NEW YORK | 10 West 57th Street | 672 FT | 52 FLOORS

[NYguy]

https://www.crainsnewyork.com/commer...eloper-dies-92

Solow, billionaire real estate developer, dies at 92


Bloomberg
November 17, 2020

Sheldon Solow, a Brooklyn-born college drop-out who became a real estate billionaire by developing architecturally distinctive high-rise buildings in Manhattan, has died. He was 92.

He died Tuesday at Weill Cornell Medical Center in New York after a month-long battle with lymphoma, according to Mia Fonssagrives Solow, his wife of 48 years.

Solow was best known for the 50-story office tower at 9 West 57th Street in Manhattan. A black building with upwardly sloped glass sides, it offered unbroken views of Central Park and was marked with a large red sculpture in the form of the number 9 on the sidewalk in front of its main entrance. The skyscraper’s tenants include hedge funds, private equity firms and luxury goods giant Chanel.

The property developer’s holdings included more than 2,000 apartments in New York City. Beginning in the early 2000s, Solow also began purchasing lots along the East River near the United Nations building, paying more than $600 million for a 9-acre site in 2000. He took until 2016 to break ground on the first building of a planned complex — a black 42-story residence at 685 First Ave. designed by Pritzker Prize-winning architect Richard Meier.

He amassed a net worth of $3.1 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.

Assembling a site

In the 1960s, while marketing a luxury apartment complex on the Upper East Side, he got a suggestion from a broker to assemble a multi-lot site on West 57th Street. After considering a high-rise residence, he changed plans to an office tower to compete with the new, trend-setting white marble GM Building.

Acquiring enough land was the key obstacle. To keep his plan secret, Solow bought the first parcel in 1965, using a dummy company registered to his sister. It took Solow, then a well-tailored bachelor who drove a Rolls Royce, five years and $12 million to acquire the needed 61,800 square feet.

“There were 14 buildings,” he said about his acquisition plan. “All someone would have to do is come in, take one, and that would be that.”

The building, which cost about $40 million to construct, opened with 1.5 million square feet of office space.

[JMKeynes]

I hope that his company sells that site to a more competent developer. This site warrants a 1,200’+ Stern — not a 600’ SOM box.

[NYer34]

Really unfortunate timing that his senseless destruction (for a totally mediocre box that would be sub-par even in the outskirts of Hudson Yards!) couldn't have been delayed a few months.

[JMKeynes]

Originally Posted by NYer34

Really unfortunate timing that his senseless destruction (for a totally mediocre box that would be sub-par even in the outskirts of Hudson Yards!) couldn't have been delayed a few months.

I agree.

[chris08876]

Demolition Progressing For SOM’s 62-Story Skyscraper At 12 West 57th Street In Midtown

Demolition is continuing at 12 West 57th Street in Midtown, the site of a 672-foot-tall skyscraper that comes in at number 21 on our countdown of the tallest projects underway in the city. The 52-story project is designed by Skidmore, Owings, & Merrill (SOM) and is being developed by Sheldon Solow of Solow Management Corp., who filed permits back in 2019. A preliminary rendering was revealed in early May, showing a slender black glass monolith rising behind a white glass and marbled stone podium. The development required the demolition of three low-rise structures spanning from 10 to 20 West 57th Street.

Recent photos show that the westernmost structure is fully razed, with the land leveled and mostly cleared of debris behind the green sidewalk construction boards. The other two buildings still remain standing next to the 99-year-old Crown Building at 730 Fifth Avenue, which is undergoing renovations and a conversion into the Aman New York hotel. Work appears to be progressing internally on the demolition of these structures, as indicated by the presence of sidewalk scaffolding and white plastic sheets covering the windows.

Permits filed in February 2019 indicate that 12 West 57th Street is slated to yield 202,738 feet spread across 80 units and 180,396 square feet for commercial use including the hotel and retail. The building massing features a 15:1 height-to-width ratio and a curtain wall of dark glass, much like Solow’s 9 West 57th Street just across the street also designed by SOM. The rear side of 12 West 57th Street’s podium is shown to feature a loading dock on the ground level and several setbacks above for outdoor terraces. Another rendering shows a large black sculpture in the middle of a water feature, and a long rectangular canopy above the main entrance along West 57th Street.

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NYY

[Visionist]

This building won't even have a Central Park view LMFAO. I don't see any reason to build this stunted thing here.

[NYguy]

Originally Posted by Visionist

This building won't even have a Central Park view LMFAO. I don't see any reason to build this stunted thing here.

It's an office tower, like many in Midtown that won't have the central park view (though this will likely have some view of it). Maybe another developer would try to capitalize on the "billionaires row" concept. This will likely be another of the high end office towers of the plaza district.

[jbermingham123]

Originally Posted by nyguy

it's an office tower

they need to sell this land so that capitalism can work properly

[Visionist]

I thought this was a condo building?

[NYguy]

^ It is a condo building. I'm confused with this one...
https://skyscraperpage.com/forum/sho...d.php?t=213625

Originally Posted by jbermingham123

they need to sell this land so that capitalism can work properly

It is working properly.

[JMKeynes]

I really hope that So Low's son, who apparently prefers Miami, sells this site to someone competent like Michael Stern.

[Hudson11]

I at least hope that with the old man gone his son might have secretly despised the black box aesthetics his father obsessed over. He even got one more built before he passed on.

[DCReid]

Originally Posted by Hudson11

I at least hope that with the old man gone his son might have secretly despised the black box aesthetics his father obsessed over. He even got one more built before he passed on.

From what I recall, 111 W 57th started out as a 700 footish condo with but was upgraded to the 1400 footish one nearly finishing construction. Of course, now is a different time...

[chris08876]

Originally Posted by DCReid

From what I recall, 111 W 57th started out as a 700 footish condo with but was upgraded to the 1400 footish one nearly finishing construction. Of course, now is a different time...

If you go back in that thread, early on, the 700 ft version was laughable compared to what it ended up being. We lucked out. We got a gem in that respect.

[NYguy]

Originally Posted by chris08876

If you go back in that thread, early on, the 700 ft version was laughable compared to what it ended up being. We lucked out. We got a gem in that respect.

Yeah, that earlier version was before they acquired the Steinway building and it's additional air rights. Before then, it was just going to be a tower next to the Steinway building, as opposed to rising through it.

[Visionist]

This would be cool, at twice the height.

[NYguy]

https://www.pincusco.com/solow-files...laza-district/

Solow files plans to demolish 6-14 West 57th in Plaza District

August 13, 2021

Solow Building Company, on August 11, filed three permit applications for the demolition of three buildings at 6 West 57th Street, 10 West 57th Street, and 14 West 57th Street in the Plaza District.

The developer had originally filed plans to demolish 10 West 57th Street and 14 West 57th Street. However, neither plan was every permitted and both are currently marked as “job on hold”.

In April of 2018, the developer filed plans for the construction of a 672-foot tall, 52-story, 383,134-square-foot mixed-use building with 82 dwelling units at 12 West 57th Street. The plans were disapproved and never received construction permits.

The firm has continued even as it’s founder, Sheldon Solow, died at the age of 92 in November 2020, just over two years after the firm announced in early 2018 that Solow’s son Stefan Soloviev would be taking on a greater role at the firm.

[chris08876]

SOM’s 12 West 57th Street Awaits Final Demolition In Midtown, Manhattan

At number 21 on our year-end countdown is 12 West 57th Street, a 672-foot-tall residential skyscraper in Midtown, Manhattan. Designed by Skidmore, Owings, & Merrill and developed by Sheldon Solow of Solow Management Corp., who filed permits for the proposal in 2019, the tower will rise along Billionaires’ Row between Fifth and Sixth Avenues and West 56th and 57th Streets. Before construction can break ground, the remaining two structures occupying the plot from 10 to 20 West 57th Street must first be demolished.

Renderings illustrate the majority of the bottom floors allocated to a multi-story podium with a two-level retail space facing West 57th Street. This entire part of the superstructure is shown to be clad in white marble, with the monolithic tower above sheathed in a uniform envelope of dark floor-to-ceiling glass and metal paneling.

The two remaining occupants of the site stand astride the leveled plot, with the easternmost building directly neighboring the Crown Building at 730 Fifth Avenue. Sidewalk scaffolding hangs above the ground floor, while the businesses that once sat at the first level are gone. It is unclear at the moment when demolition will conclude at the site.

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NYY

[JMKeynes]

This is a crime. I cannot stand So Low.

[NYguy]

Wonder if they’ll make a play….


https://therealdeal.com/2023/01/10/m...elopment-play/

Midtown office building pitched as Billionaires’ Row redevelopment play
APF Properties seeks upwards of $80M for 24 West 57th Street





Jan. 10, 2023
By Rich Bockmann

The owners of an aging office building in Midtown are pitching it as a potential redevelopment play in the heart of Billionaires’ Row.…..