131 West 23rd Street, existing low-rise at center, via Google Maps
The Midtown South boom continues to echo into ever-taller echelons, and the first permits have been filed for one of the stretch’s more significant high-rises, coming to 131 West 23rd Street. The Chelsea Associates LLC is behind the new building application, which calls for a 35-story tower designed by Stonehill & Taylor.
Perhaps more notable than the floor-count are the height and number of units; the building will stand 445 feet to its pinnacle, making it quite distinctive on both the neighborhood and overall skylines. The residential component will measure 68,195 square feet, split between 21 apartments, translating into averaging units of over 3,000 square feet.
Another 143,808 square feet will be split between a retail component and a hotel, though the Schedule A is surprising, as it actually shows residential on the lower floors, with the hotel above. This would flip what normally occurs in New York City developments, as residential is typically placed as high as possible to maximize pricing.
The surrounding neighborhood is increasingly prime, and any tower stretching nearly 500 feet tall would be able to achieve astronomical price-points for residences on upper floors. Thus, the likely explanation is that the filings are “dummy” placeholders, with 131 West 23rd Street becoming another member of the Great Dummy Permit Frenzy of September 2014.
Regardless of administrative hang-ups, demolition permits have yet to be filed for the existing structure. The project marks another step forward for 23rd Street, which is deserving of iconic architecture — or, at the very least, substantial density. Nearby, the former Pope Hat building should also alter the local skyline in the near-future, though 131 West 23rd Street will still stand taller than anything west of One Madison.
permits were originally filed back in 2014, calling for 29 apartments on the lower floors and 246 hotel rooms on the upper floors – an oddity that YIMBY pointed out is the opposite of what developers tend to do. However, with new zoning documents (that have since been disapproved), we now see that the owner, Hotelier Jeffrey Dagowitz of JHG Holdings, plans to erect two towers, connected by the existing church building.
Zoning documents show the block-through project, which utilizes the 24th Street parcels, will feature a 13-story (170 ft) residential tower fronting 23rd Street and a 39-story (466 ft) hotel fronting 24th Street. The church facade will be integrated into the residential portion and Stonehill & Taylor West are serving as the architects.
The new elevation, above, may actually be the 24th St elevation. 24th St frontage will be a little narrower than the 23rd St frontage when the Church lot and 131 w 23rd lot are combined.
Update:
Was nearby so I measured (amazing what a cell phone can do these days): there will be about 82 feet of frontage on 24th St and about 99 feet of frontage on 23rd. If the rough template (see City Realty link from July 2018) still at all applies, then the tall tower goes on 24th St.
I’m all for adaptive reuse, but the idea that the existing church façade will remain embedded in the 23rd St façade sounds… eccentric at best.
But I still hate that the current zoning code forces these extreme setbacks with bases that are almost always comically short and do not complement the old flush to the streetwall neighboring buildings. On 23rd, how the new building interfaces with the church and the building on the right will be make or break.
Thanks. The architect and rendering posted last year are linked to Stonehill Taylor. That must have been some early massing study. Really glad the new renderings look very promising.
