NEW YORK | 740 Eighth Ave (Extell) | 1,067 FT | 53 FLOORS
 

http://www.nypost.com/seven/03022007...eve_cuozzo.htm

ODD COUPLE PLANS A WINNER ON EIGHTH

http://www.nypost.com/seven/03022007/photos/biz032.jpg


By STEVE CUOZZO
March 2, 2007

An odd-couple partnership is putting together a huge Eighth Avenue building site that can support a new office tower of up to 1 million square feet, The Post has learned.

In a rare joint venture, privately held Related, headed by Stephen Ross, and publicly traded Boston Properties, led by Mort Zuckerman, have teamed up to buy half of the east blockfront between 45th and 46th streets plus several buildings on both side streets.

The deals involve a half- dozen different sellers and are valued at a total $350 million. The deals are all in contract, but will not close until later this year.

Related and Boston are buying several small vacant tenements, a small hotel, a parking lot, an 8-story garage, and "floating" air rights harvested from other sites within the city's theater subdistrict.

The site's boundaries extend to the western wall of the Imperial Theater on 46th Street and of the Music Box on West 45th.

The fact that Related and Boston have formed a single entity to buy the 30,000 square-foot site does not necessarily mean they will stick with plans for an office tower.

"Manhattan is very unpredictable, and nothing is certain," an insider cautioned.

Nor does it mean Related and Boston will stop at the deals now on the table. Sources said they still covet five small buildings at the avenue block's south end.

Adding them would enable the developers to create an uninterrupted street wall the full length of the block.

The negotiations, conducted in secret for three years, reflect the frenzy for land on Eighth Avenue - the last frontier in central Midtown for large-scale development.

Reps for both Related and Boston declined to comment. Officials at Community Board 5, which vetted the air rights transfers, could not be reached.

Sources buzzed that Grubb & Ellis' Vincent Carrega was representing the sellers and had "engi neered" the multiple and complicated transactions, but he could not be reached yesterday.

Times Square Alli ance President Tim Tompkins said, "a de velopment of this signif icance will be another crucial building block in the redefinition of Eighth Avenue from neglected little brother to an adult that's finally come into its own."

Once grungy Eighth Avenue is in dramatic transformation. The Mid town stretch boasts the New York Times head quarters at 40th Street, Worldwide Plaza at 49th Street and the Hearst tower at 57th Street.

SJP Properties will break ground this summer on 11 Times Square, an office tower between 41st and 42nd streets. Boston Prop erties is putting the finish ing touches on an assem blage between 54th and 55th streets.

Investor-developers including Steven Witkoff have numerous development sites as well.

http://www.observer.com/2008/real-es...ffice-building

Boston, Related Buy Big Development Rights for Eighth Avenue Office Building

by Dana Rubinstein
November 25, 2008

If their paper trail is any evidence, the ungodly economy is not preventing Mort Zuckerman and Stephen Ross from moving forward with plans to build an enormous office tower at 740 Eighth Avenue.

Word of the tower has been seeping into the news since last year, when Boston Properties and Related Companies revealed they were putting together the project’s footprint by buying out about six property owners at a reported price of $350 million.

The tower—on the east side of Eighth Avenue, between 45th and 46th streets, alongside the Imperial Theater and the Music Box—could rival the neighboring SJP Properties’ 11 Times Square and the New York Times tower in size at a possible 1 million square feet.

On Oct. 23, the developers filed requests to transfer a total of 120,319 square feet of development rights from the Jacobs, Booth and Broadhurst theaters, all owned by the Shubert Organization. The development rights would, according to the documents, be used “to construct an office building.”

The developers also requested “a special permit to build a 406-space attended public parking lot” on the site.

Neither developer’s reps would comment for this story. But sources say that Related and Boston have promised a local parking lot owner a garage in the new tower in exchange for the right to buy his property.

The Department of City Planning is currently reviewing the applications. The seven-month land-use review process is slated to begin some time in the coming months. So the tower, if completed, might just rise in tandem with the economy.

I feel like 8th is going to be the most impressive skyscraper canyon in 20 years... or maybe still behind 6th. It's just getting built up so quickly--and these buildings are genuinely canyon-like, with the NYTT and 11 Times Square not really being receded from the street. Oh, but this proposal, the PA tower, and the one on 55th are all very interesting.

Don't underestimate the Park Avenue canyon, which rivals 6th Ave in greatness...:yes:

cool news, ny is booming in the crisis :)

And I thought NY's boom came to an end, here we go again with yet, another tower. :)

^ This may take a while to come together, but the sooner the better...

http://www.pbase.com/nyguy/image/106439690/large.jpg

I don't understand how one-million sq.ft. constitutes 'enormous' in NYC.

Impressionable journalism ?

Yep.

Put on hold before it even began...
http://www.crainsnewyork.com/apps/pb...FREE/901299965

Times Square-area tower put on hold
Boston Properties and The Related Cos. pull back from Eighth Avenue project, take charges.

January 29, 2009

Boston Properties Inc. and The Related Cos. have put the breaks on ambitious plans to build an office tower in Times Square area.

The news was contained in the Boston Properties’ latest earnings report, which was released Thursday. That report showed that in the final quarter of the year the company recorded nearly $190 million in write downs and expenses related to three Manhattan office towers that it acquired from troubled real estate developer Harry Macklowe last year.

According to the earnings report, the two developers suspended work on the Eighth Avenue and 46th Street project in the fourth quarter. As a result of the suspension, Boston Properties reported a charge of about $23 million, which stems from forfeited contract deposits, planning and pre-development and other costs.

Boston Properties did not immediately return calls for comment, while Related declined to comment.

As recently as October, the developers had filed requests with the New York City Department of Planning to transfer 120,000 square feet of development rights from three nearby theaters on Eighth Avenue between 45th and 46th streets that are owned by the Shubert Organization. The rights were to be used to add extra stories to the planned tower. In addition, the developers had requested a special permit to build a 406-space public parking lot on the site. The applications for the transfer were officially withdrawn on Jan. 12, according to the Department of City Planning Web site.

Separately, Boston Properties reported Wednesday $188 million of impairment charges during the fourth quarter of 2008 due to the decline in fair value of some of its office properties in Manhattan. The company’s total charges for the quarter also included the expenses associated with the scrapped Times Square project.

Last year, it bought the three office towers—540 Madison Ave., Two Grand Central Tower and 125 West 55th St.—from Harry Macklowe for $1.1 billion at the same time it acquired the General Motors Building for $2.8 billion from Mr. Macklowe’s bank.

http://www.observer.com/2011/real-es...lideshow/title

740 Eighth Avenue

http://www.observer.com/files/slides...1.ZXwHHF1M.jpg

By Laura Kusisto
February 15, 2011

^^^^ I suppose we will be seeing renders sometime soon?

We'll see. Related may be looking to jumpstart things on the railyards first, but Boston Properties may be willing to move forward.

Will we be looking at an empty lot for a while here?

It sounds like this one will likely spring back to life: http://therealdeal.com/blog/2012/08/...est-side-site/.

Renderings.
http://wirednewyork.com/forum/attach...9&d=1344995738
http://www.bergflynn.com/work-1.html

Nice to see this empty lot might finally get developed, even though the tower looks pretty dull. Hopefully Glenwood can get their tower across the street moving as well and another 8th Ave parking lot will bite the dust.

I guess it will be better than an empty lot. Not sure if that rendering is anything current.

I believe those renderings are for a cancelled tower on the West Side of 8th, not the East.

No, this site is on the East Side of 8th Ave.

True, this thread is for the site on the east side of Eighth. However, I believe babyback is correct. The address on the site of 301 West 46th indicates that it is the first address on the block between Eighth and Ninth, therefore the west side of Eighth. As far as the status of this tower you've just shown, I have no idea, but I don't believe this is proposed for the 740 site.

Yes, the renders sbarn posted do appear to be on the west side of 8th ave, on the green parcel. 740 8th ave is on the red parcel.

http://img651.imageshack.us/img651/7056/7408th.jpg

It's probably going to be another 500-700 foot box, judging from the sq ft it's going to have (1 msf).

I spent the weekend in NYC and stayed at the Milford Plaza. Here is a good photo I took of the sites you guys are talking about.

http://www.candidbling.com/IMG_1716.jpg

Hope this is the right thread.

West 46th Street Tower Revived As 29-Story Hotel
Wednesday, May 8, 2013, by Jessica Dailey

http://ny.curbed.com/uploads/Screen-...2.28.22-PM.jpg

"... Scaffolding has risen around the empty building, and DOB filings confirm the structure is not long for this world. Demolition permits were issued at the end of February...


But we won't be seeing the 38-story condo-hotel tower that was previously planned for the site. DOB documents show that the building has been chopped to 29 stories and it lost the 35 condo units, as well as more than half of the 375 hotel rooms. New filings show there will be just 146 rooms, and floors three through five will be occupied by an atrium. The ground floor and cellar level will have retail..."

http://ny.curbed.com/uploads/Screen-...2.30.45-PM.jpg

Extell will take over...
http://mobile.nytimes.com/2013/05/18...son-yards.html

My guess is that Extell will build a large hotel/residential development.


http://www.pbase.com/nyguy/image/150257364/original.jpg



http://www.pbase.com/nyguy/image/150257366/original.jpg



http://www.pbase.com/nyguy/image/150257368/original.jpg



http://www.pbase.com/nyguy/image/150257370/original.jpg

I'm willing to bet that Extell is planning something very tall here. Would not be surprised if another supertall.

Gary Barnett now has 1.2 million square feet of developable space on this site, and his main focus is mixed use hotel/condo projects. I see a tall, skinny tower, with hotel at base, and high-priced condo units at the top.

And wow, you could basically go as tall as you want here. 1.2 million square feet can deliver some serious, cloud-scraping height if going residential instead of office.

Besides the parking lot, what other lot(s) are part of his plot? I hope it's not those vibrant walkups.

Looks like five roach nests to me. Tear them down. :worship: Worship glass.

I'm pretty sure they were a part of the original plan. ACRIS lists RBP (i.e., Related-Boston Properties) 45th Street LLC as owner of at least one of the rowhouses (Block 1017, Lot 1). But each lot seems to be listed under its own obscure shell company. That's standard practice when a company is silently buying up a block.

There were another 5 walkups on the northern part of the block. The cavemen at Boston Properties tore them down before having solid plans for the site and left the corner looking like Detroit. I got attacked at around 10pm by a mob on that now-desolate but formerly active corner a couple of years ago after the demolition.

It doesn't look like those tenement buildings are going to go. Look at the far right of the picture.

http://ny.curbed.com/uploads/Screen-...2.28.22-PM.jpg

^^ That's Glenwood Management's plan for 301 W 46th, which is catty-corner from the Extell site.

It would be a separate project.

That's the opposite side of 8th. Besides Worldwide Plaza giving it away, and the address, the small buildings can be seen in this photo. (the rendering was before the "sliver" went up)

Here's a loot at that site...

http://www.pbase.com/nyguy/image/150294626/original.jpg




Yeah, residential and hotels are the hottest things going in the city right now. This site would be perfect for both. I expect a mixed-use residential/hotel tower that will be taller than anything
in the area.

http://www.nypost.com/p/news/busines...Xe8KOSx5CYPJFK

Lois Weiss
June 5, 2013

This tower could become quite substantial then...

http://www.nypost.com/p/news/busines...guURJe6DBGrg5N

‘Comet’ on tail of Ross deal

By LOIS WEISS
September 3, 2013

it's a shame to lose those walk-ups, but the extell garage on 45th st (north of the red-shaded zone on the right side) adds a major slice, increasing the size by 20%. wonder if we'll see a major commercial component come in here - i mean, you've three sides of high traffic street frontage here, it'd be mad not to try to integrate some restaurant row/theatre district commercial at the street levels.

I suspect there will be a large hotel component.

http://nypost.com/2013/12/09/theater...ve-profitable/

Theater Subdistrict zoning continues to prove profitable


http://thenypost.files.wordpress.com...0&h=480&crop=1

Broadhurst and Majestic Theatres’ air rights will be transferred to the Roseland Ballroom site for a residential tower.


By Lois Weiss
December 9, 2013

As expected - rentals at 52nd and condos with Gary.

Off topic but what is the name of that stumpy building behind this theater? It looks very nice from this view but the front is a totally different story. :slob:

Look closer; you can see the building's sign on the left hand side.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Milford_New_York_Hotel

Supposedly that one is being renovated.

But yeah, it was likely Barnett would be going with condos instead of office space, otherwise he'd have stayed in the Hudson Yards. He should be able to assemble a pretty decent tower here. I wouldn't expect anything right away, but you never know.

Agree. Barnett could do an office tower but condos is his focus. Anything right away? Could be but that holiday tent could be extended and get in the way. :)

I don't know the exact zoning is for this lot but if it's commercial then I hope the city won't let Extell build more ultra lux condos here.

Last thing we need more of is to take away lots zoned for offices and replace them with more unaffordable, mostly unoccuppied pied-a-terres.

The combined lot would be split between C6-4 and C6-5, both of which give an option of whether to build office and/or residential.
http://www.nyc.gov/html/dcp/pdf/zone...andbook/c6.pdf

Who says it will be that? There are residential towers going up all over Manhattan, a lot of them tall, and no, not all of them are "mostly unoccuppied pied-a-terres".

Anyway, whatever the case, I'm sure Extell wouldn't have a problem getting approval for a residential/hotel tower here, the city's focus being on the west side and east side of Manhattan. This particular stretch isn't known as an office haven, and I doubt the city would press it to be, with all of the surrounding residential and hotel space. But time will tell what Barnett has planned.

Once in a while, I actually agree with you! :cheers:

http://nypost.com/2013/12/31/your-go...icks-for-2013/

Lois Weis
December 31, 2013



Barnett knows how to deal. I think both sides came out winners on this one.

With over one million square feet of development potential, this should very tall and slim. Will supposedly be another condo-hotel hybrid.

http://nypost.com/2014/08/22/shubert...d-new-theater/

Shuberts intend to build a brand-new theater


http://thenypost.files.wordpress.com...0&h=480&crop=1


By Michael Riedel
August 22, 2014




http://deadline.com/2014/08/the-plot...oadway-825192/


The Plot Thickens: Will A ‘New’ Shubert Theater Tower Over Broadway?


http://pmcdeadline2.files.wordpress....1&h=202&crop=1


by Jeremy Gerard
August 27, 2014