp-content/...68AqTiRBJ9.jpg
http://www.yimbynews.com/2015/05/off...rom-tower.html

Or it may end up looking worse.

Like I said, it's not the best design, it's not something I'm super excited to see built like the Tower Verre or Steinway. But it will be in the valley of the supertalls, and we have a lot of other eye candy.

Something about the scale from that angle though throws it off. I don't know if it's the asymetrical spire, or that last setback (where the cantilever tops off). I can't put my finger on it just yet, but it's a little off for me.

Now, if Barnett can get a tower of 1,100 to 1,200 ft between Steinway and One57, just the view of the supertalls will be amazing.

Usually these things come out better than expected, you have to be positive. Like with One57, which is also an Extell and the renderings for that no one was sold on. I think the official rending for Nordstrom is better than I expected. I don't see the problems your pointing out, the height and slenderness is what people will notice most.

Sadly not every tower is going to be a Steinway or a Verre, I think people are getting a little spoiled. I mean even the supertalls going up around the world aren't all meeting expectations. If Barnett really wanted to blow everyone away he would have built his first design, but he also would have been paying through the roof for it. Some on here forget the developers are actually in these projects to make money, not because there are skyscraper nerds egging them on to build their best design. In China and Dubai its different, the governments are paying for the projects instead but they're also losing a ton of money on every project. Don't expect the crazy designs there to continue, it would bankrupt anybody in no time. There's a reason Dubai's property market crashed and China's debt has surged over 250% in six or seven years.

I'll be more positive when I see some positive results. I am not seeing anything about this design that blows me over. It's a lot better than the earlier images, the spire has been improved and integrated with the tower more. Still, there's something missing.

When the fram starts shooting up past One57, and it begins to leave its own mark on the skyline, that will be exciting. I'm more interested in the profile of other new towers leaving their mark on the skyline. Luckily, we have no shortage of new towers to watch go up.