SkyscraperPage Forum - NEW YORK | 432 Park Avenue (Drake Hotel dev.) | (1,396) FT / 432 M

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- - NEW YORK | 432 Park Avenue (Drake Hotel dev.) | (1,396) FT / 432 M | 89 FLOORS (https://skyscraperpage.com/forum/showthread.php?t=177316)

It has to be tall... only the very high floors will have a nice view on the park.

Quote:

The building could reach as high as 70 stories, and "it will have extraordinary views," one person said.

Extraordinary
a : going beyond what is usual, regular, or customary
b : exceptional to a very marked extent

RW, I'm assuming your friend at CIM has given you some sort of sneak peak into what this will look like, but do you have any idea when theyll release the first renderings?

This is a good place for a very high end hotel serving business clients primarily. Right in the middle of a major business hub. Seems like the perfect place.

Quote:

Originally Posted by yankeesfan1000 (Post 5251490)

RW, I'm assuming your friend at CIM has given you some sort of sneak peak into what this will look like, but do you have any idea when theyll release the first renderings?

I don't, but I can tell you that Carnegie 57 will be the second choice for the uber-rich after this masterpiece is sold out.

Quote:

Originally Posted by RobertWalpole (Post 5251520)

I don't, but I can tell you that Carnegie 57 will be the second choice for the uber-rich after this masterpiece is sold out.

Fair enough on the render, you have to think that since construction on the foundation is set to start this summer I'm guessing a render will be released sometime in the near future. And you're really gassing this thing up, the anticipation is seriously starting to hurt.

So since they say about 70 stories, how tall do you presume it'll be? You guys are good with height levels and stuff.

I'm guessing it will go the same way it has with Carnegie 57 (and Beekman to some extent), meaning that construction will probably have begun before any renderings are released. It's actually better when done that way, no time for messy NIMBYISM (though this one will be built without needing any approvals). Gary Barnett was smart to get his tower in the ground. It will already be highly visible before either this one or the Tower Verre gets above street level.

Quote:

Originally Posted by aquablue (Post 5251507)

This is a good place for a very high end hotel serving business clients primarily. Right in the middle of a major business hub. Seems like the perfect place.

The location is the best of Manhattan - residential and commercial. Trump will look out from his signature 5th Ave tower with envy, about a block away.

I think The Donald has more important things to be doing, like running for Pres? LOL!

Who knows, if his political aspirations don't work out, maybe these new towers will annoy him into planning an even taller tower. Or perhaps he has lost all interest in those immature boyish games and his attention is now focused eastward, to the countries he constantly says have the best development potential.

Then again, perhaps he should just help the Port rebuild the airport that he feels makes NYC look like a 3rd world slum. LOL! I can see it now, Trump Terminal at LGA, with Hotel and Shopping mall to help pay for it all.

I wonder if Trump were pres, would he focus on redeveloping the infrastructure he feels signals our decline.

A bit off topic but in the neighborhood; does anybody know what is going on at the vacant lot on the SW corner of 53rd and Lex?
It seems to have sat empty for years now, is paved at grade and yet so prime!

^^It was the site of the proposed Shangri-La hotel. It was a tall slender hotel tower of about 700 feet or so, similar in shape to the Millenium Hilton or TWT. It's obviously been halted until further notice.

Was there a thread about the Shangri-La? What were user comments on what they hoped to see from it?

Quote:

Originally Posted by JSsocal (Post 5252296)

Thanks JS. I'm guessing there is serious litigation for it to have been paved over and been sitting so long on such a prime (right behind Seagram and across from Citi) site.

EDIT (2009): http://therealdeal.com/newyork/artic...angri-la-hotel

I guess the lawyers still have this tied up in 2011. Shame.

Quote:

Originally Posted by aquablue (Post 5251997)

You're giving Donald Trump much too much credit. His father (Fred) was a true developer who created the family fortune in transforming many neighborhoods in the outer boroughs. His son, Donald became a name which he sold to developers, and now (with his shenanigans) it's unsure how much value the name retains.

http://www.forgotten-ny.com/NEIGHBOR.../fredtrump.jpg
forgotten-ny.com

"The Donald" did develop his Fifth Ave tower but after that it has all been about branding. That was in 1983.

Quote:

Originally Posted by djlx2 (Post 5252314)

Was there a thread about the Shangri-La? What were user comments on what they hoped to see from it?

heres the thread for the Shangri-La hotel that was proposed for 53rd and Lexington.

http://forum.skyscraperpage.com/showthread.php?t=156584

Quote:

Originally Posted by ivymike (Post 5252449)

You're giving Donald Trump much too much credit. His father (Fred) was a true developer who created the family fortune in transforming many neighborhoods in the outer boroughs. "The Donald" did develop his Fifth Ave tower but after that it has all been about branding. That was in 1983.

Another debate for another place.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB1000...877756770.html

Tower Dreams
Developer Seeks Park Avenue Comeback.

http://si.wsj.net/public/resources/i...0501182720.jpg

By CRAIG KARMIN And ELIOT BROWN
May 2, 2011

Quote:

A venture of CIM Group and Harry Macklowe has hired architect Rafael Viñoly to design a slender, soaring tower on Park Avenue as Mr. Macklowe attempts to pull off his second major comeback.

The 73-year-old, who rebounded the first time after losing properties in the commercial-real-estate collapse of the early 1990s, was one of the hardest-hit developers in the recent downturn. Facing numerous defaults, he had to give up his most valuable holdings, including the General Motors building.

But now he's jumped back into the Manhattan real-estate scrum. His deals this year have included buying the debt on a stalled East Side development site and signing a contract to buy an apartment building with plans to convert it into condominiums. He submitted a bid last month to buy 737 Park Avenue, a 20-story prewar building, according to people familiar with the matter.

Now he is pushing forward with plans to build a modern skyscraper at Park Avenue and East 56th Street on what is widely considered to be one of the premier development sites in the country. Mr. Macklowe assembled most of the site before he went into a tailspin in 2008. Last year, CIM, a Los Angeles-based real-estate investment firm, took control of it after purchasing the $510 million of debt on the property.

But it's too early to know to what extent Mr. Macklowe will be able to revive his career. After his recent series of defaults, banks may be wary about lending money to him, and some of his current deals remain tentative.

Indeed, the project with CIM faces some hurdles. The developers still don't own two properties on the site, and without them it would be tricky to connect their building to 57th Street. Obtaining financing for new construction also remains difficult.

As part of his deal with CIM, Mr. Macklowe stayed involved in the project at the site of old Drake Hotel and he is playing an active role in the design and planning.

Mr. Macklowe in recent months has invited guests at his office in the General Motors Building to view a model of a 70-story tower for the site.

The model shows a mostly residential building with a small hotel and retail space. Full plans haven't yet been filed with the city Buildings Department.

Mr. Macklowe also recruited Mr. Viñoly. The Manhattan-based architect is well known for projects throughout the city, including Jazz at Lincoln Center, the West Quad building at Brooklyn College and the Bronx County Hall of Justice. He and Mr. Macklowe didn't respond to request for comments.

A CIM spokesman confirmed that Mr. Viñoly had been hired. He also said that the developers haven't yet chosen a final design.

CIM has declined to comment on Mr. Macklowe's exact role, or say whether Mr. Macklowe has any equity. But people who have spoken with him say Mr. Macklowe has a consulting position for which he's paid a fee and incentives.

The planning of the tower is moving forward at a time that private development is stirring in New York after hibernating for most of the downturn.

Still, Mr. Macklowe's efforts to rise from the ashes shows how powerful developers in New York City's clubby real-estate scene are able to attract new investors and rebuild even after their business has collapsed.

"He's a very smart and talented developer," says Prudential Douglas Elliman Chairman Howard Lorber, who is Mr. Macklowe's partner on one of his deals. "You always worry a bit" about teaming with people who got into trouble with lenders, "but in the last market, who didn't get killed?"

Mr. Macklowe gained notoriety in the 1980s when a crew working for him demolished several low-income apartment buildings on the site of a luxury hotel he wanted to build. They didn't have a proper permit and the demolition took place just hours before a city law went into effect that would have preserved the low-income housing. Later the hotel, named Hotel Macklowe, was one of the properties he lost in the 1990s.

Mr. Macklowe's first comeback was capped by his acquisition of the General Motors building for $1.4 billion. Many thought he overpaid, but he wound up greatly increasing the property's value by doing such things as signing Apple Inc. as a retail tenant and installing a glass cube as an entrance to its computer store.

Mr. Macklowe would have been fine if he had stopped then. But he kept buying at the top of the market.

Some of Mr. Macklowe's recent deals depend on his ability to raise additional money. For example, He signed a contract to pay $70 million for an apartment building at 150 E. 72nd St., according to people familiar with the matter. However Mr. Macklowe hasn't yet closed the deal, and he has hired an adviser, Howard Michaels of the Carlton Group, to help find financing.

I like this guy's style. He is capable of designing some very unusual buildings like the new Fenchurch street in London or Jongo Tower in Seoul. I hope he brings some innovation to the design and it's not just a stack of boxes. I also hope it isn't too top heavy like Fenchurch!

Anyway, another world renowned architect designing a major project for NY. Congrats! It's better than a Kauffman or Fox, or whatever, no? Perhaps we will see something stunning here.

Wait unti you guys hear the next morsel about the height.

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