Robert A.M. Stern's 220 Central Park South Tower, Revealed!

The Extell-Vornado catfight over 220 Central Park South finally ended last year, paving the way for Vornado's long-talked about plan to tear down the structure and erect condos in its place—and oh, what condos they will be. An angel tipster spotted renderings and a detailed video of the future Robert A.M. Stern-designed building on Sun Lab's website. The images show a slender, limestone-clad tower that rises nearly as high as One57 and has a grand entrance with a reflecting pool and vehicle courtyard, similar to what Stern created over at the Limestone Jesus. Vornado previously confirmed the tower's height to be 920-feet, but there will also be a smaller building, with an entrance on 58th Street, rising about 14-stories. Inside, homes have huge floor-to-ceiling windows, coffered ceilings, ornate fireplaces, and herringbone floors. Our tipster speculates there will likely be only one residence on many of the floors due to the building's slenderness—that, and the fact that no self-respecting billionaire would ever buy a condo that shared a floor with someone else.

Vornado has been planning luxury condos at 220 Central Park South since the developer bought the building in 2005. Originally, there were plans to tear the building down and construct a glassy, 41-story structure in its place. The rental tenants didn't go easy, but after a few years of legal battles, Vornado finally succeeded in kicking them all out paying them all a few million dollars to leave. Success! Well, not quite.

With the building empty, Vornado's next step was to secure demolition permits. But there was a problem: the building was not empty. Extell still occupied the building's underground parking garage, and the rival developer didn't want to vacate the space until its lease ended in five years. But, it turns out that Gary Barnett and Extell didn't really give a crap about the parking garage—Barnett cared about the tower that might replace it. While Vornado was plotting its new tower, Barnett was laying the groundwork for his next supertall tower on 57th Street, which just so happens to be located partially behind 220 Central Park South. Barnett didn't want Vornado blocking his views. But finally, after a few years of whining, the developers put on their big boy pants and both agreed to shift their towers. Vornado also had to pay Extell $194 million for the parking garage and development rights.

And now here we are:

· 220 Central Park South [Sun Lab]
· All 220 Central Park South coverage [Curbed]