Last week a master plan was unveiled for one of the largest sites left in Manhattan for large scale residential development. The former Con-Ed power plant just south of the UN along the East River is owned by Sheldon Solow, known for building the famously sloping 9 West 57th Street office tower and a group of modernist luxury apartment houses with exquisite glass curtain walls. Solow has brought in Richard Meier and SOM's David Childs to devise the master plan (right), with Meier set to design four apartment towers. The site will eventually have more than 2,200 apartments, the exact mix of condos and rentals so far undecided. Meier told the New York Times his towers would take the UN building "as a starting point." That sounds to us like more of his bright white contemporary take on the International Style, with clear glass rather than the dark reflective skin of the apartment towers that have UN Plaza as their address. This one is still years away from realization, but bears watching as news warrants. Meanwhile, walk by Solow's Sutton Place North (by Davis Brody Bond) and take a look at what we think is the best, most seamless curtain wall in New York.
TriBeCa Triangle Lofts
A long abandoned triangular property bounded by Canal, Watts, and Greenwich Streets could soon be transformed into a seven story condominium to be known as 475 Greenwich. The project, which required and received a zoning variance to allow residential units, will have 21 apartments and ground-level retail space. Greenberg Farrow Architects designed the rare freestanding structure. The western stretch of Canal is slowly being refinished piece by piece. The newly rebuilt Canal Park at West Street was recently opened, and another pocket park is to be created on the vacant strip of land to the east bound by Varick, Canal, and Laight Streets. The city may need to erect new signs for Canal Street truckers: Caution Real Estate Brokers Crossing.
The Future of West Street
In part one of a series on changes to the Hudson River waterfront in the West Village, we take a look at the pending development of the Superior Printing Ink factory along West Street. Click on the link below for recently reported details on these plans, plus our snapshots of one unlucky co-op preparing to lose its river views.
Update: Gwathmey in SoHo
In a previous post we ruminated on the possibility that another project designed by Gwathmey Siegel might soon rise in Manhattan to follow on their much discussed Astor Place "Sculpture for Living" (right). Recently Lois Weiss of the New York Post reported that the Landmarks commission has now approved the design for a residential project to fill a parking lot at 311-323 West Broadway across the street from the SoHo Grand Hotel. The Laboz family plans a condo project that will go through the block to Wooster Street, and may include townhouses. We'll take a closer look as details emerge.
Winka Dubbeldam, Take 2
Dutch-born architect Winka Dubbeldam is at work on a follow-up to her innovative 497 Greenwich Street design (top right) with a new project for an empty lot on Vestry Street in TriBeCa. The design for 31-33 Vestry was recently unveiled at a hearing held by the Landmarks Preservation Commission where Ms. Dubbeldam was asked to make a number of changes. The building's curtain wall as proposed (bottom right) would be inlaid with bands of light-emitting stone that will glow at night. The luminous facade would be extremely flat and, according to Downtown Express' Ronda Kaysen, members of the commission expressed concern that it would make for too harsh a contrast with the neighboring buildings. To our eyes the plan is such a clean break from the past that to ask Ms. Dubbeldam to apply cheap echoes of its surroundings would be rather silly. We hope the revised design will maintain the spirit in which it was first conceived, and we hope the commission will ultimately find the merit in a challenging design. Follow the link to Downtown Express for a larger view.
On The Drawing Board
A new category on our list of contents at left called Looking Glass will be a place for us to post quick project news, forecasts, and any random speculation we may indulge in from time to time. In this edition, after the jump, we take a sneak peek and link you to three project renderings just posted to the web by their developers.
