Curbed NY: All Posts by Pete DaviesLove where you live2013-04-03T14:20:22-04:00https://ny.curbed.com/authors/petedavies2659404/rss2013-04-03T14:20:22-04:002013-04-03T14:20:22-04:001 WTC Gets Ready to be Topped by a Big Blinking Beacon
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<p><br> Speaking of the top of <strong>1 World Trade Center</strong>, where the <a href="http://ny.curbed.com/archives/2013/04/02/15_views_of_1_wtcs_100thfloor_observation_deck.php">observation deck</a> was revealed yesterday, the tower's <a href="http://ny.curbed.com/archives/2013/02/11/one_world_trade_centers_408foottall_spire_is_rising.php">spire is rising</a>, too. Still to come is another 200-plus-feet of <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qEZqNpcmJRU">in-spiring steel</a> with a blinking beacon up top. It will soon be put in place by the crane crew at DCM Erections. Until it rises, that massive metal appendage is tucked away between the base of 1 WTC and Vesey Street, shrouded from the public view. But from the pedestrian bridge along the north side of the tower, we spied the uppermost part of the long-awaited spire. <br> A <a href="http://livedesignonline.com/jr-clancy-creates-custom-beacon-one-world-trade-center">team of techies</a> from J. R. Clancy, Ballantyne Strong, and TDK Engineering are busy getting the beacon's inner workings in line. Illumination will come from multiple modules containing 264 LEDs tucked inside the beacon framework, together blazing forth a combined 316,800 lumens. The little lights are designed to remain stationary, reflected by rotating mirror-like aluminum panels attached to a motorized turntable. The lighting is changeable and will mark holidays and civic celebrations. The entire assemblage is built to withstand the range of New York weather and will shine every night, from just before dusk until after the dawn.<br>· <a href="http://ny.curbed.com/archives/2013/04/02/15_views_of_1_wtcs_100thfloor_observation_deck.php">15 Views of 1WTC's 100th-Floor Observation Deck</a> [Curbed]<br>· <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qEZqNpcmJRU">One World Trade Center Spire Render</a> [PMadFlyer youtube]<br>· <a href="http://livedesignonline.com/jr-clancy-creates-custom-beacon-one-world-trade-center">J.R. Clancy creates custom beacon for One WTC</a> [livedesignonline]<br>· <a href="http://ny.curbed.com/archives/2013/02/11/one_world_trade_centers_408foottall_spire_is_rising.php">One World Trade Center's 408-Foot-Tall Spire Is Rising</a> [Curbed]</p>
https://ny.curbed.com/2013/4/3/10257926/1-wtc-gets-ready-to-be-topped-by-a-big-blinking-beaconPete Davies2013-02-05T10:55:11-05:002013-02-05T10:55:11-05:00Selldorf Designing Faceted-Facade Tower Facing the WTC
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<p><br> UPDATE: Selldorf reps wrote in to say the firm is not working on the 22 Thames project. Which leaves us with two mysteries: who <em>is</em> working on the 22 Thames project, and what project are the renderings on Selldorf's site for?</p>
<p> Six months ago, when a corner site south of the World Trade Center <a href="http://ny.curbed.com/archives/2012/09/17/how_to_make_a_killing_on_the_american_stock_exchange.php">sold</a> for $48 million as part of a deal at the old American Stock Exchange, there was no word of what would rise there. But <a href="http://www.selldorf.com/projects/featured/lower-manhattan-tower/#">a design</a> from Selldorf Architects has popped up for that plot, rising <strong>54 stories</strong> at the corner of Thames and Greenwich. The designs for <strong>22 Thames Street</strong> show a prismatic tower, topping out a few feet taller than the W Downtown a half block to the west. On the first five floors, tucked inside a base of irregular glass bays, is retail and residential recreation space, topped by two floors designated for "performing arts." </p>
<p> Rising above and reaching 637 feet, the tower features a faceted facade filled with 428 residential units. Last month the creative team at Selldorf <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mAvfV-4en0s">posted a video</a> showing the louvered façade system, a "second skin" controlled by each individual dweller, and described thusly: "Cloaking the façade, a system of operable terracotta louvers animates the building with its changing configurations and reflectivity." </p>
<p><iframe width="500" height="375" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/mAvfV-4en0s" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe><br><span class="credit">[The Selldorf team's facade video.]</span></p>
<p> Permits for a new building at 22 Thames, <a href="http://a810-bisweb.nyc.gov/bisweb/JobsQueryByNumberServlet?requestid=2&passjobnumber=121183799&passdocnumber=01&restore=1">filed</a> last summer with the Department of Buildings, have some zoning issues pending and are yet to be approved. The architect of record is listed as Goldstein, Hill & West Architects, the team behind <a href="http://ny.curbed.com/tags/885-sixth-avenue">885 Sixth Avenue</a>, aka The Continental, and other <a href="http://www.ghwarchitects.com/06A07.html">lesser wonders</a> around town. </p>
<p> So far Selldorf's name is nowhere to be found among those DOB files, but the building outlined in the <a href="http://a810-bisweb.nyc.gov/bisweb/JB2ScheduleAServlet?requestid=3&passjobnumber=121183799&passdocnumber=01&allbin=1001034">Schedule A</a> for 22 Thames closely corresponds to the Selldorf design, give or a take a floor or two. As for the current building on the lot, a very handsome 10-story stack of bricks that's stood on that corner for over 100 years, it's slated for imminent <a href="http://a810-bisweb.nyc.gov/bisweb/JobsQueryByNumberServlet?requestid=6&passjobnumber=121465878&passdocnumber=01">demolition</a>. Yet another bit of downtown history is about to make way for more towering glass and steel. <br>· <a href="http://www.selldorf.com/projects/featured/lower-manhattan-tower/#">Lower Manhattan Tower</a> [Selldorf Architects]<br>· <a href="http://ny.curbed.com/archives/2012/09/17/how_to_make_a_killing_on_the_american_stock_exchange.php">How to Make a Killing on The American Stock Exchange</a> [Curbed]</p>
https://ny.curbed.com/2013/2/5/10276716/selldorf-designing-faceted-facade-tower-facing-the-wtcPete Davies2013-01-23T12:10:21-05:002013-01-23T12:10:21-05:00Selldorf Architects Repurposes the Roxy for Hauser & Wirth
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<p><br> The site of the old Roxy roller disco, a low slung 1920s garage sitting just beyond the High Line at <strong>511 West 18th Street</strong>, has been given a whole new life by <strong>Selldorf Architects</strong> as a ginormous 24,700 square foot <a href="http://www.hauserwirth.com/exhibitions/1266/hauser-wirth-announces-br-major-expansion-in-new-york-city/view/">gallery</a> for Hauser & Wirth. This was where graffiti met an ugly death when the Roxy was <a href="http://ny.curbed.com/archives/2009/04/24/high_line_construction_chronicles_detagging_the_roxy.php">de-tagged</a> a few years back. More recently, to make way for lots of big work from artist Dieter Roth, the creative crew from Selldorf gutted the remnants of the Roxy, removing dump loads of detritus to get to the bones of the vast space. </p>
<p> High overhead, robust old beams and rafters have been exposed, topped with acres of weathered wood. Down below, an expansive new floor in concrete still shows the arcing curve of the old roller rink, where <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c_ShwO10d6g">Beat Street break dancers</a> battled back in '84 and rollerinas & disco bunnies reigned right up until the <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t-OWNLf2w1Y">last dance</a> in 2007. <br> Now the gallery space shows off the life's work of Dieter Roth, including massive installations of found objects. At center stage is The Floor I, a monolithic work in wood & paint transported from a studio in Mosfellsbaer, Iceland. Across the open gallery a new installation, New York Kitchen, displays <strong>pots of melted chocolate</strong>. Artists on site pour the sweet stuff into molds, popping out human heads and stacking them high nearby, creating a skyscraping steeple of sweets. Tucked away in an upper corner, overlooking the long staircase leading up from 18th Street, Dieter's son Bjorn Roth has installed a "fully functioning bar" as a tribute to his pop, with a plexi-topped table encasing bits and pieces of Roxy memorabilia.</p>
<p> Hauser & Wirth isn't the only West Chelsea gallery where Selldorf's work can be found. Just two blocks north, at 537 West 20th Street, a big mass of exposed concrete has just been unveiled. This is the new home for <a href="http://www.davidzwirner.com/about/locations/new-york-20th-street/">David Zwirner</a>, a 30,000 square foot 5-story exhibition space, touted as the first commercial gallery to receive LEED certification, and scheduled to open this spring, showcasing works by Dan Flavin and Donald Judd. <br>· <a href="http://www.hauserwirth.com/exhibitions/1266/hauser-wirth-announces-br-major-expansion-in-new-york-city/view/">Vast exhibition venue to open with masterworks by Dieter Roth</a> [Hauser & Wirth]<br>· <a href="http://www.davidzwirner.com/about/locations/new-york-20th-street/">New York: 20th Street</a> [David Zwirner]<br>· <a href="http://ny.curbed.com/archives/2009/04/24/high_line_construction_chronicles_detagging_the_roxy.php">High Line Construction Chronicles: De-Tagging The Roxy!</a> [Curbed]<br>· <a href="http://ny.curbed.com/tags/selldorf-architects">Selldorf Architects coverage</a> [Curbed]</p>
https://ny.curbed.com/2013/1/23/10282472/selldorf-architects-repurposes-the-roxy-for-hauser-wirthPete Davies2012-10-16T11:10:52-04:002012-10-16T11:10:52-04:00Selldorf Designs New Building for 42 Crosby Parking Lot
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<p> On Monday a creative crew from <strong>Selldorf Architects</strong> presented a first peek of their plan to build atop an old SoHo parking lot at <strong>42 Crosby Street</strong>. The Landmarks contingent at Community Board 2 watched the powerpoint presentation and poured over sheaths of renderings for the new residential and retail proposal, all to be bankrolled by developer Atlas Capital Group. The Atlas <a href="http://www.atlas-cap.com/about-us.php">money men</a>, Jeffrey A. Goldberger and Andrew B. Cohen, with holdings in NYC, London and down in DC, <a href="http://ny.curbed.com/archives/2011/11/29/ghost_of_construction_future.php">secured the site late last year</a> for a sweet $16 million. If their plan is approved, a five-story base in aluminum and glass, rising to match the top of neighboring buildings, will fill the site along the northwest corner of Crosby and Broome. Up high, set back 20 feet from the streetwall, a glassy four-story tower will rise, wrapped in a meshy brise-soleil. But if the noise in the room was any indication, the Selldorf team just might have to re-think this modern take on cast iron classicism.<br> Local residents chimed in during the public part of the presentation, some in favor and some definitely not. The obvious similarities to Jean Nouvel's <a href="http://ny.curbed.com/places/40-mercer">40 Mercer</a>, where wide expanses of glass tower above Broadway one block over, were deemed not so appropriate along the north side of Broome Street, where real cast iron rules the roost. No doubt the development team would like to replicate the Nouvel <a href="http://ny.curbed.com/archives/2012/10/01/16_million_pad_at_40_mercer_looks_like_a_private_high_line.php">price tag</a> here on Crosby, but you can't always get what you want. Selldorf's team is well aware of that, after their recent proposal for a new building at 10 Bond Street in NoHo was termed "<a href="http://ny.curbed.com/archives/2012/04/10/annabelle_selldorf_cornered_by_lpc_noho_plan_too_timid.php">too timid</a>" by the LPC. But creativity can't be stopped by a few critical words. When Selldorf's revised plan on Bond was <a href="http://ny.curbed.com/archives/2012/05/16/starchitect_annabelle_selldorfs_new_10_bond_plan_revealed.php">revealed</a>, it won a resounding approval. This site on Crosby, cleared of some quaint old buildings back in 1942 and home to stacks of cars ever since, might follow the same bumpy course. Selldorf and Atlas are set to go before the Landmarks Presentation Commission on October 23. <br>· <a href="http://www.atlas-cap.com/about-us.php">About Us</a> [Atlas Capital Group]<br>· <a href="http://ny.curbed.com/tags/42-crosby-street">42 Crosby Street coverage</a> [Curbed]<br>· <a href="http://ny.curbed.com/tags/annabelle-selldorf">Annabelle Selldorf coverage</a> [Curbed]</p>
https://ny.curbed.com/2012/10/16/10317746/selldorf-designs-new-building-for-42-crosby-parking-lotPete Davies2012-10-08T14:05:38-04:002012-10-08T14:05:38-04:00Carlos Zapata's Pope Hat Condo Shows New Face to Landmarks
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<p> The wonky design for a new mixed-use tower just west of Madison Square, once <a href="http://ny.curbed.com/archives/2007/06/22/holding_mass_for_the_pope_building.php">left for dead</a> but <a href="http://ny.curbed.com/archives/2011/07/01/flatirons_pope_hat_building_will_be_built_after_all_as_condos.php">recently resurrected</a> by developer Anbau Enterprises, is getting a mini-facelift. That plan from Carlos Zapata Studio will be presented to the Landmarks Preservation Commission on Tuesday, and offers a re-working of the condo entrance and facade at <strong>22 West 24th Street</strong>. What's seen is mildly minimal, an expanse of flatness and offset banding that contrasts with the older buildings nearby. Apparently the <a href="http://ny.curbed.com/archives/2007/03/28/viva_zapata_on_west_23rd.php">2007 design</a> for the prominent Pope Hat set to rise over West 23rd is still intact. Which is more than we can say for that other wacky Zapata tower, about to get its face <a href="http://ny.curbed.com/archives/2012/05/15/balazs_charms_evill_locals_gets_standard_east_revamp_approval.php">revamped</a> over on the Bowery.<br>· <a href="http://ny.curbed.com/archives/2011/07/01/flatirons_pope_hat_building_will_be_built_after_all_as_condos.php">Flatiron's Pope Hat Building Will Be Built After All, As Condos</a> [Curbed]<br>· <a href="http://ny.curbed.com/tags/22-west-24th-street">22 West 24th Street coverage</a> [Curbed]</p>
https://ny.curbed.com/2012/10/8/10320486/carlos-zapatas-pope-hat-condo-shows-new-face-to-landmarksPete Davies2012-10-08T10:40:51-04:002012-10-08T10:40:51-04:00Old NoHo Flea Market Booted by Condo Plan for 688 Broadway
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<p> A tattered NoHo flea market might be about to bite the dust, due to a new condo plan at <strong>688 Broadway</strong>. The Landmarks Preservation Commission will hear the BKSK Architects proposal for a 12-story building tomorrow. That new structure will be backed with a series of terraces rising over a voluminous rear yard facing onto Great Jones Alley, a remnant of old New York that winds it's way around some of the pricier places in town. The facade, set to rise above Broadway below East 4th Street, presents a series of terracotta fins fitted into an asymmetrical metal framework, all set out from big west-facing windows, echoing a design that worked well for BKSK at <a href="http://www.bkskarch.com/index.php?id=4363#/4245">25 Bond Street</a>.<br> Inside 688 Broadway there will be 13 units, topped with a <strong>multi-terraced four-bedroom duplex penthouse</strong>. Down below on the second floor will be two units, one sporting a big terraced garden. That will overlook a totally remade Great Jones Alley, and the building there will be faced in terracotta and corten steel. Floors three through five will have two units per floor, and floors six to 10 will have full-floor three-bedroom units with spacious terraces above the alley enclosure. </p>
<p> The new building, faced in buff brick and terracotta, will wipe out a big batch of south-facing lot line windows at the Silk Building next door, which might be one reason that <a href="http://ny.curbed.com/archives/2010/07/27/real_estate_sold.php">Alan Colmes</a> and others have <a href="http://ny.curbed.com/tags/silk-building">cashed out</a> and moved on. But the redo of the dark old alley seems to have won over some other neighbors, who reportedly are on board with the plan to re-pave the narrow lane and add some atmospheric lighting. The whole thing is planned with protection in mind, namely a slick gate across the alley entrance on Great Jones, which might prove handy in keeping out <a href="http://eastvillage.thelocal.nytimes.com/2012/04/06/jewel-thieves-getaway-ends-in-noho/">sticky-fingered low-lifes</a>.<br>· <a href="http://www.bkskarch.com/index.php?id=4363#/4245">25 Bond Street</a> [BKSK Architects]<br>· <a href="http://ny.curbed.com/archives/2010/07/27/real_estate_sold.php">Real Estate Sold</a> [Curbed]<br>· <a href="http://eastvillage.thelocal.nytimes.com/2012/04/06/jewel-thieves-getaway-ends-in-noho/">Jewel Thieves Nabbed in NoHo</a> [The Local East Village]<br><em>Pete Davies is a Curbed contributor and New York State-licensed real estate salesperson working with SCG-Retail, a retail brokerage specializing in securing leases in New York City for national and international retailers.</em></p>
https://ny.curbed.com/2012/10/8/10320492/old-noho-flea-market-booted-by-condo-plan-for-688-broadwayPete Davies2012-10-02T12:10:37-04:002012-10-02T12:10:37-04:00Lincoln Center Renovation Ends With Bridge to Everywhere
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<p> It's been a long re-construction ride up at <strong>Lincoln Center</strong>, where the creative team at Diller Scofidio and Renfro has led a total transformation of the cultural campus. Now <a href="http://ny.curbed.com/archives/2012/10/01/grand_finales.php">the final piece</a> of that six year, $1.2 billion redevelopment puzzle has been put into place above West 65th Street: the <strong>President's Bridge</strong>, connecting all the recently revamped spaces. While this <a href="http://www.aboutlincolncenter.org/press-room/release/447">new pedestrian passageway</a> seems to float above the street, the sucker actually weighs in at a hefty 58 tons. </p>
<p> Engineered by Dewhurst Macfarlane and Partners PC, the span runs 83 feet long and is basically a big box girder in a modernist mode. It's framed with a series of thick steel plates, joined with a continuous weld, together forming the load-bearing exterior skin of the bridge. The east face has been cut away, with thick glass forming a curved protective railing that allows folks crossing over to see and be seen from down below. It's the last surprise in the architects' bag of tricks, changes that have both deconstructed and reconstructed this Acropolis of Culture. </p>
<p> The transfiguration of this swath of land, once the mean streets where the old West Side story <a href="http://www.wqxr.org/#!/blogs/operavore/2012/apr/17/memories-lincoln-center-fifty-years/">was told</a>, began in 2006. That was the site's second groundbreaking, coming 47 years after shovels originally hit the ground in 1959. The Diller Scofidio and Renfro plan aims towards openness and connectivity, rethinking the original, more Brutalist design that first opened to the public in 1962. Over the past six years we've chronicled it all, covering everything from <a href="http://ny.curbed.com/archives/2010/04/26/lincoln_centers_rooftop_lawn_ready_to_roll_next_month.php">sod in the sky</a> to <a href="http://ny.curbed.com/archives/2009/09/09/lincoln_center_tests_the_waters.php">dancing waters</a> (with some <a href="http://ny.curbed.com/archives/2010/04/13/studios_open_trees_disappear_at_newlook_lincoln_center.php">fashion-free arboricide</a> in between). Take a gander through the gallery to relive it all.<br>· <a href="http://www.aboutlincolncenter.org/press-room/release/447">Lincoln Center Completes Its Redevelopment Project</a> [About Lincoln Center]<br>· <a href="http://www.wqxr.org/#!/blogs/operavore/2012/apr/17/memories-lincoln-center-fifty-years/">Memories of Lincoln Center, Fifty Years On</a> [Operavore]<br>· <a href="http://ny.curbed.com/archives/2012/10/01/grand_finales.php">Grand Finales</a> [Curbed]<br>· <a href="http://ny.curbed.com/tags/lincoln-center-renovation">Lincoln Center Renovation coverage</a> [Curbed]</p>
https://ny.curbed.com/2012/10/2/10323270/lincoln-center-renovation-ends-with-bridge-to-everywherePete Davies2012-09-17T15:50:05-04:002012-09-17T15:50:05-04:00Shoe Biz and Show Biz Collide at Times Square Landmark
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<p> The little <strong>I. Miller Building</strong> at 1552 Broadway in <strong>Times Square</strong>, a 1926 landmark of footware and fame, is about to get a fresh face as it expands into the larger <strong>Actors' Equity building</strong> next door. The newly configured emporium will be home to retailer Express and the planned expansion will triple the retail footprint, blowing it up to 45,000 square feet. An application has been submitted to the Landmarks Preservation Commission, to be heard on October 2nd, to "remove interior floors and the east party wall." That work will create a direct connection between the 4-story building and the 17-story building at <strong>165 West 46th Street</strong>. The I. Miller Building will be opened up into the first two floors of the Actor's building, causing the 2nd floor Equity Lounge and Audition Center to relocate up to the 16th floor.</p>
<p> Shoe fetishists and other fans have been praying that the <a href="https://go.redirectingat.com?id=66960X1516509&xs=1&url=http%3A%2F%2Ftherealdeal.com%2Fblog%2F2011%2F08%2F31%2Fsl-green-and-jeff-sutton-ink-creative-lease-with-jeffrey-gural-of-newmark-knight-frank-to-get-more-space-at-1552-broadway-and-1560-broadway%2F&referrer=archive.curbed.com&sref=https%3A%2F%2Fny.curbed.com%2F2012%2F9%2F17%2F10369068%2Fshoe-biz-and-show-biz-collide-at-times-square-landmark" rel="sponsored nofollow noopener" target="_blank">creative lease</a> behind the I. Miller expansion will bring an opportunity to <a href="http://ny.curbed.com/archives/2012/09/04/early_celebrity_endorsements_in_times_square_architecture.php">save this Times Square treasure</a>. Those overtures are being answered, and the LPC recently gave the OK for a full facade restoration. The work will be done under the guidance of <a href="http://ny.curbed.com/tags/rogers-marvel-architects"><strong>Rogers Marvel Architects</strong></a>, and promises to bring a fresh face to this tired corner at the Crossroads of the World.</p>
<p> Up top, the original terracotta parapet and frieze crowning Miller's shoe palace will be replaced. There'll be a total rehab of the <strong>four famous actresses</strong>, each chosen by an adoring public to adorn the <strong>Niches of Fame</strong> over West 46th Street. Statues of that talented quartet, shoeman I. Miller's homage to show business, will be restored on site. Missing fIngers, noses and other details will be replaced and the mosaic niche backgrounds will be reset and resecured.</p>
<p> Across the facade, details will be brought back to life. Bronze lettering up top will be refurbished and replicated to match missing or damaged originals. Limestone rondelles beneath the niches will be cleaned and the window surrounds in <em>rosso levanto</em> marble will be repaired and replicated as needed. Granite plinths at the base will be fully restored. All of this detailed work will bring this little gem back to its original glory.</p>
<p> Meanwhile new mega-signage has been approved to go in above the building, filled with LED advertising screens to brighten the Great White Way. Lighting will also be installed to illuminate the I. Miller facade, both at the exterior and interior, providing a glow through the windows and showing off the details that have covered this corner for nearly a century.<br>· <a href="https://go.redirectingat.com?id=66960X1516509&xs=1&url=http%3A%2F%2Ftherealdeal.com%2Fblog%2F2011%2F08%2F31%2Fsl-green-and-jeff-sutton-ink-creative-lease-with-jeffrey-gural-of-newmark-knight-frank-to-get-more-space-at-1552-broadway-and-1560-broadway%2F&referrer=archive.curbed.com&sref=https%3A%2F%2Fny.curbed.com%2F2012%2F9%2F17%2F10369068%2Fshoe-biz-and-show-biz-collide-at-times-square-landmark" rel="sponsored nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Sutton and SL Green ink creative lease to expand retail options at 1552 Bway</a> [The Real Deal]<br>· <a href="http://ny.curbed.com/archives/2012/09/04/early_celebrity_endorsements_in_times_square_architecture.php">Early Celebrity Endorsements in Times Square Architecture</a> [Curbed]<br>· <a href="http://ny.curbed.com/tags/1552-broadway">1552 Broadway coverage</a> [Curbed]<br><strong>[Pete Davies is a Curbed contributor and New York State-licensed real estate salesperson working with SCG-Retail, a retail brokerage specializing in securing leases in New York City for national and international retailers]</strong></p>
https://ny.curbed.com/2012/9/17/10369068/shoe-biz-and-show-biz-collide-at-times-square-landmarkPete Davies2012-09-17T13:25:27-04:002012-09-17T13:25:27-04:00Chinatown 'Super Tower' Will Solve All Urban Problems
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<p> Down in Chinatown at the base of the Bowery, where streets are crooked and living can be crowded, a proposal is being put forth to bring a massive <strong>128-story building</strong> to NYC, where "everyone lives under one roof in harmony." This urban utopia would emerge by way of a <strong>"Super Skyscraper"</strong> called the <strong>Zhongshan Center</strong> rising over a newly-created superblock just west of the Manhattan Bridge. To make way for this behemoth, a swath of low-rise bits of brick would come down between the Bowery and Mott, from Bayard to Worth Streets. But unlike in divisive neighborhood transformations like the Atlantic Yards project, displaced Chinatown residents "will be able to move into these beautiful apartments, as if they had just won first prize in a lottery." The mega-scheme is outlined in a 54-point manifesto, covering everything from American capitalism to zoning inequities, with social and historical perspectives interspersed throughout. Entitled "<a href="http://www.wongbook.com/final-printing-en.pdf">The Zhongshan Center Plans</a>" [pdf], this is the brainchild of the <a href="http://www.wongbook.com/">San Yan Wong Workshop</a>. The full 113 pages, which read like brokerbabble filtered through an auto-translator, are chock full of intriguing tidbits, but given the long slog it presents, we've pulled out the highlights for public perusal.</p>
<p> The imagined building, shaped like a very severe capital "H" surrounded by gardens, will rise to <strong>2,173 feet</strong> and contain a gross 15,000,000 square feet serviced by <strong>130 elevators</strong>. Up high will be the world's largest revolving restaurant, doing a complete 360 every 85 minutes and offering views even <a href="http://ny.curbed.com/archives/2012/09/07/views_from_the_103rd_floor_of_one_world_trade_center.php">better than those</a> from atop the new 1 WTC. Floors below will be individually purposed, giving "mixed-use" a whole new meaning. Six stories of parking for 3,000 cars will anchor it all, leading up to a 10-story vertical retail mall with a wide array of restuarants. The next 12 floors will include community spaces, all offered for free (now we're really in utopia land). Rising over the next 10 floors will be low- and medium-income housing and then another batch of floors offering homes for those displaced by construction of the Zhongshan Center. This place truly has something for everyone, and the wonders only increase as it rises. </p>
<p> In the professional portion, running from floors 56-65, there'll be a floor for doctors, another for lawyers and so on. Next are twenty stories of luxury, "an excellent living choice for successful people." Above that: the Galactic Hotel, 10-stories of hospitality, not to be confused with the loftier 5-story "Super-Galactic Hotel" up on the 106th to 110th floors, where the crazy rich will find 8-star "ultra-luxurious service." On top of it all, there's still room for another fifteen floors where "officials and successful businessmen from the world over" can buy a condo or ten. Topping it off will be a 150 foot spire reaching to the heavens, leaving in the lurch a batch of new NYC towers all hoping to <a href="http://ny.curbed.com/archives/2012/06/21/manhattans_tallest_residential_tower_officially_tops_out.php">lay claim</a> to the <a href="http://ny.curbed.com/archives/2012/06/05/nycs_new_tallest_tower_will_look_something_like_this.php">tallest in town</a>.</p>
<p> Beyond being the biggest thing around, what's at the core of the Zhongshan Center pipe dream? "Strengthening the Country, Making People Rich, Getting Out of the Red, Building a Happy Family." Not to mention that it will become "a Scene of Perfection and Harmony" amidst the chaos and noise of NYC. Some big yang to balance out the yin. Who could argue with that? <br>· <a href="http://www.wongbook.com/final-printing-en.pdf">The Zhongshan Center Plans [pdf]</a> [Wong Book]<br>· <a href="http://ny.curbed.com/archives/2012/09/07/views_from_the_103rd_floor_of_one_world_trade_center.php">Views from the 103rd Floor of One World Trade Center</a> [Curbed]<br>· <a href="http://ny.curbed.com/archives/2012/06/21/manhattans_tallest_residential_tower_officially_tops_out.php">Manhattan's Tallest Residential Tower Officially Tops Out</a> [Curbed]<br>· <a href="http://ny.curbed.com/archives/2012/06/05/nycs_new_tallest_tower_will_look_something_like_this.php">NYC's New Tallest Tower Will Look Something Like This</a> [Curbed]<br><strong>[Pete Davies is a Curbed contributor and New York State-licensed real estate salesperson working with SCG-Retail, a retail brokerage specializing in securing leases in New York City for national and international retailers]</strong></p>
https://ny.curbed.com/2012/9/17/10328534/chinatown-super-tower-will-solve-all-urban-problemsPete Davies2012-07-30T11:00:30-04:002012-07-30T11:00:30-04:00Twisty MePa Tower Getting Ready to Rise on Washington
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<span class="credit">[All renderings by <a href="http://www.dbox.com/">dbox</a>: a branding & creative agency]</span><p> Zoning approvals are <a href="http://a810-bisweb.nyc.gov/bisweb/BScanJobDocumentServlet?requestid=4&passjobnumber=120409977&passdocnumber=01&allbin=1012207&scancode=ES490836371">in place</a> for the vertical extension in torqued steel and glass that will rise at <strong>837 Washington Street</strong> across from the High Line. The all-commercial development, sited opposite The Standard Hotel, is a partnership between Taconic Investment Partners and Thor Equities. The plan is designed by Morris Adjmi Architects, and will add four new stories to the original 1930s brick base. As seen on the <a href="http://www.837washington.com/">project's website</a>, 837 Washington will hold just over <strong>55,000 square feet</strong> of space, with three floors of retail down low, covering 28,000 square feet. Another four floors of offices with park views, covering 27,000 square feet, will rise above, topped with a 3,000-square-foot terrace overlooking the action down below. </p>
<p> Architect Adjmi is no stranger to this part of town: his <a href="http://www.ma.com/projects/office/?slide=4&type=office">commercial block</a> of metal, brick and glass at 40 Gansevoort went up on the corner of Hudson Street in 2006, followed in 2008 by an old-style stack of bricks at <a href="http://www.ma.com/projects/414-west-14-street/?slide=1&type=office">414 West 14th Street</a>. 837 Washington will offer cool views of Adjmi's recently completed <a href="http://ny.curbed.com/tags/high-line-building">High Line Building</a> at 450 West 14th, towering over the elevated park to the northwest. The Taconic/Thor team is trumpeting this new kid on the block as "iconic Modern Architecture" in the city's most dynamic neighborhood that "continues to ride an upward economic growth trend." That trend will hit a peak when the Whitney Museum opens its <a href="http://ny.curbed.com/tags/whitney-downtown">new mega-outpost</a> down the street in 2015, just about the time when 837 Washington will be ready for business.<br>· <a href="http://www.837washington.com/">837 Washington Meatpacking NYC</a> [837 Washington official website]<br>· <a href="http://www.ma.com/projects/office/?slide=4&type=office">40 Gansevoort Street</a> [Morris Adjmi Architects]<br>· <a href="http://ny.curbed.com/tags/837-washington-street">837 Washington Street coverage</a> [Curbed]</p>
https://ny.curbed.com/2012/7/30/10346798/twisty-mepa-tower-getting-ready-to-rise-on-washingtonPete Davies