NEW YORK | International Gem Tower l (590) FT l 32 FL

[Duffstuff129]

Originally Posted by ThreeHundred

How high are the ceilings for a 32 floor building that's almost 600 feet tall?

Even with a generous estimate of 3 feet between each floor, its still around 15 feet high in the office space, with each overall floor around 18 feet. Jeez.

[NYguy]

It's not really comparible to a typical office building. It's a little similar in concept to what Extell was planning for the World Product Center. But consider 11 Times Square with 40 floors at 600 ft, or 250 W. 55th (on hold) with 39 floors at 561 ft.

[NYguy]

http://www.israelidiamond.co.il/engl...918&objid=6605

Successful sales at the International Gem Tower

10.02.10

A delegation of senior officials from Extell Development Company, the developer that is building the iconic International Gem Tower Company in New York's Diamond District, will be visiting Israel from February 14-17.

Since Extell's first visit to the Israel Diamond Exchange in Ramat Gan last October, a number of Israel-based companies have signed contracts to purchase office space in the state-of-the-art office building. Among them are three Diamond Trading Company (DTC) sightholders, A. Dalumi Diamonds, Sahar Atid Diamonds and Yerushalmi Bros. Diamonds. Additionally, Yondor Diamonds Ltd., another leading diamond firm, and Malca-Amit, a global valuables courier service, have also signed on to take space. The Gemological Institute of America (GIA), the world's foremost authority on diamonds, colored stones and pearls has purchased an entire floor.

"With close to 100,000 square feet under contract, some of the best locations in the building have been purchased. Response to the project has been overwhelmingly positive," said Raizy Haas, Senior Vice President of Extell Development. "Meanwhile, we continue to receive inquiries from Israeli companies looking to secure space at current pricing, which has already increased and will continue to increase."

Seems the skeptics (and haters) of this project have gone into hiding, and I'm glad Barnett has found success. However, I wish someone from Extell would hold a press conference here, reveailing what he has coming out of the ground on 57th Street...

[hunser]

here is the website: IGT!

[NYguy]

Originally Posted by hunser

here is the website: IGT!

Yeah, I've pulled some renderings off of there. Nothing we haven't seen before, though you get some interior shots of the building.

[NYguy]

pdstahl

Spot the construction...

[Busy Bee]

^Wedding cakes with icing on top!

[NYguy]

http://www.nypost.com/p/news/busines...LyQaF8gyVyURVK

By STEVE CUOZZO
March 16, 2010

Extell now has commitments for 100,000 square feet of its eagerly awaited International Gem Tower at 44 W. 47th St.

Raizy Haas, Extell's senior development vice president, said that between 50,000 and 75,000 additional square feet are in negotiation.

Meanwhile, she said, "We'll be out on the street in the next few months bidding out work to the major trades -- steel, concrete and elevators."

The 34-story project, conceived by Extell chief Gary Barnett and designed by Skidmore Owings & Merrill, would provide a state-of-the-art new home for an industry that's still clustered in antiquated warrens and workshops.

All of the tower's roughly 550,000 square feet devoted to the gem business are for sale as condominiums.

We reported in January that the Gemological Institute of America is buying a floor. Since then, several Israeli companies have signed up.

[NYguy]

http://www.israelidiamond.co.il/engl...918&objid=6903

International Gem Tower Representatives Visit Ramat Gan Diamond Exchange Complex

11.04.10, 12:26

Joseph Lipton, Partner at the International Gem Tower, and Jerry Buckley, Director of Global Sales, are visiting the Ramat Gan diamond exchange complex for private meetings between April 11 and April 14.

Israeli diamond companies have contracted to purchase some of the best and most dramatic corner units in the International Gem Tower. The higher floors with their expansive views of the New York skyline have been the first choice of early purchasers in the state-of-the-art 34-story trade tower.

"The deterioration of the New York diamond district has been a real shame. Many other cities world-wide have up-to date industry centers and as a native New Yorker and diamond dealer I've had a vision about what was needed and wanted to revitalize the district for many years. One reason that New York doesn't have a world-class industry center is that no one had the resources or knowledge and no one wanted to take charge and take the risk. I have the expertise in both industries to make this happen, and turn the vision into reality,” says Gary Barnett, President of Extell Development.

[Dac150]

It’s good to see that Extell has some fire inside of them to forge ahead with this project and others. A trait I hope more New York developers attain over the next couple of years.

[NYguy]

^ What Trump was to New York in the 80's, Barnett has become now.

http://www.diamondintelligence.com/m...e.aspx?id=8622

SARIN TECHNOLOGIES TO PURCHASE OFFICES AT INTERNATIONAL GEM TOWER

15 April 2010

Sarin Technologies Ltd. developer and manufacture of technological equipment and software for the diamond and jewelry industry, is purchasing office space in the International Gem Tower (IGT) currently under construction in New York's diamond district.

Sarin's Director, Uzi Levami, said the company's intent to obtain offices in the building stems from its long-term goals. "This purchase is in line with Sarin's plans to expand the marketing of its growing product lines and new clarity mapping service offerings for the diamond and jewelry markets. As we currently do not have a New York base, we believe the IGT is an opportunity to position ourselves in the heart of America's primary diamond and jewelry trading hub. Our goal is to expand our client base in the United States and also offer new, revolutionary clarity mapping services to clients that already use our other synergistic products, including diamond and jewelry manufacturers, wholesalers and distributors, gemological laboratories and jewelry retailers," Levami stated.

Currently over 100,000 square feet of space has been purchased in the tower, with more than 50,000 sq/f under negotiation, according to Raizy Haas, senior vice president of development.

The 34-story tower in the heart of New York's Diamond District will be completed in 2012.

[RoldanTTLB]

So people keep buying space, but did the project ever make it above ground? I'd go take photos myself, but I won't be back in NYC until the middle of May. It's go time then, though. If Rockrose is to be believed, there will be a pair of towers under way in Queens for me to photograph along with this and others.

[NYguy]

Originally Posted by RoldanTTLB

So people keep buying space, but did the project ever make it above ground?

Just barely. Extell needs to keep filling that space with diamond industry tenants, so every signing helps.

[NYguy]

http://www.nationaljewelernetwork.co...e75e9c5d23b311

NYC gem tower now foreign trade zone approved

June 01, 2010

The U.S. Department of Commerce has approved the new International Gem Tower in New York's Diamond District as a foreign trade zone (FTZ), the agency announced late last week.

The designation means that business tenants in the tower, which is still under construction, will be able to import foreign merchandise without customs entry or the payment of U.S. duties until the goods are sold. No duty will be payable on re-exported goods.

In a press release, Raizy Haas, senior vice president of tower developer Extell Development Co., said the approval of FTZ status is another key milestone in the progress of the tower, a 34-story commercial condominium designed specifically for the diamond, gem and jewelry trade.

"In 2012, New York will finally have a modern industry building to house the trade," he said. "And in addition to the beautiful design and technical innovation, we are focused on providing the services and amenities that drive value for our buyers."

Located at 50 W. 47 St. between Fifth and Sixth Avenues, the International Gem Tower is slated for completion in late 2012. More than 100,000 square feet of space has already been committed to various jewelry companies.

According to the release, the below-grade concrete and metal deck work is nearing completion at the construction site. Work is slated to soon begin on the utilities and slab on grade work and will take about three months.

The tower's development and sales teams will be at the upcoming Las Vegas Market Week shows, including at Couture 2010, Suite TS3 in the Diamond Pavilion, and at JCK Las Vegas, Booth L61.

[NYguy]

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB1000...rk_real_estate

Office Developer Looks to Renegotiate Contracts

By ANTON TROIANOVSKI
June 21, 2010

Labor costs have come down so far that the developer of a new Diamond District office tower is putting some work on ice to renegotiate construction contracts.

"We are out on the street trying to rebid all of the major trades," Raizy Haas, who's in charge of the International Gem Tower project for developer Extell Development Co., said last week. "The savings on construction will far outweigh the delays of a couple months."

Ms. Haas is also touting some good news for the project: It was approved last month as a U.S. Foreign Trade Zone. The designation eliminates customs duties for items imported into and then exported out of the zone—an attractive proposition for the jewelry companies to which Extell is catering. The tower would become the only active foreign trade zone in Manhattan, a spokesman for the New York City Economic Development Corp. said.

The 35-story tower, being marketed as an office condominium project, is now slated to be completed by the end of 2012, Ms. Haas said.

[NYguy]

http://www.crainsnewyork.com/article...TATE/100629926

NY set to announce loan program for Gem Tower
Empire State Development Corp. aims to help jewelers with financing so they can buy condos in the 34-story building on West 47th Street.

By Theresa Agovino
June 23, 2010

The Empire State Development Corp. is expected to announce on Thursday a loan program to help jewelry companies buy condos in the International Gem Tower, which is being developed by Gary Barnett, sources familiar with the plan said.

Mr. Barnett, a former diamond dealer, began building the 34-story building on West 47th Street in 2009, with an eye towards modernizing the city's diamond district. He will receive tax breaks worth up to $49.6 million from the city and state if 85% of the tower is filled with new or expanding jewelry businesses, according to an article in The New York Times.

However, the loan program is geared towards would-be buyers. Sources say it is not a new program but one that has been dormant for years. Calls to the ESDC and Mr. Barnett were not returned.

Earlier this month, the U.S. Department of Commerce approved the building as a Foreign Trade Zone, published reports said. That means businesses in the tower will be permitted to import foreign merchandise without customs entry or payment of U.S. duties until the goods are sold.

[NYguy]

http://www.nypost.com/p/news/busines...by3Tx6LyHhdruO

By STEVE CUOZZO
October 12, 2010

Extell's Gem Tower on West 47th Street has long been our favorite project to watch.

This column first carried an image of the diamond facet-inspired design, first reported that most of its 750,000 square feet would be sold as condos and first identified major space-buyers like the Gemological Institute of America.

But it's been slower in coming than Extell Chief Gary Barnett promised. Now the mid-block site has been built up to street level and a few steel columns are poking above it.

It's widely suggested that Extell needs commitments for a certain amount of space before it can land a construction loan. But the company has been coy about exactly how much.

Now, Diamond District Monthly says a contract with importer/manufacturer House of Diamonds has boosted the commitments to "about 150,000 of the 200,000 square feet Extell needs to secure construction financing."

Since Extell development director Raizy Haas sits on the board of the 47th Street BID, which publishes the monthly, that seemed authoritative.

Was it?

"It's accurate in the sense that we're getting closer to the number we need," said Haas, who was recouping her energy between returning from London the day before and setting off on a condo-buyer search to Mumbai.

"But," she emphasized, "we're not going to wait for 200,000 feet and for a construction loan to proceed. At the 200,000 foot-mark, we can get a loan more easily. We want our banks to feel comfortable.

She added, however, that "our [Mideast] partners are funding the project, and we'll start going vertical right after the first of the year with or without a construction loan."

That sounded like what Barnett told us in August about Extell's huge Carnegie Tower on West 57th Street, when we chided him that it didn't seem to be "going vertical" as he'd said three months earlier.

But a tower crane has since appeared on 57th Street. "We're pouring concrete there," Haas said.

Another tower crane looms over the 47th Street site. If the work underway presages full-bore construction, rival developers resentful of Barnett's seeming ability to shrug off the financing woes that crippled their own projects will soon have even more to be annoyed over.

[Dylan Leblanc]

I was in New York last week and snapped this photo. Anyone know why there is a garbage bag over top of the rendering?




Pic from Top of the Rock.

[NYguy]

Originally Posted by Dylan Leblanc

Anyone know why there is a garbage bag over top of the rendering?

Don't know, but the guy in the white t-shirt looks like he had something to do with it...

[NYguy]

http://www.nypost.com/p/news/busines...-rss&FEEDNAME=

Diamond tower war brewing

By STEVE CUOZZO
November 23, 2010

Most every week, there's "news" about Extell's International Gem Tower on West 47th Street.

Most recently, the project has been approved as a Foreign Trade Zone by the US Dept. of Commerce, which will allow companies based there to enjoy deferred, reduced or eliminated customs duty on imported goods.

But the news many architectural buffs really want -- that the crystalline, 34-story tower is soaring skyward -- is on hold until hopefully soon after Jan. 1, when Extell says it will "go vertical."

Meanwhile, an address with a much lower media profile, 580 Fifth Ave. at the 47th Street corner, persists in its belief that it's the center of the global diamond trade.

It might seem like a mismatch: a 1920s-vintage rental property owned by a local partnership, versus powerful Extell's ultra-sophisticated 47th Street tower between Fifth and Sixth avenues that's being marketed as condos.

But 580 Fifth's 400,000 square feet are 95 percent leased, while the Gem Tower's 750,000 square feet remain frozen at sidewalk level.

In its condo filing with the state attorney general in January 2009, Extell said its tower would be "substantially complete" by October 2010.

And 580 Fifth, also 34 stories tall, carries the trademarked name World Diamond Tower. "Anywhere in the world, if you're in the industry, you just say '580' -- they know it's the diamond tower," said Ken Kahn, a part-owner who is also one of the building's executive managers.

Tenants include the Diamond Club trading bourse and prominent dealer Julius Klein.

Asking rents are "in the $50s a square foot," said Kahn, who adds with a chuckle, "I can't tell you that's what you sign leases for."

Kahn's sense of humor comes in handy. Some of his major tenants have signed contracts with Extell chief Gary Barnett to move to the Gem Tower. Among them: the Gemological Institute of America, which has a contract to buy a full floor.

"Six of their buyers with letters of intent are from our building," Kahn acknowledged. What happens when the Gem Tower finally opens? He shook his head. "We'll just have to re-rent," he said confidently.

His building is unlike most others in the district.

Neither weather-beaten outside nor run-down inside, its $50 million in recent capital improvements include new elevators, new floors of Brazilian marble, and, next year, a marquee entrance. Its retail space is fully leased.

It makes no claim to matching the Gem Tower's 21st Century allure. But Kahn said the "virtual diamond city" of 580 Fifth is ideal for his tenants.

Diamond buyers, stone cutters, wholesalers, security firms and shippers all rely on one another's services -- "everything from receiving rough stones out of the mines to manufacturing jewelry that will be sold to Tiffany," he said. A basement vault is guarded by a 22-ton door.

Kahn boasts a close relationship with tenants -- such as creating a central diamond- cutting shop for use by the whole build ing.

Kahn not surprisingly is skeptical about the Gem Tower's promise of luring diamond companies from all over the world, which was partly the basis for tax abatements the project received (and which Kahn opposed in city hearings).

"Gary's application to the city was based on adding thousands of jobs. It's not going to happen," he predicted. "They're not bringing jobs in from China and India."

In fact, Extell's commitments for nearly 200,000 square feet include a few foreign firms, including two from India. It's going to be an interesting year ahead on the diamond block.