Downtown's Tallest Residential Tower to Rise on Greenwich

A 1,200-foot-tall tower of condos will soon begin to rise in the Financial District. The structure at 125 Greenwich Street will be downtown's tallest residential building, surpassing both 56 Leonard and 30 Park Place. The site, formerly known as 22 Thames Street, has no height restrictions—an attractive feature for developers who want to build huge luxury condominium towers.

Developers SHVO New York and Bizzi & Partners  are preparing to construct a 71-story ultra luxury tower, which is set to become Manhattan’s tallest residential building south of 57th Street..

The height of the new building was originally planned at 1,356 feet, but has since been scaled back.

Nonetheless, 125 Greenwich Street will still claim the title of second tallest building in Lower Manhattan.

The designer of the original tower planned for 22 Thames Street, Rafael Vinoly, has been retained as the project’s architect.

The developers have secured $240 million in construction financing for the 453,630 square foot building.

The ceilings heights will be 13 feet up to the 38th floor, 16 feet high on floors 40 through 65, and an enormous 24 feet high on floors 61 through 71.

The 128 ultra-luxury residences will be separated by mechanical rooms on the 39th and 55th floors.

On the lower levels of the tower, 24 maid’s rooms will be located on floors 8 through 10, just above the building’s lavish amenities and 25,000 square feet of retail space.

Floors 61 through 71 will house 10 enormous penthouses measuring 5,300 square feet each, with sweeping views of New York harbor, Brooklyn and New Jersey.

The building will be topped by a 10,600 square foot duplex penthouse apartment which is rumored to list at nearly $100 million, making it one of Lower Manhattan’s most expensive residences.


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825-Foot Residential Tower Planned Near Madison Square Park

A developer plans to build a 53-story residential building with 188 units at 15 East 30th Street in Midtown. The 370,000-square-foot structure will rise on a T-shaped plot with entrances located on both East 30th and East 31st streets. The huge new tower will also include 4,100 square feet of ground floor retail space.
 

Developer J.D. Carlisle has filed plans with the city to build a 53-story, 825-foot-tall residential building just north of Madison Square Park at 30th Street between Madison and Fifth avenues.

The existing five-story buildings on the site will be razed to make way for the new tower.

The new structure, designed by Handel Architects, would soar past the 620-foot tall One Madison and the soon-to-be-constructed 777-foot tower planned for 45 East 22nd Street, making it the tallest building between Chambers Street and the Empire State Building.

The tower, designed by Handel Architects, will have 188 apartments over 370,000 total square feet.

While the developer has not indicated whether the building will hold condominiums or rentals, the 14-foot ceilings point towards luxury units. Apartments in the tower are expected to average around 1,650 square feet.

The neighborhood, around Madison Square Park, has several other new residential and hotel developments in the works as well.

Developer Yitzchak Tessler is building a condo building on Madison Avenue and 33rd Street that is expected to rise at least 40 stories and have 70 units, including six penthouses.

And on Broadway between 29th and 30th streets, a 489-room Virgin Hotel is set to rise. Richard Branson's renderings show a 40-story building with retail at street level.

Another J.D. Carlisle tower under construction recently topped out just two blocks north along Madison Avenue, between 32nd and 33rd streets.

The 42-story building at 160 Madison Avenue is on track for completion in 2015.


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You May Be In Violation of the Code Without Even Knowing It

Effective October 1, 2014, section 3303.16 of the NYC Building Code has been revised to require non-combustible shanty construction whenever a contractor’s shanty/office is within 30 feet of another shanty/office or within 30 feet of new construction or existing buildings.

 

The NYC Department of Buildings is trying to move the industry toward non-combustible construction in the majority of installations. New York City Shanty is the only compliant company.

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Lend Lease to Construct 750-ft Condo Tower on Fifth Avenue

Condominium construction in the area just north of Madison Square Park, from 24th to 30th streets and Lexington to Sixth avenues is booming. Now construction giant Lend Lease, which has worked on building the city's tallest residential towers at One57 and 432 Park Avenue, is getting into the development game. The company plans to construct a 750-foot ultra-luxury apartment spire at 281 Fifth Avenue, on the corner of East 30th Street, and has purchased a stake in the $400 million project which it will co-develop with Victor Group.

Victor purchased the development site last June for $99 million and hired Lend Lease to handle construction of the 51-story condo tower. Talks eventually progressed to have the construction giant take an ownership stake.

Lend Lease and Victor Group will have equal control and remain sole owners of the Rafael Vinoly designed project on the Southeast corner of Fifth Avenue and East 30th Street.

The new 250,065 square foot tower will have retail at its base and ultra-luxury residences on the upper floors. Vinoly is also the architect of 432 Park Avenue, which is being built by Lend Lease.

The current wave of construction projects in the neighborhood is expected to boost the area’s profile considerably. Just down the block, an 830-foot residential tower will soon be going up at 15 East 30th Street, while a 777-foot tall condominium is slated to rise eight blocks to the south at 45 East 22nd Street.

The partners are in the process of securing a construction loan for the 140-unit building, on which they expect to break ground by the end of the year.

"We think the NoMad neighborhood is one of the most dynamic parts of the city, an intersection for the tech sector, food and nightlife, and everything that's happening in the midtown south market," said Melissa Burch, who recently joined Lend Lease from developer Forest City Ratner.

Victor Group has been in the process of raising money for the building through the EB-5 program, in which foreign investors can put at least $500,000 into U.S. development deals in exchange for permanent green cards.

Lend Lease is currently preparing the site for demolition of the existing buildings. Construction on the new building is expected to get underway by the end of this year.


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Trinity Church to Build 44-Story Tower in the Financial District

Trinity Church has decided to knock down its 90-year old administrative office building at 68-74 Trinity Place to make way for a new 350,000-square-foot, 44-story mixed-use tower to be designed by Pelli Clarke Pelli Architects. The new building will soar more than 450 feet and include a seven-story base dedicated to church activities and offices, topped by a 37-story condominium tower that will pay for the project and help keep the church coffers full.

Nestled amid the towers of the world’s biggest banks and finance companies, Trinity Wall Street, a relatively diminutive neo-Gothic structure built in 1846, might seem quaint.

But with assets estimated at more than $4 billion -- thanks to a colonial land grant of some 215 acres of downtown property by Britain's Queen Anne dating back to 1705 --Trinity Church is right at home with its wealthy neighbors.

Though its bank account would be the envy of most congregations, it is generating internal strife since the church must now decide how to best deal with its considerable real estate holdings.

The source of tension is the building code of its 90-year-old administrative office at 68-74 Trinity Place. Faced with a $33 million price tag for building-related work aimed at meeting 2018 code compliance, the church has decided to raze the existing structure and build a new, fully-compliant one for an estimated $250 million.

The church board voted on Wednesday to move forward with the project instead of embarking on a renovation of the two buildings that currently sit on the site.

The new structure will include a seven-story base dedicated to mission activities and related offices, topped by a 37-story residential tower, said a church spokesman, noting that "it will provide a source of revenue for the expansion of the church’s core ministry activities, which include philanthropic grant-making and homeless outreach."

The entrance to the residential tower will be on Greenwich Street, while the entrance to the church space will be on Trinity Place, with access via an existing pedestrian bridge across Trinity Place.

It will house a parish hall, facilities and offices for Trinity’s expanding ministry, the Sunday school and rooms for community organizations.

Pelli Clarke Pelli beat out a competing bid from Cook/Fox to design the building.

The next step in the process is the selection of a development partner said Trinity Real Estate President Jason Pizer, who anticipates a demolition of the existing buildings later in 2015, and completion by 2018.

In addition to its project in the Financial District, Trinity Real Estate is also looking into developing up to four luxury towers near the entrance to the Holland Tunnel.

The church was a major player in the 2013 rezoning of Hudson Square that will allow the institution to convert some of its 5.5 million-square-feet of office space in the neighborhood to residential use.

The church is presently seeking a partner to construct a 430-foot-tall, 300,000-square-foot residential building in Hudson Square, on a plot framed by Sixth Avenue and Canal, Grand and Varick streets.

The new tower will have a 444-seat public school at its base.

Trinity also has plans to develop 4 Hudson Square, a 1 million-square-foot development site between Hudson, Varick, Spring and Vandam streets where they plan to build one residential and one office tower.


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Two Big Construction Projects to Break Ground on Coney Island

Over the past year, Brooklyn residential projects have dominated the New York City construction scene, and with two new projects slated to break ground in Coney Island, the momentum doesn’t seem to be letting up. Cammeby’s International will soon begin construction of 691,400 square foot mixed-use building at 532 Neptune Avenue in Coney Island, while ARC Electrical & Mechanical Contractors is planning to build its own 86-unit mixed-use building at 2885 West 15th Street.

532-543 Neptune Avenue

Cammeby’s International is preparing to tear down the Trump Village Shopping Center and replace it with a massive 691,405-square-foot mixed-use residential tower.

The new building will have 44 floors, making it the tallest building in Coney Island.

Plans call for 513,850 square feet of residential space divided among 544 rental apartments,  three stories of retail space fronting West 5th and West 6th streets and spanning 162,220 square feet, as well as a 15,521-square-foot community facility.

Amenities for the new building include a fitness center, spa, game room, as well as additional recreation space on the 44th floor. Plans also include construction of a 750 space parking garage.

The development, which will rise more than 430 feet, would be located at 532-543 Neptune Avenue near West 6th Street, right next to the elevated tracks, just half a block from the Neptune Avenue D and F train stop.

SLCE Architects is designing the new building, while Apex Companies, DeSimone Consulting Engineers, and Consentini Associates will consult on environmental issues, structural work, and mechanical work, respectively.

The existing businesses at the Trump Village Shopping Center will be relocated to a bathhouse at 614 Sheepshead Bay Road, which Cammeby's also owns.

The developer purchased the property for $25 million in 2013.

Cammeby’s owns roughly 15,000 units across the city. President Rubin Schron made a $2 billion offer to buy the Empire State Building in 2013.

2885 West 15th Street

Brooklyn-based ARC Electrical & Mechanical Contractors is planning to develop a new, 95,000-square-foot mixed-use building in Coney Island.

The contractor plans to build an eight-story building that will feature 80,269 square feet of residential space across 86 residential units.

The project will also include 12,730 square feet of commercial space with four retail stores on the lower level, as well as 2,441 square feet of community space.

The building, designed by Noesis Designs Architecture, will hold 19 apartment units on each of the second through fourth floors, as well as 14 units on the fifth floor, 11 units on the sixth floor and four units on the seventh floor.

ARC Electrical acquired the vacant residential lot, on the corner of Mermaid Avenue and West 15th Street, in 2012.

The contractor has developed several Brooklyn projects in the past, including an 80-unit rental tower at 574 Fourth Avenue.

ARC Electrical & Mechanical Contractors specializes in electrical and general construction projects for public and private institutions. Since 1995, ARC has provided services to school, universities, hospitals, airports and water treatment plants. The contractor has been involved in projects such as reconstruction of the Queens mid-town tunnel, Kings County Hospital, and an MTA train depot.


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Developer’s ‘Immaculate’ Concept for Closed Jamaica Hospital

A proposal is in the works to revitalize the former Mary Immaculate Hospital complex in Downtown Jamaica, which has been vacant since the facility was closed in 2009. The project plans to completely rebuild the two main structures of the hospital, located at 150-13 89th Avenue, into a new 16-story luxury rental with 324 apartments. A nearby four-story historic building, the Townhouse, which is also part of the rundown complex, would be converted into 15 apartments. The new 298,000-square-foot development will span an entire city block, facing Rufus King Park.

The Chetrit Group, which is developing the property, purchased the bankrupt hospital in 2009 for a mere $4.8 million, or less than $12 per buildable square foot.

The former hospital complex will be “completely redone,” according architects Goldstein, Hill & West.

The plans come on the heels of several other projects planned for the neighborhood which has been undergoing a number of changes in recent years, attracting new retailers and developers.

Two of the two main hospital buildings, which are currently seven stories and 94 feet tall, would be transformed into a 16-story apartment building that would be 196 feet tall.

The original hospital building, which fell into disrepair over the years, will have its limestone and brick facade restored, while the new structures will be clad in a contemporary metal and glass skin.

The complex will also include a 237-space underground parking garage. The project is the first phase of a master plan for the block that will later expand to include four other buildings.

The 298,000-square-foot complex, which spans an entire city block directly north of Rufus King Park, is zoned as an R6 residential area, so no commercial space can be built on the land.

Demolition of the interior of the main buildings started in 2013.

The buildings have been deteriorating ever since the 1980s, and community leaders hope that after years of neglect, the site will eventually become an asset.

“It’s a beautiful space right near the park,” said Rhonda Binda, executive director of the Jamaica Center Business Improvement District.

"And it’s sitting there just wasting away.”

This is the second major hospital conversion happening around Jamaica, the other being the T Building at the Queens Hospital Center. That one includes 205 units, 75 of which will be reserved for Queens Hospital Center patients transitioning out of care.


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New Mega-Development Preparing to Rise in Flushing

While the Willets Point Redevelopment project is nearing construction, progress is also imminent at another major development site across Flushing Creek, dubbed Two Fulton Square. Developer F&T Group, which constructed One Fulton Square, and is working on the huge Flushing Commons project, is preparing to construct Two Fulton Square on the site at of the old Flushing Mall at 133-15 39th Avenue in downtown Flushing.

Two Fulton Square is a Flushing mega-project that includes residential, office and commercial space.

The project is the latest exciting development to come to downtown Flushing, and will play an important part in the growth and development of the surrounding area.

Two Fulton Square will be constructed in two phases;  The first phase of construction will bring a 13-story condominium building with 192 units. The new building will include more than 190,000 square feet of residential and retail space.

The second phase will include construction of 200 additional condominiums, a 200,000 square foot commercial component for entertainment and international retail, plus a 240-room themed hotel.

The project will be built atop of a three-level glass retail podium, and feature expansive roof-top outdoor gardens and an indoor swimming pool located on the top floor of the tower with spectacular views of the Manhattan skyline, accessible only to hotel guests and residents.

Building amenities will include a fitness center, a game room, daycare center and a laundry facility. The developers are also building a 377-car garage on the property.

The plaza at Two Fulton Square provides a public space for local events and gatherings, bringing the community together through concerts, family activities, and cultural festivals, in addition to the expansive shopping experience that the retail spaces will provide.

The new plans follow completion of F&T’s One Fulton Square, designed by architect Daniel Margulies, which is one block away.

It includes 43 condominiums, a 10-story and 168-key Hyatt Place, and a three-story retail podium, totaling over 346,000 square feet.

F&T Group is presently updating its plans to make full-use of the site’s potential.

Two Fulton Square will be significantly larger, and will nearly occupy two entire blocks. The retail podium will dominate the streetscape, though cut-throughs will open up the entirety of the site to pedestrian access.

F&T’s plan will be a major improvement compared to the parking lots and low-rises that are currently on-site, and multiple levels of outdoor space will activate the development’s significant retail component, energizing the surrounding neighborhood.
 

The buildings will appear drastically different depending on the viewing perspective; vantage points will reveal undulating structures uncharacteristic of new construction in Flushing.

Elevated parks will be interspersed throughout the complex, and solar panels will sit prominently atop the high-rise component.

Phases I and II are designed to link with waterfront luxury residential towers with pedestrian bridge access to Willets Point, CitiField and the USTA National Tennis Center.

The Willets Point’s redevelopment presents a significant opportunity for Queens, and current plans for Two Fulton Square are no less than impressive. Both projects promise to revitalize a stagnant area of Flushing.

No completion date has been announced for Two Fulton Square.

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