NEW YORK | 520 W. 41 St (2 Towers) | 723 FT Resi / FT Office| FLOORS

[Cynicism]

.

[chris08876]

^^^

It will most likely change as the housing and land situation gets progressively worse. Remember, in America, the problem must become urgent and really bad it order for change to occur. Currently, the housing situation is bad, but its not "really bad". Its missing the really part and thus, practical and logical solutions for affordable housing are not allowed.

But at the time being, can't complain. A solid supertall it will become. But I do wish the city would allow developers to build even higher and bulkier. Eh, but this is not China, this is the U.S.. In China, people don't complain about shadows. Here, they do.

[ILNY]

Demo continues.

[JR Ewing]

A 300m+ tower will fit in quite nicely here.

[Hypothalamus]

Demolition Update: 520 West 41st Street, Silverstein’s Future West Side Supertall

BY: NIKOLAI FEDAK 8:00 AM ON AUGUST 26, 2015

[N830MH]

Is all done now? Is going to be demolished the entire building? What's next? Can they build new super tall buildings?

[artspook]

Is this building smack dab at the mouth of the Lincoln Tunnel ? . .
Those thousand foot walls could be impressive for those stuck in a traffic jams.

[mrnyc]

i wondered what was up with that site & i figured something impressive, but good gravy -- you go larry!

from the yimby link:



BY: NIKOLAI FEDAK 8:00 AM ON AUGUST 26, 2015

The old Mercedes dealership at 520 West 41st Street and Eleventh Avenue is meeting a quick demise, paving the way for Silverstein Properties to begin preparation work for their future mixed-use development. While the project must still pass through ULURP, YIMBY revealed preliminary renderings last June, showing a 1,400-unit tower rising above a significant retail podium. Now we have a few overhead shots of demolition progress taken from the nearly-completed Skye, just a few hundred feet to the northwest.

The Far West Side was intended to be primarily office under the mid-2000s re-zoning, but demand has proven stronger for residential construction, which is why Silverstein is pursuing the changes through ULURP. As the application currently stands, the resulting development would stand over 100 stories tall, becoming the city’s largest residential building both in terms of actual floor count and number of units, and its total scope would span 1.7 million square feet.

With 1,400 proposed units, the project would be the largest residential development in New York City, passing the Moinian Group’s nearly-completed Skye, at 605 West 42nd Street. If any neighborhood needs a drive for increased pedestrianization, it’s the West 42nd Street corridor, and the blocks behind the rump of the Port Authority are especially egregious, dominated by overpasses and offshoots of the various arteries that connect Midtown to New Jersey.

Impetus for change will hopefully occur sooner than later with the arrival of thousands of new residents, which will also hopefully encourage the city to restart construction on the 7-line station on 41st Street and 10th Avenue. Awarding additional residential density in exchange for the creation of a fund to finish the station would be a small step towards solving the larger housing crisis while also building out existing capabilities.

No formal completion date for 520 West 41st Street has been released but per the ULURP application, Silverstein estimated a 2017 start for construction and a 2020 completion date.

[Lecom]

Demolition of the Mercedes-Benz dealership that currently occupies the site

• Video Link

[Yackemflaber69]

Such a nice building!!!!!!

[ILNY]

The lot is huge, it could easily fit 3 supertalls. I know the zoning will not allow for more but this is waste of space.












What's this machine name?





Each steel beam has to be manually cut.

[antinimby]

^ NIMBY's think one supertall is already one too many and you want three? They'll revolt, Lol.

[ILNY]

^ Yeah, they should convert this lot to a green pasture and have cows grazing. Horses from nearby stables 2 blocks south would be invited as well. That would make NIMBY happy, assuming cows would not cast too big shadows on grass.

[NYguy]

When you look over from 7th or 8th Ave at the way Extell's tower looms, you get a sense of how big Silverstein's tower will be, and the coming changes for that area.

[WIGGLEWORTH]

^The impact will shock most. But the city should come to love it.

[hunser]

A supertall bites the dust ...

http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/...icle-1.2401927

The developer of the World Trade Center has backed away from plans to build the city’s tallest residential tower on Manhattan’s West Side, Crains reported Sunday.

Silverstein Properties was going to build a sky-scraper-like tower with more than 1,400 units — but changed its mind because of a dispute over how many to set aside for affordable housing, Crains said.

“With everything we have going on at the World Trade Center and elsewhere, this just isn’t the right time for us to develop this project,” a Silverstein spokesman said in a statement to Crains.

Silverstein Properties, best known for developing the World Trade Center, plans to sell the property, the magazine reported.

It bought the site — a former Mercedes dealership — for $100 million.

A City Hall spokesman told Crains that the de Blasio administration’s affordable housing requirements might have played a role in the developer’s decision.

Silverstein's ambitious plan called for the tallest residential building in the city with a soaring 1,100-foot spire also included 300,000 feet of commercial real estate space.

But his company wanted most of the 1,400 units to be for luxury housing — and the city wanted more to be available at under market rates, Crains said.

“This project would be held to the same mandatory affordable-housing requirement as every city-backed or private rezoning,” the City Hall spokesman said in a statement.


Located at 514 11th Ave., the site stretched an entire city block.

It's right in the middle of the Hudson Yards commercial neighborhood that’s undergoing rapid transformation.

The commercial zoning required at least 1.2 million square feet of the tower be office space, Crains said.

Silverstein wanted permission from the city to convert most of that footage into residential units, the magazine said

The developer hoped its proximity to nearby Hell's Kitchen, a residential zone, would allow him to build apartments instead of offices.

Silverstein did just finish building two huge residential units few blocks away. Silver Towers hold 1,300 apartments.

As part of that deal, Silverstein agreed to set aside 375,000 square feet for affordable units.

City Hall said it wasn't 100% clear that Silverstein decided to drop his Hudson Yards project just because of the affordable housing negotiations.

“This is a very complex project, and it's not clear that affordable housing is actually the sticking point,” the city told Crains.

[Eidolon]

Silverstein did the right thing, a completed WTC is much more important to the city than this tower would have been. Now we are going to see a finished 2 WTC some time in the next 5 years instead of 8-10.

In terms of the design, the only distinguishing feature of this glass box was the floor count, a change in ownership can only result in a tower that is better designed and looking at the trend in residential supertalls, almost certainly a lot taller too. They do have an entire city block to work with after all.

Even though the current site might not seem prestigious enough to accommodate a tower like those being built in the Hudson Yards or 57th street, the area is rapidly developing and it will be a considerably nicer place to live in just a few years from now, although a new tower will be announced considerably beforehand, perhaps even before this year is done.

[chris08876]

Could be a blessing in disguise. Maybe the future holds something better for this parcel.

[ILNY]

Originally Posted by chris08876

Could be a blessing in disguise. Maybe the future holds something better for this parcel.

What can be better than a supertall? ... 3 supertalls

[chris08876]

I'm hoping ILNY.

The amount of units and floors was nice on this. 106 floors would make it rival the ESB and original twins. Eh, but we will see. I'm a little bummed out with this news as I kinda enjoy monolithic style towers, but we must remain optimistic.

I'd honestly be happy with a twin project or given the parcel size, something that incorporates numerous skinny towers. 3 supertalls would be nice, but NYC is not Shenzhen yet.

I still think, and just a brief sentence rant, that the U.S. is yet to see its super tall glory. There must be more!!!

Although who knows, maybe we will get lucky and get one of those Miami style multi-tower developments. 3 x 900' sounds alluring. I'd take numerous tall towers over 1 single tower any day of the week. Area needs more fillers per say, only tall ones and with good designs.

This could be a great opportunity for the housing authority to buy the lot, and build 1000's upon 1000's of units. If the city wants to get serious about affordable housing, this is a ample opportunity.

Or, just another hypotethical, some Chinese developer like CCA or Greenland buys this parcel. The Chinese do not play around is all I'm saying.