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Will One World Trade Center Lose Its 'Tallest Building' Title?

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Big news on the megatower front: New York YIMBY reports that the Nordstrom Tower, Extell's ginormous residential tower for 57th Street, will rise to a height of 1,795 feet. Not only would that would make it the tallest building in New York City, trumping One World Trade Center's iconic 1,776, but also the tallest in the country and the western hemisphere.

UPDATE 5/12: Extell says the Nordstrom Tower will not top One World Trade.

More One World Trade Center coverage:
Spend a Day on the Highest Floor of One World Trade Center
A Day of Unreal Views From the Top of the World Trade Center
It's Official: One World Observatory Will Open May 29

YIMBY reports that between April and June of 2014, the Nordstrom Tower's design grew, with the height of the parapet (the top of the actual building) climbing from 1,478 feet to 1,530 feet, and the height of the entire thing—that includes the skinny spire, a.k.a. pinnacle—rising from 1,775 (just one foot shorter than 1WTC) to a whopping 1,795.

More on supertall towers in New York:
SHoP's Slender 57th Street Tower Finally Reveals Its Interiors
New Yorkers Slam Central Park's Shadow-Casting Megatowers
Finally, A Glimpse Inside Jean Nouvel's Supertall MoMA Tower
New York's Megatower Boom Reduced To Mere 'Vertical Money'

Some caveats here: YIMBY doesn't cite a specific source, though past scoops have come from architects Adrian Smith + Gordon Gill. YIMBY also scored the first interior renderings of the megatower, which will have a flagship Nordstrom store at its base and tons o' condos up above, including a penthouse that may have the highest outdoor space in the city.

Department of Buildings permits dictate various heights and floor counts that are less than the current report; for example, this one says 1,550 feet (20 feet taller than this version) and 88 floors. (The current iteration has 93 floors.) Remember, YIMBY warns, DOB filings don't actually have to reflect eventual reality. In fact, many megatowers (see 30 Hudson Yards) initially have paperwork on file that says they will be smaller than they actually end up being. "The tactic is not uncommon for high-profile projects," YIMBY's Nikolai Fedak writes. They "also do not account for anything above a building's roof height, so even the final job application figures could leave out the actual pinnacle height."

In short, the specific numbers could change, but all signs point to a future in which a condo tower outstrips One World Trade Center of its "tallest building in New York City" title. Brace.
· Diagrams Show Nordstrom Tower/217 West 57th Street Will Stand 1,795 Feet Tall, Becoming New York City's Tallest Building [NYY]
· Extell's Nordstrom Tower To (Almost) Match One World Trade [Curbed]
· Extell's Nordstrom Tower Sure Is Going to Be Tall and Skinny [Curbed]
· It's Official: NYC's Tallest Residential Tower Will Look Like This [Curbed]
· All Nordstrom Tower coverage [Curbed]

217 W 57th St

217 West 57th Street, Manhattan, NY 10019

One World Trade Center Freedom Tower

72 Vesey Street, New York, NY 10006