It seemed like nothing could derail the One Madison Park juggernaut, but that was before the Daniel Libeskind bomb threatened to go off in the neighborhood. Now, as prices at the modern glassy tower-to-be at 23 East 22nd Street climb above $2,000/sqft, there may be a little problem with those "unprecedented views" that are the focus of One Madison's marketing. After all, it's safe to assume that the developers didn't spend millions to buy up a small nation's worth of air rights just as a goof. The listings highlight the building's future view of the landmark clocktower (right), but if the Libeskind rumor comes true, and the largest residential building in Manhattan happens to get built where everyone seems to think it's going to get built, the old Saya can say sayonara to that view. Maybe.
Above is a Google Earth shot of the southeast tip of Madison Square Park. The future 22nd Street entrance of One Madison Park is noted, but the 60-story building will go through to 23rd Street. So there's only one spot in the city that would muss up One Madison Park's view of the clocktower, and that's an even bigger tower at the One Madison Avenue annex building. And wouldn't you know it, that's supposedly the site Libeskind/Elad Properties are targeting. Here's a helpful picture posted by a Curbed commenter.
If the building actually moves ahead and gets plopped on top of the annex, there's still a chance One Madison Park's park-facing buyers won't be pissed off. As one Wired New York member put it, "For the sake of 1 Mad Park, I hope it's way over on the Park Avenue side!" Elad and Libeskind could build more to the east, closer to Park Ave., sparing those who just shelled out $5-$10 million because they love the historical view. And if not, ah well, at least they still have the park.
· One Madison Park's Whisper Campaign Working Too Well [Curbed]
· Libeskind RumorWatch: Where on Madison? [Curbed]
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