Where Santiago Calatrava's tower was once planned to stand at 80 South Street, a new team of architects has been at work on a replacement. Morali Architects is designing a 1,018-foot-tall skyscraper?yes, it has gotten taller since the last update?bisected by skygardens, and Anthony Morali, chief architect, sat down with New York YIMBY to discuss the project. The interview revealed a few fun facts. For example, the tower will be built by the same contractors that built New York by Gehry, but design will be "more in line with" Herzog & de Meuron's revived 56 Leonard.
The project?which was, in fact, partially inspired by 56 Leonard?is "close" to finding a hotel tenant, but Morali is also working on making the tower solely residential, with some commercial space on the ground floor. It all depends on the building's neighbor in the back, who may or may not be willing to sell.
A switch to wholly residential sounds more likely than one of the other ideas Morali floats in response to a question about Hurricane Sandy. "Who knows?maybe we'll have elevated walkways between our tower and 151 Maiden Lane next door. And then maybe more neighbors will join in. Creating a new plane opens a ton of opportunities. Why not have the High Line?or something like it?wrap all the way around Manhattan?" We're not holding our breath for a borough-wrapping High Line, but the rough completion date for 80 South Street is 2016, the same time as 56 Leonard.
· Interview With the Architect: 80 South Street's Anthony Morali [New York YIMBY]
· 80 South Street coverage [Curbed]
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