It doesn’t seem probable, unless it was just a box, and the floor to floor heights were squished down, a lot (to fit more space in a smaller building). Doing that doesn’t sound lucrative to any developer trying to find tenants. Low ceiling heights also aren’t attractive to tenants.
But the building can’t just be a box because specifications in the zoning prevent it from being just a box and require setbacks at certain heights.
It’s pretty normal to have initial building filings that don’t represent the final height. I mean, that was the case for 432 Park, One Vanderbilt, 30 HY and 111 W.57. I think it’s more atypical to not have such filings, on major projects, actually.
Also, Boston Properties spent nearly $200 million on air rights transfers, and a year getting zoning approvals. Pretty sure they didn’t spend that money and time for nothing.
So I’d be really surprised if the renderings shown in the last few years, including building specs, didn’t represent the actual plans.
It’s not necessarily that the renders and other released materials were not accurate depictions of the project, because at the time, they were. It’s that the 780’ figure is an arbitrary figure that seems like it came from nowhere.
A built as-of-right tower on this site would have generated a 472’ tall tower with a FAR of 15, all the added provisions and purchased air rights that raised the tower to have a FAR of 30 allowed the tower to be 1050’ tall, but all depictions of the tower show a ~930’ tall tower. Even a tower that was raised to the maximum 21.6 FAR without special provisions on the site wouldn’t generate a tower that is 780’ tall.
What’s the site in between 1 Vanderbilt and 343 Madison
what are the 2 tall green towers to the left on picture 7?
Presumably 350 Park Ave and Tower Fifth
That’s Milstein’s tower. He plans to hold off developing it for now.
I’m pretty sure that he owns this PoS on 42nd also.
Interesting. I wonder what will come of it when he does go forward with it. Exciting stuff.
Something enormous. He’s not much of a developer, but he owns a lot of property.
Anyway, he’s waiting for the next cycle.
Same with Tishman Speyer which extended Colgate Palmolive’s lease at 300 Park.
If things turn out well towers like this one may well be the runts of the litter
You’re right about the two green models in the wind tunnel model.
And yeah, thats 335 Madison Ave as Robert said. It went through a $100 million renovation in 2018 as Milstein decided to not yet develop the property, but it has the same zoning properties as One Vanderbilt, just as the Roosevelt Hotel site does.
As for this building, it seems the design has remained the same, or atleast the massing has from the wind tunnel model, it’s just been squashed down, though only ~100’ since the original design was only ever 930’ and was never pushed to it’s 1050’ limit.
Unless my eyes deceive me I wouldn’t trust these models to have the most accurate heights. Like Pic number 7 comparing 1 Vandy and 175 Park.
For the other green models I can’t really inference much as to if they are their correct heights, the perspective distorts the image to be able to accurately infer their heights. 343 looks the right height as compared to the Metlife Building and the document brief, as does 520 5th Ave, so I’d assume Tower Fifth and 350 Park Ave are being represented accurately. Even though One Vanderbilt’s spire isn’t on it’s model, 175 Park looks to be maybe some odd 75’ off or so?
They manage a lot of rental apartments downtown and UES, the office stuff is definitely not a priority for them
Wow! Didn’t realize the demolition was progressing fast! 
Thanks!
