His firm, JDS Development Group, has a project that takes the idea of slender to a new level. It will even top the High Cliff in Hong Kong, currently the most slender skyscraper in the world.
When completed, the projected $1 billion tower at 111 West 57th Street will rank as the skinniest skyscraper in the world.
The property would also rank, by a large margin, as the tallest and most complex structure ever built in the city without union labor. In the process, it could throw open the door for nonunion construction firms, which typically undercut their rivals' costs by as much as 20%, to compete for the most-sophisticated jobs.
Of the seven super tall towers going up in the city, 111 West 57th is the only one to use non-union labor, and union leaders are not pleased.
In a stunning demonstration of just how far nonunion firms have come, last year one of the penthouses in the Walker Tower, another JDS Development project, sold for nearly $51 million. The price set a record for the area, and in doing so proved that nonunion workers can deliver apartments with a fit and finish capable of meeting the expectations of even the wealthiest and most discerning condo buyers from around the world.
The building will sit on a lot just 60 feet wide, and will be taller than its recently completed neighboring, One57, and even slimmer than nearby 432 Park Avenue.
At 1,428 feet, 111 West 57th Street will briefly hold the title of Tallest Residential Building in the Western Hemisphere, trumping 432 Park by a mere 31 feet.
But come 2018, that title will pass to Nordstrom Tower, one block over at 225 West 57th Street, which is slated to rise 1,479 feet. A soaring spire will bring that building's overall height to 1,775 feet — just a foot shy of One World Trade Center.
The model-thin skyscraper will incorporate the historical base of the old Steinway Hall, with construction of 111 West 57th Street expected to begin in mid-2015. The building will offer a total of 55 units, spread between 80 floors.
Steinway Tower will become the most slender building in the world because of its very narrow floor plate. It will be entirely unprecedented in its dimensions which are 58 feet wide, while rising around 1,428 feet tall. That will give the building a slenderness ratio of about 1:25 when it is completed in 2017, while the ratio for most buildings is well under 1 to 20.
These new, slender skyscrapers are cropping up thanks to advances in building science coupled with eye-popping real estate prices. “The price that people are willing to pay for the unobstructed Central Park view is really the only reason these buildings can be economically feasible.”
Construction began in February 2014, and so far, not a lot of progress has been made. 111 West 57th Street has all the approvals necessary to begin construction, and has secured a $500 million construction loan.
The skyscraper will become the latest in a family of super-tall buildings in the area— One57, 432 Park Avenue, 53 West 53rd Street, among others.
The Details
And the views from this extraordinary perch in the sky? They’re likely amongst the best in Manhattan. “There’s just going to be nothing like it across the entire city,” says Stern.
“You really get this floor-through experience that you’re floating in the city. It’s going to be truly spectacular.”
But building such a slender apartment tower is not always so easy.
Engineers on the project have to deal with a variety of issues ranging from dampening the impact of wind on such a slender structure, to making it feel not so slender. A huge steel weight will be suspended within the top of the building to stop it from swaying in the wind.
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