I’d love to replace 680 Fifth with a supertall residential tower. That building is pretty banal, and unbecoming of its location.
1 Like
Looks like MAP zoning map wasn’t updated with 53 W 53rd, but according to them the church has 361K of transferrable air rights (red) and the adjacent MoMa property (yellow) has another 87.5K.
Combined together that could be a 678K gsf tower, but like TKDV said zoned only FAR 10 for resi so would be less unless the developers paid out millions for transit improvements or otherwise made some deal.
The best result would be a Hearst tower-like building here while most likely result would be a forgettable 35 story office building like the diamond district tower by Extell.
4 Likes
Thanks!
1 Like
Thanks! Didn’t they change the zoning laws a few years ago to permit churches to transfer their zoning rights to non-adjacent buildings?
1 Like
I don’t want to continue to derail this thread too much, but even though the map says it contains information from 2018, and as you said, it does not include 53W53rd, I would take the information with a grain of salt since 53W53rd was built with a lot of air rights from MoMa and St Thomas’s Church, so the data is inaccurate now, they don’t have that much transferable air rights as listed on the map anymore.
@robertwalpole that zoning change was only for churches and religious institutions within the East Midtown rezoning boundary (and as such can only be transferred within the area), it didn’t apply to all church properties in the city. I’m not aware that it has been made into a change for the whole city.
2 Likes
Good idea 
Thanks, TDVK.
:
Wow! This is going to be amazing!!!
11 Likes
Amazing!!! 
4 Likes
Choo Choo! Here comes New York! America!
5 Likes
oh yes, those windows look so good.
2 Likes
I agree. The facade design owes a debt to Adjaye’s 130 William with the arches though.
The speed with which those units sold downtown in 2018-9 must have impressed Rabina.
6 Likes
Just as lovely as the views on my model I was never able to get a nice shot of to show off their great detail. There were actually test panels on site before excavation ever started, I guess I was the only one that ever noticed them.
@SideStreet I don’t think this tower owes anything to 130 William, the arches in this case are much more graceful and intricate, it has much more class.
5 Likes
Adjay’s 130 William is mediocre at best. Turned out worse than the renders (just look at the disappointment of a crown that it got compared to the renders, for starters).
This building is vastly superior in terms of appearance, design and facade and owes nothing to 130 William.
6 Likes
Beautiful! I love how the big corporate firms (namely KPF and SOM) have started to move away from glass and steel and towards warmer materials like terra cotta and masonry in their NYC designs. This tower and SOM’s Disney Hudson Square building are a few examples of what I’m talking about. These big firms appear to be taking cues from the likes of Morris Adjmi, SHoP, Chipperfield, CookFox, etc in the way that they use classic materials to create unique contemporary designs. I hope this trend continues.
8 Likes
Does anyone know if this material is metal, concrete, terra cotta, or something else? It looks incredible.
5 Likes
It’s all terracotta (the lighter portions framing the windows and the fluted darker vertical pieces), the mullions are bronze, and the dark gray material at each setback is aluminum.
11 Likes
How would you call this type of architecture style?
I’d say a variant of Neo Art Deco.
5 Likes