Apparently, there was an article in the FT in which Rafael Vinoly stated a building “over a mile high” is in the works in New York City. (He also stated he doesn’t think it will be built; but even such a proposal at this point would be exciting)
I will weep for days if this is true. This is the building America needs- the building we deserve.
link?
And ya not gonna happen. If just said megatall I would buy that someone has a vision they are working on, like a Shanghai tower type deal, but a mile high? nope.
I speculate this may be the city in which Prince Alwaleed chose to build a mile high building. I remember reading somewhere that he was planning on doing that (I’m not confusing this with the tower in Jeddah)
I mean this would never get through the FAA. There is a 2000 foot cap, however that cap is negotiable. If going above 2k poses no risk to air traffic they would allow it. Going to be a tough sell that a 5000 foot tower would not impede air traffic when there are 3 major airports surrounding the city.
I could see the FAA letting a 2100 footer go in manhattan because no air traffic is allowed to fly near that low over the island. But 5k, naw. It would be more feasible in Chicago because fly patterns come no where near the loop.
I’m John Boehner, and I approve that message!!!
This would not get built! I’d be thrilled if a 2000 ft building was the tallest in the city for the next 25 years. 5000+ feet is beyond insane and simply not reality lol
Robert knows anything is possible in the world capital!
This is New York City. This is America.
The same city that erected the ESB and Chrysler Building.
The same country that went to the moon and won back to back world wars.
Here is the article back in 2013:
Saudi billionaire Prince Alwaleed bin Talal says he is looking at the world’s largest cities, including Shanghai, Moscow, London and New York, as possible locations to build a mile-high skyscraper that would be the world’s tallest building by far.
The prince is inviting Dubai’s biggest real estate developer Emaar Properties, chaired by Mohammed Alabbar, to team up with his investment firm Kingdom Holding on the project.
“Right now we are discussing and evaluating the possibility of building a one-mile (1.6-kilometre) tower,” Alwaleed told Reuters by telephone late on Monday.
“We also need good partners. I invite Emaar and Mr. Alabbar to join forces with us and see how we can build the ultimate one-mile tower somewhere in the world.”
Honestly, I don’t see a mile-high tower happening in NYC anytime soon. We may end up getting a 2,000 ft tower or two within a decade or so but for now, we got more than enough supertalls going up to keep us occupied so we’ll cross that bridge when we get to it.
While I would love a mile high tower I just don’t see it happening anytime soon. The construction costs would be astronomical!!!
Imagine how far away you could see it though! On a clear day it would be visible anywhere in North Jersey! You’d probably see it from Philadelphia if you went up a few floors!
I would rather split that up into 2 megatalls, and a high supertall (1500+).
A mile high tower would look silly.
I agree!!! Imagine how awesome a couple of well positioned Burj Khalifa type towers would be!!!
We really do need some more 1500-1600 footers and one 2000 footer to cap em off.
A mega tall will happen. It has to. Not because of pride, but because of land prices and lack of space. But also tenants and developers are looking at places in Queens and Brooklyn that border Manhattan and major transit arteries as future CBDs. This could in theory reduce the probability of a mega tall as space would just be spread over large parcels with big floor space, but in terms of Manhattan getting one, its inevitable. Question is where and when?
I think Midtown East shows promise, but, I’d also take a gander at the West Side. There are a lot of prime spots there. And its close to Penn. The same could be said with Midtown East next to Grand Central, but for sake of property values and the building demo costs that would result, I think anything west of 6th Avenue is a great investment.
Although for aesthetics, I’d like to see a mega tall in Lower Manhattan. Much more so than Midtown.
Although with the right zoning, and unlimited height, parts of DoBro would be cool. It will be a “lol” moment if Brooklyn ever gains the title of tallest tower in the city. Definitely a shift!
Prince Alwaleed is a very rich man who isn’t going to let construction costs prevent him from eternal fame and glory.
Besides, the units would sell. I’d wager every billionaire in the world would want a unit in the mile-high tower in NYC.
While I agree that a megatall will happen eventually, I don’t see it being a mile high anytime soon.
I doubt about being a mile tall skyscraper, but this rumor is interesting nonetheless. Let’s see what happens next about this building.
Agreed! We have so much already going up that regardless of what happens here, it will still be fun to watch!
I don’t even think it will look good to have a mile high tower. I think 2000 ft onward is what might happen. Baby steps in height. There should be a buffer to gradually build the skyline. Anything at this point that’s 3000 ft or more would look way out of place.
Don’t get me wrong, it would be sick if it did happen, but realistically, I think we have to look at 600m as the next stepping stone. A 600m tower would look great in Lower Manhattan.
I wish the shanghai world financial center was here. Probably one of my favorite skyscrapers of all time, right next to the Jin Mao.
