Manhattan Community Board 5

Vornado’s 15 Penn Plaza project begins public review

Single-tenant building option for Vornado Realty Trust’s 15 Penn Plaza site. Image: Courtesy of Pelli Clarke Pelli Architects.
Multi-tenant building option for Vornado Realty Trust’s 15 Penn Plaza site. Image: Courtesy of Pelli Clarke Pelli Architects.

Proposal includes options for single- and multi-tenant building on site currently occupied by the Hotel Pennsylvania. On February 8, 2010, the City Planning Commission certified Vornado Realty Trust’s application to build a 2.05 million sq.ft. office tower at 15 … <Read More>

Council OKs air rights transfer from Seagram Building

Lord Norman Foster design approved. On August 14, 2008, the City Council approved the special permit and zoning text amendment proposed by Aby Rosen, developer of a 63-story hotel and residential building at 610 Lexington Avenue, adjacent to the Seagram Building. The special permit grants a transfer of development rights from the landmarked Seagram Building, and the text amendment allows, in part, height and setback modifications by way of special permit and an accessory … <Read More>

Commission OKs 63-story Lexington Ave. tower

Lord Norman Foster-designed 63-story tower at 610 Lexington would use air rights from Seagram Plaza. Image: Foster + Partners.

Transfer of air rights from landmarked Seagram Building facilitates construction. On July 2, 2008, the City Planning Commission approved the special permit and zoning text amendment proposed by developer Aby Rosen, allowing his 63-story project at 610 Lexington to proceed to City Council for a vote. The proposed mixed-use building on the southwest corner of … <Read More>

Proposed MoMA skyscraper generates opposition

Jean Nouvel-designed tower requires air rights transfer from two nearby landmarks. The University Club, located on the corner of West 54th Street and Fifth Avenue, and St. Thomas Church, located at West 53rd Street and Fifth Avenue, sought Landmarks’ approval for the sale of their developable air rights to Hines Realty. The sale would allow Hines to construct a 75-story mixed-use tower in the vacant mid-block lot adjacent to the Museum of Modern Art. The … <Read More>

Council OK’s new design standards for public plazas

New standards and guidelines intended to improve public use. The City Council approved City Planning’s proposal to update, improve, and consolidate rules for privately owned public spaces.

Under the old zoning, a developer in parts of Brooklyn, Manhattan and Queens can generate a floor area bonus of up to 20 percent if it builds an adjacent publicly-accessible open space, such as a plaza, arcade, or galleria. In practice, however, many of these privately owned public … <Read More>

Permit issued for 23rd Street residential tower

Townhouse and 22-story residential tower approved. Developers of a through lot at 39-41 West 23rd Street within the Ladies’ Mile Historic District received permits for a 22-story residential building to front West 23rd and a five-story glass and metal townhouse facing West 24th Street. The West 23rd Street side will have a five-story base below a 17- story tower, which will be cantilevered over the adjacent lot at 35 West 23rd Street.

Community Board 5 … <Read More>