I agree. A resisential tower would be a lot taller and should have a more striking design that an office tower would.

Besides, that site is too small for contemporary Class A office space, which typically requires large floorplates.

They could have built a short (500-600 foot), fat box here. When the office market was booming and $125/sf rents were common, Macklowe switched the project from residential/hotel to office. I saw the proposed glass box, and it sucked. Fortunately, the economy collapsed, and the best use for the site now is a tall thin hotel/condo, as was planned originally.

The square footage here would easily enable a 900+ foot tower. (Isn't the Four Seasons planned for downtown expected to be around 915 feet?) The uppermost apartments would rise at least 200 to 250 feet above the GM and Four Seasons, which are the only structures that would otherwise block the park views. In addition, the views of Midtown and lower Manhattan would be amazing.

http://www.observer.com/2011/real-es...lideshow/title

Park Avenue at 56th Street

http://www.observer.com/files/slides...1.rYy_Wk0t.jpg

By Laura Kusisto
February 15, 2011

http://www.nypost.com/p/news/busines...G05Og396hJSN/1


February 22, 2011

Steve Cuozzo

REALTY CHECK
That means Turnbull might soon be hemmed in by demolition on both sides, a classic card in a developer's hand to intimidate a holdout.

Meanwhile, Jacob & Co., the high-end watchmaker at 48 E. 57th St., is also refusing to leave. Like Turnbull, Jacob owns its building and confirmed through a rep it's staying put.

Even if Turnbull moves to 50 E. 57th St., keeping that building up along with Jacob's next door would leave CIM and Macklowe with much less sidewalk frontage than they hoped for -- 101 feet rather than 150 feet, according to a zoning lot declaration filed with the city.


James Messerschmidt
SQUEEZE PLAY: Turnbull & Asser (center right, without netting) is snared in a demolition squeeze, as CIM Group works on the Drake Hotel site on East 57th Street.
Of course, if Turnbull -- in the middle of the new building's hoped-for 57th Street façade -- doesn't move, it's a bigger problem. But these things have a way of eventually getting worked out, don't they?

*

In welcome news for Brookfield's World Financial Center, Oppenheimer Funds has made a long-term commitment to remaining at 2 WFC, where it just signed a new, 235,000 square-foot lease directly with the landlord. The 15-year lease with Brookfield will begin when its sublease from Merrill Lynch expires in 2013.

The deal typifies a trend of large tenants either renewing leases years before their expiration or, as in this case, converting a sublease to a more stable direct one equally early on -- reflecting the belief that rents are bound to rise in the years ahead.

Oppenheimer Funds -- not to be confused with Oppenheimer & Co., which is based at 125 Broad St. and negotiating a possible move to 85 Broad St. -- was represented by a Cushman & Wakefield team of Stuart Romanoff, Amy Fox and Robert Constable. Brookfield was repped in-house by Jerry Larkin and Duncan McCuaig.

Oppenheimer Funds had once been at the WFC, but moved temporarily to Midtown after 9/11 and returned a few years later. Romanoff said the decision to stay at 2 WFC was by no means preordained.

"We did go through an exhaustive search," he said. "We looked at the market care fully and Oppen heimer Funds decided it en joyed its occu pancy at 2 WFC.

"They like Brookfield and they're excited about planned improvements at the WFC."

Neither Romanoff nor anyone else involved would discuss the rent or asking rent. Brokers not involved with the deal suggested that WFC asking rents have risen from the mid-$40s a few years ago into the $60s, but no one was willing to guess about the Oppenheimer deal.

Whatever the price, the lease will further stabilize the WFC, which faces possible moves-out by Merrill Lynch and Nomura a few years from now.

We recently reported that FINRA is negotiating to move into 204,000 square-feet at 1 WFC via a sublease from Dow Jones, part of News Corp., which also owns The Post. scuozzo@nypost.com



Read more: http://www.nypost.com/p/news/busines...#ixzz1Eh86POTA

^ More from that article...

It would be nice if they keep the facades of the old buildings, like on 712 5th. I predict a roughly 900 foot condo-hotel.

Heh, I wonder if T&A would tolerate having their building physically moved a couple lots over to make room for the development.

we can hope

I used to go to a club called T&A. You can imagine what T&A stood for! :cheers:

Probably not, unless there was a substantial payment.

A NB permit was recently filed. It's only for a six story building located at 440 Park. Perhaps this will be the long-awaited Norstrom with the hote/condo to follow.

http://a810-bisweb.nyc.gov/bisweb/Jo...93&requestid=4

I'm really hoping for a great tower here. I hope we can see something with an interesting massing rather than a boxy tower given the beauties they destroyed in the process.

What do you think, a tower of around 800-900 feet here?

Since great, high-floor views will yield the most money per square foot, I expect a tower between 900 and 1,000 feet tall.

This was originally going to be a 70-story residential. Possibly a 700 or 800 footer. It's also possible to be something beyond that, but I wouldn't expect it. It would be a nice surprise.

The diagram filed with the NYC DOB shows that the initial six-story building will not disturb the townhouses. SLCE filed the documents which means that maybe a foreign architect will design it.

http://a810-bisweb.nyc.gov/bisweb/BS...de=SC100219034

By the way, I have a friend who works for CIM who stated that this tower will exceed 1,000 feet.

http://www.observer.com/2011/real-es...aunted-assets#

Stirrings at Two Haunted Assets

By Laura Kusisto

April 6, 2011 | 4:04 p.m

Life is stirring again at the ghostly Drake Hotel site.

With financing for development sites still virtually frozen, CIM Group has received a $30 million mortgage from Pacific Northwestern Bank on the former home of the Gilded Age hotel, according to public records.

As The Observer reported in February, the spot at Park Avenue and 57th Street is likely the only existing development site with a prime midtown location. The Wall Street Journal once dubbed it "the world's most valuable rubble-strewn lot."

The battle for control of the retail, office or hotel site has been long and complex. Here are the Cliff Notes: Harry and Billy Macklowe bought the hotel for $418 million, plus $543 million in loans, in 2006, and subsequently demolished it over preservationists' cries. But like so many of their prized assets, it was ultimately doomed, and the Macklowes defaulted on the development loan in 2008.

California-based private-equity firm CIM was poised to swoop in and help Billy Macklowe save the site from lenders this January, according to The Journal. Instead, CIM bought the building from Mr. Macklowe's newly formed, eponymous firm for $305.4 million in the same month, according to public records. A William Macklowe Company spokesman confirmed the firm has no involvement any longer.

Sources said CIM still plans to build on the cluster of properties at 434 Park Avenue, as well as 38, 40, 44 and 50 East 57th Street. The company did not respond to requests for comment.

A quiet, but increasingly powerful player on the Manhattan development scene, CIM has also helped pay off loans held by iStar on the Beaver House site at 15 William Street.

Oh, that's great news RW. If you don't mind me asking when did he/she tell you that? Thanks for the article too, I work a couple blocks away and I can't imagine that this type of prime spot lays dormant much longer.

He told me recently, but w/o detail, as it's confidential. Nevertheless, we will have yet another thousand footer in Midtown to be followed by Torre Verre, 15 Penn and most likely by 225 West 57th!

Demo permit for 44:
http://a810-bisweb.nyc.gov/bisweb/Pr...84&requestid=1