Maybe new action nearby will revitalize this one...
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Originally Posted by NYguy
http://www.nypost.com/seven/09262007...tall_order.htm
MAD. AVE. A TALL ORDER
COULD BECOME 900-FOOT TOWER
September 26, 2007
We've learned that Elad Properties, which is redeveloping the Plaza Hotel and residences, has an agreement with SL Green Realty Corp. to use SLG's more than 400,000 feet of air rights to construct a 74-story tower on top of the 1.2 million-foot, 14-story building in which investment bank Credit Suisse both has an interest and its offices.
But don't get Elad's development plans confused with the 41-story adjacent building to its north. Though that tower, which is better known as the landmarked Clock Tower, once had the address 1 Madison Ave., it was renamed 5 Madison Ave. after it was sold to Africa-Israel for $200 million, with plans to develop the site into residential units.
We're sure right now that Africa-Israel's Lev Leviev is steaming that his rival, Yitzhak Tshuva, and Tshuva's local boss, Micki Naftali, will be dwarfing his own scheme.
The two buildings, together known as the Met Life Building, comprise 1.93 acres and take up the entire block bounded by 23rd and 24th streets and Madison and Park Avenue South, but the Clock Tower itself takes up just the corner of Madison and 24th Street.
Israeli press reports said that Elad would spend $450 million to create the new 900-foot-tall building overlooking Madison Square Park.
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New development for the clock tower...
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/06/ny...tan-hotel.html
Hilfiger Has Plan to Convert MetLife Clock Tower to Hotel
By CHARLES V. BAGLI
May 5, 2011
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Tommy Hilfiger, the designer known for his blue blazers and varsity sweaters, has signed a contract to buy the landmark Metropolitan Life clock tower for $170 million and plans to convert the building into a hotel, according to an executive briefed on the deal.
Mr. Hilfiger, who sold his apparel company 14 months ago to Phillips-Van Heusen for $3 billion, had been scouring the city for a suitable building for almost a year. He had looked at the former headquarters of The New York Times on West 43rd Street before moving south to the clock tower, which overlooks Madison Square Park.
In recent years, a string of developers have sought to convert the MetLife tower, at Madison Avenue and East 24th Street, which was modeled after St. Mark’s Campanile in Venice, to condominiums. Mr. Hilfiger has another idea: a hotel.
“It’s certainly a landmark in a neighborhood that’s become more hotel-friendly in recent years,” John Fox, a hotel industry specialist at PKF Consulting, said. “On the other hand, I’m not sure what a Hilfiger brand hotel is. I assume it’s something with a preppy look to the design.”
Mr. Fox said the hotel market was digesting the addition of 5,000 hotel rooms last year, and hotel room rates are rising.
The deal was reported Thursday on the Web site of The Wall Street Journal. It is not expected to close for at least 60 days, said the executive briefed on the deal, who had no authorization to discuss the matter and was granted anonymity, and the agreement could still fall apart.
Mr. Hilfiger would not be the first clothier to turn to hotels. Giorgio Armani has his name on, and is said to be designing, a chain of luxury hotels, starting with the Armani Hotel Dubai, in the United Arab Emirates.
The MetLife clock tower, which is 50 stories tall and capped by a gilded cupola, was the world’s tallest building for a few years after its completion in 1909.
It has changed hands several times in recent years. SL Green bought the property from MetLife in 2005 for $150 million.
The following year, Ian Schrager and RFR Holdings bought a 70 percent stake in the building, with plans to create luxurious apartments.
In May 2007, the Israeli businessman Lev Leviev of Africa Israel USA bought the tower and additional development rights, saying he would spend $110 million on a condominium conversion.
But the recession dealt a heavy blow to Mr. Leviev’s highly leveraged company. Africa Israel had also bought the former Times Building, and last week it sold 11 floors in that building to the Blackstone Group, the private equity company, for $160 million.
“A hotel play is much safer than if he was planning a condo conversion,” Ben Thypin, director of market analysis for Real Capital Analytics, said of Mr. Hilfiger. “There’s a lot of development action around Madison Square.”
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NEW YORK is Back!
“Office buildings are our factories – whether for tech, creative or traditional industries we must continue to grow our modern factories to create new jobs,” said United States Senator Chuck Schumer.
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