Just gonna be me keeping track and talking to myself (or others) about developments around the world that I find interesting.
145 East 60th - the developer behind this is no longer the owner of the property and never went through with the refinancing. Could definitely still see a supertall climb here but as of now nothing is happening.
80 South St. - Oceanwide has sold and it is now going to a different developer. Same story as above, except we are more likely to see something rise in this location.
Tower Fifth - On hold as Macklowe tries to get the Venezuela building, but it looks like they have zero intention of selling anything which means he either downsizes, finds the rights elsewhere, or abandons the project.
270 Park is going up steadily, will have significant skyline presence around this time next year.
175 Park is a massive go (unfortunately the height was arbitrarily decreased), the developers are going through pre demolition right now.
Penn 15 is also going through pre demolition currently and the exterior will be going down in a couple months.
Hudson Yard Phase 1 is almost completely done, which means work on the platform for Phase 2 isn’t going to be that far away.
2WTC is getting another redesign, who knows if it will have a tenant. I just want something to finally get built there, hopefully with a better observation deck than 1WTC (which it looks like it will, yay!)
200 Park (Metlife), nothing is happening here. But I really want it torn down so a modern megatall can be built in this prime location. But that’s a pipe dream and is extremely unlikely to happen.
57th Street is getting another super lux supertall, 41-47 West 57th Street
418 11th Avenue is on hold right now but I have faith it will get built, and it will get built to the height it is proposed at.
The Penn Station Complex towers will go up faster than the reno will complete (hopefully we actually get a better penn station out of this and not just a better looking one)
The Czech republic is getting its tallest tower, Ostrava
Miami is getting lots of tower proposals (we’ll see how many go through).
LA is still, being LA.
Speaking of, Disney is trying to make some communites.
East Side Access should be done by this November finally. Second Avenue subway has a while to go but at least it’s moving at this point. Gateway has gotten its funding I believe and work should be going through the review processes as we speak.
Metro-North is already preparing to connect to Penn Station with some work on the tracks in HY.
Penn Station is getting a huge reno, but a lot of details still need to be unveiled, like specifics around payment and how this will functionally improve Penn instead of just visually (even though it needs both)
California High Speed Rail is trudging along making steady progress, I just wish it could go faster.
Seattle is building a massive amount of public transit currently, I think something like over double their current stuff.
Brightline is also expanding and as usual someone is getting hit by one of their trains because apparently people in Florida don’t understand how to stay off of tracks when a train is coming.
The EU is constantly expanding their already massive train network. I believe there is a connection between Northern Germany and Denmark currently being built. Brenner Pass through the Alps is still going strong, though completion estimates have been pushed into the 2030s. Tons and tons of smaller stuff as well.
I’m going to sleep now, but I’m not nearly finished. Still have a lot of projects I’m thinking about.
I think you would really fancy poring for hours over this list of transit projects expected to open in 2022. Although probably 90% of them won’t open on time.
Some coastline protection stuff.
The East Side Coastal Resiliency is underway I believe. No idea the state of the project, I think they were/still are undergoing demolition.
And there’s this
Staten Island is getting coast protection as well
Some airport renos going on around.
Chicago’s O’Hare is still undergoing renovation and is looking pretty amazing
LaGuardia and JFK are the same, and from what we can tell already they are both going to be amazing.
LAX is being rebuilt, and it’s getting a people move which will also connect to light rail service.
^Speaking of LA and Paris are both going through major transit expansions, with Paris being far more than LA and the rest of the US.
Also this for LA
Don’t know why this one won’t be going faster. After you get past LA’s mountains it is pretty much desert all the way there isn’t it? Or do I have my geography mixed up? But anyway this will be good. The City of Lost Angels and the City of Sin connected once again by powerful, efficient transportation.
Also I hope this happens “Transportation officials are also investigating the possibility of a 63 mile connector between Brightline and the developing high speed rail project in the Antelope Valley which would allow Brightline to connect directly with Union Station.” Would be great for both projects. Interconnectivity makes both of them stronger.
Mexico City and Toronto are both expanding their transit connections a lot this year (won’t get into the smaller projects)
China is continuing to expand their freaking huge high speed rail network. They’re planning to double it in the coming decades, and it is already the biggest in the world. Though I wonder how much bigger it can get? Not that I doubt it can, they have huge amounts of people.
I’m having an idea of a skyscraper in my head.
It would have to be a megatall. At least 1km tall. Maybe a mile.
I don’t think I want it to be mostly glass for strength and maintenance reasons.
Gold and black should be the main colors.
If possible should be above a transit hub.
Lots and lots of different kinds of shops and restaurants at the base. From the average McDonalds to celebrity chef restaurants. (Same with retail, luxury and average) Everything. Diversity is key.
Lots of underground parking (al la Apples HQ in silicon valley.) However cars should not be the main focus of this buildings transit. This will be a train and bus hub.
Elevators should mostly be magnetic (Like the Multi Elevators from thyssenkrupp before they sold their elevator business). However there will be lots of regular elevators as well.
I want plenty of stairwells, many times more than 1WTC and they need to be bigger as well. Along with bigger and more dedicated emergency stairwells.
The building should be the epitome of strength. With shocks all around the buildings like in this
But also the stabalizers like in Taipei 101 and the 57th street towers. And it will have lots of these. Redundancy is key in this buiding. Failsafes for the failsafes and all that
Will comment more in a minute.
It would have to be made out of the strongest concrete we have. That 30 + thousand psi stuff.
And I want it to be carbon fiber and steel reinforced.
The strongest steel, the strongest glass, etc etc.
I want it to have lots of protections from natural disasters as well. For floods, it should be built close to the water but a certain distance away as to let the ground soak up some of the water. There should be breakwaters at the edge to break the force of any large wave and to prevent erosion. Then build hidden small hills of dirt or whatever going back to the center to additionally add protection. After all that we can have more prominent features of protection such as flood gates, specialized water system specifically for a flood. The water system should be seperated from the waste system like in Singapore.
Would the tower have setbacks as it goes up or ends up in a spire/antenna at the top?
Or gradually decreases in width as it goes up (similar to Burj Khalifa and Jeddah Tower)?
Though obviously mine would be heavily different from this design, such as that base going in and out like I showed you
Along with the shock absorbers, the underground, the transit hub, etc etc
Also while the pond looks good on that proposal it would not work with what I want. It needs to have a transit hub, huge underground car parking (al la Apple Park), etc
These ideas are amazing! Seems to be a kind of doomsday skyscraper. I like the statement of it being exceedingly strong and robust. Also I like the idea of the exposed underground floors, would be great for bringing natural light into the transit hub. What uses would you put into the skyscraper itself?
Yeah I want the skyscraper to be very strong, it should last an extremely long time even in the face of bad weather conditions, hurricanes, earthquakes, etc.
What uses? Mixed use. Very, very mixed use.
Luxury Hotels, non luxury (but still decent hotels), lots of office space both in the tower itself and the rest of the complex, it will obviously have a observation deck as those are very good money makers on extremely tall buildings, it will have a restaurant and bar (prolly several) near the top with the observation deck.
