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Posted Nov 27, 2012, 12:18 PM
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Join Date: Jan 2012
Posts: 697
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http://observer.com/2012/11/gary-bar...50-foot-tower/
Gary Barnett’s Biggest Blockbuster Yet: 225 West 57th Street, New York’s First 1,550-Foot Tower
By Matt Chaban 6:00am
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But a year or two after that, and he might turn his gaze further down 57th Street, past the already striking 1,005-foot One57 tower, Gary Barnett’s billionaire bauble nearing completion despite that crane accident. There it would settle on another tower being developed by Mr. Barnett, at 225 West 57th Street, just one block from what was already going to be the city’s tallest apartment building when it opens next year. The new tower’s height, according to building permits filed last week: 1,550 feet.
That would make it the world’s sixth tallest building—at least until something else comes along and knocks it off its pedestal.
That is a good 50 percent taller than either the Chrysler Building or One57, while all three are about the same size, between 1.2 and 1.4 million square feet. The tower will be slender, but it will also be solid unlike some of its spindly rivals, notably 432 Park and predecessors like the Trump World Tower. (Amazing how that held the record for tallest apartment building for a decade, surpassed by only a few feet by Frank Gehry’s Spruce Street tower, and now, it’s just off to the races, especially when the 1,050-foot MoMA tower is added into the mix. And never mind all the super-tall office towers on the horizon, like the 1,300-footer at Hudson Yards and all those maybe-taller towers coming out of the Midtown East rezoning.)
The tower will reach 88 stories, which sounds like a lot, but when the overall height is considered, that belies exceedingly high ceilings. At the same time, much extra space will also likely be devoted to mechanical systems to keep such a colossus running, as well as the fact that the first five floors, as construction documents show, will be given over to a Nordstroms, as was announced in July. On the seventh through 12th floors, there will be a hotel, and than, boom, 223 residential units. That is almost twice as many units as One57, though the hotel is also considerably larger there.
“I don’t want to confirm anything except to say we’ve filed permits,” Mr. Barnett told The Observer Monday by phone, when asked if the project had financing and was set to rise.
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Quote:
“There won’t be a spire or anything like that, the floors will go all the way to the top, or almost to the top, with some mechanicals above,” Mr. Barnett said. “This is not a gimmick.”
On the highest occupiable floor, the 85th, construction documents call for a “residential accessory lounge open to sky.” Apartments will be from the 15th through 84th floors, with no mention of layouts (full-floor, duplex, etc.). The building permits also mention another residential lounge on the 14th floor, and the seventh floor houses a number of amenities for the hotel: a restaurant, salon, gym, lounge and “sky lobby.” The ground floor has separate entrances for the Nordstroms, the hotel and the residences.
One thing that will not be new is the facade along Broadway, the former BF Goodrich building. Because of a deal struck with the city’s Landmarks Preservation Commission in 2009, the old auto building at 225 West 57th can come down, despite the protests of preservationists, but its sibling at 1780 Broadway must remain. A 1920s red brick building, its 12-story facade must be integrated into whatever Mr. Barnett builds. The building will have T-shaped configuration as a result, with section on Broaway, 57th and 58th streets.
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I'm so damn happy and excited right now and waiting for those renderings feels similiar to what I felt like as a child while waiting for my christmas presents.
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