From 57th Street to the Fulton Center, What To Watch In 2014

2013 saw a lot of pretty awesome crap (too much holiday boozing made you forget everything? Take a gander at the Curbed Awards), but what's done is done, and it's time for some new awesome crap. What does 2014 have in store for New Yorkers? Quite a lot. Here now, the eight things we're most excited for:

The World Trade Center
No official date has been set, but the first half of 2014 will see the opening of the crown jewel of the new World Trade Center, plus the long-delayed museum. The 1,776-foot-tall One World Trade Center—which holds the distinction of being the tallest tower in the western hemisphere and the most expensive building in the world—will finally welcome its tenants. The National 9/11 Museum suffered several financing-related setbacks, but it, too, will finally open, completing the memorial plaza. No date has been set for that opening either, but Silverstein Properties previously said it could open by spring. Meanwhile, construction will continue on the transportation hub and 3 World Trade Center, set to open in 2015 and 2016, respectively. The performing arts center and 2 World Trade Center are still in flux.

Fulton Center
Barring anymore delays, the long-awaited Fulton Center will finally open in July, connecting 11 subway lines at six stations in a multi-leveled retail center with a 79-foot occulus covered with a sparkling stainless steel net of reflective aluminum diamonds set in a stainless-steel tracer. The opening of the $1.4 billion center will mean the elimination of a huge swath of construction fencing in Downtown, as well as the creation of 70,000-square-feet of new retail space.

Governors Island
New Yorkers' favorite summertime escape will be even more delightful when it reopens for the 2014 season. We saw the start of the 30 new acres of parkland, but spring will bring more greenery and the Hammock Grove, as well as new playing fields. Construction will be continuing on the sweeping lookout Hills, and work will likely start on the historic buildings that will be converted for new tenants.

Atlantic Yards B2
Crews hoisted the first mod of Forest City Ratner's prefabulous tower on a freezing cold day in December, and, thanks to the modern wonders of modular building, the 32-story tower will be constructed in less than a year. The cubes will be stacked quickly, so we're on constant construction watch, but we're also looking forward to seeing inside the units and charting how well they do on the open market. The first tenants should be moving in by the fourth quarter of 2014.

Record-Shattering Closings
Nearly every price record is set to be broken in 2014. The $50M+ Walker Tower penthouse will set a new downtown record (current holder is the $42M penthouse at 18 Gramercy Park), and Roman Abramovich would shatter the previously held co-op record if he did indeed buy the penthouse mansion at 828 Fifth Avenue for $75 million. The current record was set by David Geffen in 2012 when he paid $54 million for a unit at 785 Fifth Avenue. One57, meanwhile, will see New York City's most expensive sale ever when its $90M+ penthouse closes; the superscraper had two penthouses listed for more than $90M, both of which are in contract. But the One57 penthouse could easily be ousted by the end of the year if one of the multiple $95M to $100M+ listings on the market finds a buyer.

57th Street
Fifty-seventh street will continue to be a construction hotbed in 2014. Macklowe's 432 Park Avenue will likely topping out, Bjarke Ingels' magical pyramid will start to grow, and the SHoP-designed 107 West 57th Street, as well as Extell's 1,400-foot-tall 217 West 57th Street, could break ground. Construction photos of all of the above are always welcome on the tipline.

56 Leonard Construction
Speaking of construction watches, 56 Leonard, which is already entertaining us with its angles and cantilevering cubes, will continue to rise. Things will get even more fun as the building grows taller and gets its glassy skin, though it will continue to be slow going, thanks to the building's irregular floorplans and setbacks (which have already caused headaches for the contractors). The building won't be complete until 2015, but most of the structure should take shape this year.

Newly Unarrested Developments
2013 saw several mega Manhattan towers come back from the dead; Nouvel's Tower Verre, Silverstein's 30 Park Place, and Helmet Jahn's 50 West Street all received huge cash infusions in the last 12 months, putting them on the path to construction. That means we'll be on high alert for construction action, pricing information, and/or any new renderings throughout all of 2014. Here's hoping for all of the above.
· Curbed Awards 2013 [Curbed]