Redesign will feature a glass cube in the center of the plaza and a more accessible public space. On June 23, 2005, the City Council approved a text amendment to the Special Midtown District allowing renovations to the General Motors building plaza, located at 767 Fifth Avenue between East 59th and East 58th Streets. The text amendment was necessary to alter the street wall and retail continuity requirements, which require that larger developments be built at the street wall.

The most prominent feature in the plaza’s redesign will be the construction of a 32-foot transparent glass cube in the center of the plaza fronting Fifth Avenue. The cube will contain an elevator and a glass stairway and will serve as an entryway to a 25,000-square-foot underground retail space. Other renovations to the Fifth Avenue frontage include regrading the plaza to lower its overall height, and adding two reflecting pools, tables and chairs, trees and planters, and a wide stone ledge around its perimeter for added seating. Renovations will also take place on the Madison Avenue side of the building, which will lose its open area when the retail space is extended out to the property line. (more…)