NEW YORK | One Vanderbilt | 1,401 FT | 58 FLOORS

[NYguy]

Besides the plaza outside on Vanderbilt Avenue, it looks like we are going to be getting something I've wanted, a "High Line" type park around Grand Central, at least partially. The City unveiled more changes to the midtown east rezoning, including the plaza around Pershing Square and the Grand Central viaduct.


nycmayorsoffice








Compared with equally conceptual 1 Vanderbilt rendering...

[NYguy]

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/10/22/ny...pagewanted=all

Clock Ticking, Bloomberg Seeks Council Approval of East Midtown Rezoning Plan

By CHARLES V BAGLI
October 21, 2013

.....The initial rezoning plan contained a sunrise provision in which developers would have to wait five years before they could start building, to reduce competition with other current city-sponsored developments, like the Hudson Yards and the World Trade Center.

But the administration has since revised the rezoning plan to allow Mr. Levinson and a second developer, SL Green, to proceed more quickly.

SL Green owns a block bound by 42nd and 43rd Streets, between Madison and Vanderbilt Avenues. The company wants to demolish the three buildings on the site — none are taller than 20 stories — to build a 65-story, 1.6-million-square-foot tower, to be known as 1 Vanderbilt.

City officials and proponents of the project say that the new zoning would require them to build more than $100 million in improvements to the subway entrances and platforms, as well as a public space inside the building, with a large train-arrival board and a new entrance to Grand Central Terminal.

[hunser]

65 floors? Eww, I expected at least 80.

This will hardly break the 350m mark. All those big lots (1V, 2HB, 15Penn etc.) have so much sq ft, yet developers decide to go mediocore. I beginning to wonder who's got the cojones to propose something really bold (100 stories+).

[NYguy]

Originally Posted by hunser

65 floors? Eww, I expected at least 80.

This will hardly break the 350m mark. All those big lots (1V, 2HB, 15Penn etc.) have so much sq ft, yet developers decide to go mediocore. I beginning to wonder who's got the cojones to propose something really bold (100 stories+).

That's most likely 65 actual floors. All of our tallest office tower proposals are in the 60's range. Remember, Related's north tower and those WTC towers don't really have the number of floors they perceive to have now. But beyond that, this tower will be topped by open public spaces, which of course pushes the height higher.

You aren't going to get a 100-story office tower built these days, nobody wants that. The building would have to be too large. A 100-story or more residential tower is more likely.

[ILNY]

Originally Posted by NYguy

That's most likely 65 actual
You aren't going to get a 100-story office tower built these days, nobody wants that. The building would have to be too large. A 100-story or more residential tower is more likely.

Too bad, I don't think they would have any problems with filling 100 story tower right next to Grand Central.


It looks like East Midtown Rezoning Plan approval will be delayed.

http://forum.skyscraperpage.com/show...=1#post6311792

Clock Ticking, Bloomberg Seeks Council Approval of East Midtown Rezoning Plan

By CHARLES V. BAGLI
Published: October 21, 2013

But with fewer than 75 days left in his term, the political dynamics have changed. The mayor’s clout with the Council is fading. His onetime ally, Christine C. Quinn, the Council speaker, is also a lame duck.

“While the proposal has merit,” Mr. Garodnick said, “it remains incomplete, and despite our best efforts to nail down solutions to outstanding issues, we are running out of time. If we feel we can’t do it within the land use clock we will have no hesitation taking this up with the next administration.”

[NYguy]

About the rezoning plan, the council had a meeting today, and will vote on it next month. It can't really be delayed. Either it will be approved with some modifications, or it won't be approved. He's right about the "land use clock" running out.

Originally Posted by ILNY

Too bad, I don't think they would have any problems with filling 100 story tower right next to Grand Central.

Well, no one is looking to lease office floors that will require trying to get that many workers that high up. At this site, it would probably require multiple sky lobbies. Not to mention the floor plates at this site would have to be too small to reach that high to even bother.

None of the current supertall office proposals (from the "80" story 3 WTC to the "80" story north tower of the Hudson yards) have anything above sixty-something actual floors.

[Blaze23]

I think the idea of a 100 storey office building in NYC doesn't quite make a lot of sense these days; maybe a residential building considering how developers are trying to upstage each other.
I would say about this tower, it could still reach a decent height cause the public space on top of it has to be accounted for and could push it to HY North Tower height and if there's a spire, it might push it to the 500m mark.... can't wait to see how it turns out.

[NYguy]

http://newyork.cbslocal.com/2013/10/...-midtown-east/

City Planner: Rezoning Near Grand Central Will Transform Midtown East
Vote Expected Next Month On Plan To Rezone 73 Blocks For New Skyscrapers




October 22, 2013

Mayor Michael Bloomberg has been thinking big even as his time at City Hall nears its end, pushing the City Council to approve a rezoning plan that could bring a new generation of skyscrapers to the area around Grand Central Station.

As CBS 2’s Tony Aiello reported, city planners believe the buildings of Midtown East are showing their age, and they are falling out of favor with A-list tenants.

“It’s been frozen in time, because we downzoned this area,” said Director of City Planning Amanda Burden. “There’s been only one building built in the last 20 years. That’s not right, and that will hurt our economy for the long run.”

Burden is one of the architects of an ambitious effort to rezone 73 blocks of Midtown East to make it much easier for developers to build modern skyscrapers.

For instance, at the corner of 42nd Street and Madison Avenue, SL Green Realty Corp. wants to tear down a group of short, dowdy buildings and replace them with a 65-story glass and steel tower.

“It will refresh the area, and keep it attractive to world-class companies,” Burden said.

But at a Tuesday City Council hearing, opponents complained that the rezoning plan will squeeze more people into already crowded streets and subways. They want a plan to improve infrastructure before opening the door for skyscrapers. “The plan was developed with the landlords and developers in mind as a first priority,” said Terrence O’Neal of Manhattan Community Board 6.

Critics also believe the administration is trying to rush the rezoning through the City Council, in order to burnish Mayor Bloomberg’s legacy before he leaves office in about 70 days. “This whole ‘chicken little, the sky is falling if we don’t do it in this administration’ does not convince us,” said Lola Finkelstein of Community Board 5.

State Sens. Brad Hoylman (D-Manhattan) and Liz Krueger (D-Manhattan) protested the plan earlier this month, saying the city needs to slow down and get it right. “This is the heart of Midtown. This is the historic Grand Central area, with so many residents, commuters, phenomenal historic buildings,” Krueger said on Oct. 1. And, Krueger went on, the city cannot rush the plan through because Mayor Michael Bloomberg is “on a timeline for checking out of City Hall.”

Hoylman called the plan “quacking from a lame duck administration.”

“The plan is riddled with exceptions and outright gifts to the real estate industry – a fire sale on air rights far below market value; exceptions that allow certain well-connected developers to build early,” he said. “We need a seismic shift in the goals of this plan. The public needs to be paramount.”

The lawmakers also said the current proposal would leave $363 million on the table that could instead be used for transportation improvements.

But the plan has strong support from many construction unions. The leading candidates for mayor also have been generally supportive.

The Bloomberg administration has been trying to sweeten the pot, convincing developers to foot $100 million for improvements around Grand Central if the plan is improved.

The area up for rezoning is bounded by East 39th Street on the south, East 57th Street on the north, Second and Third avenues on the east, and a line 150 feet east of Fifth Avenue on the west.

A vote on the plan is expected in November.

[chris08876]

Originally Posted by hunser

65 floors? Eww, I expected at least 80.

This will hardly break the 350m mark. All those big lots (1V, 2HB, 15Penn etc.) have so much sq ft, yet developers decide to go mediocore. I beginning to wonder who's got the cojones to propose something really bold (100 stories+).

TRUMP! I have been thinking where the hell he has been during this whole boom. IDK if the man either just doesnt have the money anymore or is busy with tv interviews. I would like to see a proposal somewhere that saids trump and is a game changer. Something the likes of Trump Chicago only bigger, and in NYC.

[NYguy]

Donald Trump has never really been into building office buildings.

[Derek2k32]

But Trump has attempted to build many mixed-use towers. His very first tower is an office-condo residential. With a special permit, 40% of towers can developed with residential in Midtown East. I'd say there's a good chance he will at least co-develop the Grand Hyatt Hotel he owns on 42nd Street.

[NYguy]

Originally Posted by Derek2k32

But Trump has attempted to build many mixed-use towers. His very first tower is an office-condo residential. With a special permit, 40% of towers can developed with residential in Midtown East. I'd say there's a good chance he will at least co-develop the Grand Hyatt Hotel he owns on 42nd Street.

Trump is not really involved with that anymore...
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/12/business/12hyatt.html

But all of his supertower proposals have been for residential/hotel. He's not in the business of building office space because he tends to go for the more "glamorous" residential projects. And his supertall proposals have been taller than anything currently developed or proposed in Manhattan. It wouldn't surprise me if he came out with another.

But as far as office towers go, no you aren't going to see one much taller than what we have now.

[King DenCity]

^here's to hoping...

[chris08876]

Originally Posted by King DenCity

^here's to hoping...

Hopefully he will do some more projects in Lower Manhattan. Complementing the WTC site preferably. its going to be a hot hot place to be in the next few years. The new hub, expected retail, lots of potential.

[Perklol]

"But with fewer than 75 days left in his term, the political dynamics have changed. The mayor’s clout with the Council is fading. His onetime ally, Christine C. Quinn, the Council speaker, is also a lame duck.

“While the proposal has merit,” Mr. Garodnick said, “it remains incomplete, and despite our best efforts to nail down solutions to outstanding issues, we are running out of time. If we feel we can’t do it within the land use clock we will have no hesitation taking this up with the next administration.”

I thought he was that council member that suggested the sunrise provision for a 425 Park and 1 Vanderbilt. But, he is against this upzoning? I don't understand...

[koops65]

I recently finished making a drawing for this tower. We'll see how many changes and revisions happen before it gets built.
http://skyscraperpage.com/cities/?buildingID=171
NYC diagram: http://skyscraperpage.com/diagrams/?cityID=8

[McSky]

Thanks for that diagram. It will be interesting to see how much the final tower deviates from that, and if the green-tinted glass concept survives.

[hunser]

Thanks koops, you're the man! Can't wait till we see some quality renderings of 225W57th, so that building can have its diagram too.

[Swede]

Originally Posted by koops65

I recently finished making a drawing for this tower. We'll see how many changes and revisions happen before it gets built.
http://skyscraperpage.com/cities/?buildingID=171
NYC diagram: http://skyscraperpage.com/diagrams/?cityID=8

Great work!
Any chance of a diagram of the Nordstrom tower?

[King DenCity]

^It sucks but not 'til the full renders come out.