NEW YORK | 343 Madison Avenue | 844 FT | 49 FLOORS

[NYguy]

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[NYguy]

https://www.chelseanewsny.com/news/work-...ut-it-won-t-open-for-18-months-YB3715010

Work Begins on New Entrance to Grand Central Madison but It Won’t Open for 18 Months





Ralph Spielman
03 Oct 2024

A new entrance to Grand Central Madison, the MTA’s $11.1 billion station that sits a quarter mile underground, is being erected at Madison Ave. and 45th Street. It will carve out a passageway that will cut through a new officer tower now being built and make the gleaming but under-utilized station ADA compatible.

The entranceway won’t be ready for another 18 months, however, but it will at least open long before the new officer tower which is expected to take four years to build.

The new entrance will help speed passengers to the new station platforms that are 14 stories below street level, sitting underneath the original Grand Central station.

The new entrance will be part of a new office tower that sits on a plot that once held the building that MTA used as its headquarters from 1979 to 2014 before moving it to Brooklyn.

The space dated from the First World War and was known as the Equitable Trust Building before 1979. The new building over the entrance will be known for now only as 343 Madison.

In 2020, BXP was selected to redevelop the site on Madison Avenue and demolition began in February 2021 to begin construction of the entrance, which started on Oct. 1 with the symbolic digging by MTA and local officials. BXP has agreed to build the new ADA compliant Grand Central Madison entrance in advance of the new skyscraper’s completion. The MTA will own the land on which the building is situated; this will mean a revenue stream expected to generate more than $1 billion in ground rent revenues and real estate taxes, dedicated to the now-underfunded MTA capital program.

This new entrance to Grand Central Madison’s Long Island Rail Road Concourse will bring the total to six street entrances: 42nd Street and 43rd Street through One Vanderbilt, at 47th Street inside 383 Madison Avenue, two elevator-only entrances in freestanding buildings built by the MTA at 44th Street and 48th Street and now 45th Street.

The MTA has planned two new direct street entrances north of 47th Street, giving even faster access to the LIRR East Side Terminal.

What about the new building surrounding the entrance? Right now, it’s an empty space. BXP has big plans for the block-long site. BXP will handle development, property management and leasing of the property of 343 Madison. After a scaling back from the original plans, the building will offer 750,400 square feet of office space, designed by the architectural firm of Kohn Pedersen Fox. They are the same firm that crafted One Vanderbilt, also in the immediate Grand Central area.

In conjunction with the MTA, BXP and its minority partner in this project, the Government Pension Fund of Norway, signed a 99-year ground lease with the MTA with the requirement of construction of a direct access entrance to Grand Central Madison, expected to open sometime in 2026. This is in advance of the building’s opening, whose construction, once started, could take up to four years.

Should BXP not find an anchor tenant for the office space, it has an option to terminate the main lease by July of 2025, and be compensated for the cost of the new constructed entrance to Grand Central Madison.

[Doubleu1117]

The MTA has planned two new direct street entrances north of 47th Street, giving even faster access to the LIRR East Side Terminal.

Didn't realize they were planning two north of 47th.

So it'll be:

42nd through GCT headhouse
43rd- One Vanderbilt
45th- 343 Madison
47th- 383 Madison

what are the next two? 270 Park and 415 Madison both going to have entrances?

[ChiND]

Since this tower will presumably have pretty small floor plates, it likely will have smaller, boutique tenants, rather than a massive law firm or corporation. It’s likely users don’t really seem like the type that will pre-lease 300k sf. I’m surprised that BP doesn’t build on spec. You’d think that the Norwegian wealth fund could finance this.


Personally, I’m not a fan of this lackluster, blue box. I’d rather see a RAMSA, five-star hotel/condo rise here.

KPF dropped the ball here. 570 Fifth, while not spectacular, is a much nicer tower. I don’t see how KPF can hit home runs with 1 Vanderbilt and 520 Fifth, and yet, draft a fairly lame tower on this site.

[NYguy]

Originally Posted by Doubleu1117

Didn't realize they were planning two north of 47th.

So it'll be:

42nd through GCT headhouse
43rd- One Vanderbilt
45th- 343 Madison
47th- 383 Madison

what are the next two? 270 Park and 415 Madison both going to have entrances?

Yes, 415 Madison at 48th Street also needs to get underway. There are a lot of entrances to Grand Central all along the Park Avenue corridor, even one right next to this one.

The new entrances will lead directly to the LIRR Madison concourse. 343 Madison will feed into the furthest south of the 4 escalator wells down to the train platforms.


415 Madison














Some prior work on the 343 Madison entrance...

[TKD]

Originally Posted by ChiND

Since this tower will presumably have pretty small floor plates, it likely will have smaller, boutique tenants, rather than a massive law firm or corporation. It’s likely users don’t really seem like the type that will pre-lease 300k sf. I’m surprised that BP doesn’t build on spec. You’d think that the Norwegian wealth fund could finance this.


Personally, I’m not a fan of this lackluster, blue box. I’d rather see a RAMSA, five-star hotel/condo rise here.

KPF dropped the ball here. 570 Fifth, while not spectacular, is a much nicer tower. I don’t see how KPF can hit home runs with 1 Vanderbilt and 520 Fifth, and yet, draft a fairly lame tower on this site.

Your whole post is based on assumptions, first that the floor plates are somehow very small, second that only boutique businesses would lease here (520 5th Ave has boutique sized office floor plates not this), and third your design opinion based on a render that doesn't even show 1/4 of the entire building and thats focusing on the LIRR entrance.

[ChiND]

Isn’t this 343?

[Mulan]

ChiND, the developer decides what he wants and not the architect. The design can still change, because KPF is known for quality.

[TKD]

Originally Posted by ChiND

Isn’t this 343

Yes, of the ULURP issued design, you seem to have forgotten that the building went through another filing in 2022 with another slight massing/ supposed design change that hasnt been fully revealed yet.

[ChiND]

Originally Posted by TKD

Yes, of the ULURP issued design, you seem to have forgotten that the building went through another filing in 2022 with another slight massing/ supposed design change that hasnt been fully revealed yet.

I recall you said that but everyone suggested that the design can’t change much. I don’t know why, but that was the consensus. I hope that the ultimate design looks nicer than this.

[TKD]

Originally Posted by ChiND

I recall you said that but everyone suggested that the design can’t change much. I don’t know why, but that was the consensus. I hope that the ultimate design looks nicer than this.

Why wouldnt the design be able to change though? Design of a building is separate from the massing of a building as defined by zoning metrics. Nothing governs the design of a building, the design just conforms to the massing, that doesnt mean it (the design) can't be altered, its just the massing (in terms of maximum building envelope) that cant be altered.

[ChiND]

Originally Posted by TKD

Why wouldnt the design be able to change though? Design of a building is separate from the massing of a building as defined by zoning metrics. Nothing governs the design of a building.

I’ll take your word for it. You’re an architect. I am not. However, many other people on this board who seem to be in the development industry doubted that any changes to the design would be very different from what we’ve seen. While I find the renderings shown thus far to be mediocre, I look forward to seeing the final design.

[NYguy]

https://nypost.com/2024/11/17/business/d...ut-lacks-key-piece-to-make-it-a-reality/



BXP released first rendering for its proposed 950,000 square-foot tower, designed by Kohn Pedersen Fox, at 343 Madison Ave., between East 44th and 45th streets


Developer gives first look at planned skyscraper near Grand Central Terminal — but lacks key piece to make it a reality





By Steve Cuozzo
Nov. 17, 2024

It’s build-or-bolt time for BXP on Madison Avenue.

The developer is itching to build a skyscraper at 343 Madison between East 44th and 45th streets, which is currently a block-long, empty lot owned by the MTA. But it needs an anchor tenant before the striking, 46-story, 950,000 square-foot tower — designed by Kohn Pedersen Fox — shown here for the first time — can rise.

BXP, previously known as Boston Properties, tapped a crack CBRE leasing team to make it happen. The ground-lease agreement with the MTA gives BXP an off-ramp to terminate its 99-year leasehold by July 31, 2025, if a tenant can’t be found.

BXP is already building for the MTA a new above-ground entrance to Grand Central Terminal at the corner of Madison and 45th in what’s described as the first phase of the project.

During a recent investors call, BXP executive vice president for New York Hilary Spann cited “tightness in the Park Avenue district with very little Class-A premier workspace available” as reason for confidence in the tower, which BXP touts as a sustainability-driven, all-electric, “zero-carbon premier workplace.”

Amenities are to include a double-height lounge and conference space on the 45th and 46th floors, indoor and outdoor dining spaces on “biophilic” terraces overlooking Midtown, and a high-end lobby lounge.

[ChiND]

KPF dropped the ball here. This is a really boring design.

I hope that BP, which always builds lame towers in NY, drops out, and a better developer steps in. Also, I rather see a big tenant commitment at 175 Park.

[Busy Bee]

It's definitely a snoozer, but didn't we already know that?

[The New York Lion]

Originally Posted by ChiND

KPF dropped the ball here. This is a really boring design.

I hope that BP, which always builds lame towers in NY, drops out, and a better developer steps in. Also, I rather see a big tenant commitment at 175 Park.

I concur.

It's a lame design with a lame height.

[TKD]

You can barely even see the full design from that specific render. There is too early of judgement being made. This will be a beautiful building from the ground.

Also, who cares about the height.

[ChiND]

Originally Posted by TKD

You can barely even see the full design from that specific render. There is too early of judgement being made. This will be a beautiful building from the ground.

Also, who cares about the height.

I don’t care about the height, though I’d prefer for such lame filler to be as short as possible. 1,000 feet conspicuous feet of Pathmark vanilla would add insult to injury. Also, that tumor sticking out of the east facade is horrendous.

Hopefully, it will never be built.

[TKD]

Originally Posted by ChiND

I don’t care about the height, though I’d prefer for such lame filler to be as short as possible. 1,000 feet conspicuous feet of Pathmark vanilla would add insult to injury. Also, that tumor sticking out of the east facade is horrendous.

Hopefully, it will never be built.

Would you or anyone else care to actually explain why you dislike the design/think it's boring instead of saying a bunch of metaphors and jargon?

[ChiND]

Originally Posted by TKD

Would you or anyone else care to actually explain why you dislike the design/think it's boring instead of saying a bunch of metaphors and jargon?

Metaphors and jargon? First, that makes no sense. Further, this “design” has the appeal of a 1995 Nissan Sentra (I.e., utilitarian and boring). Nice glass does not make up for an utter design failure. As noted, I suspect (and hope) that it won’t be built.