New renderings show Vornado’s Pompidou Center-like office plans for Chelsea

A high-tech future awaits the 235,000-square-foot building at 260 Eleventh Avenue that served as headquarters for the iconic Otis Elevator company from its construction in 1911 until the company’s move to midtown 1974. For the site’s next life, REIT Vornado Realty Trust plans to renovate and expand the property, which they purchased in 2015, for commercial tenants. Now, CityRealty reports, a trio of renderings from Vornado’s latest investor report provide a peek at the planned design overhaul by British architect Richard Rogers. Evoking the “inside-out” structure of the Pompidou Center in Paris and the high-tech Lloyd’s of London building, the new addition displays exposed structural and circulation systems and a multi-story atrium beneath glass-enclosed floors.

Otis Elevator Company Building at 260 Eleventh Avenue

Vornado’s 99-year ground lease gives the company the option to buy the land–plus a 10,000-square-foot parking lot and additional air rights–for $110 million.

According to the renderings, atop the 27th-street-facing parking lot will be a new eight-floor building clad in transparent glass and with bold structural elements. The site is in the West Chelsea Historic District, so the Landmarks Preservation Commission (LPC) will have to approve the new design and any exterior modifications.

West 27th Street building to rise on a parking lot (Vornado Realty Trust)

According to the LPC historic report, research and development were centralized on the building’s lower floors with the first floor dedicated to heavy manufacturing. The upper floors were home to corporate offices and a law library.

Google Earth aerial showing the location of the building (CityRealty)

During its time in the West Chelsea HQ, Otis would provide elevators to several of the world’s tallest buildings including the Chrysler Building, the Empire State Building, the Twin Towers at the World Trade Center and the Sears Tower in Chicago.

[Via CityRealty]

RELATED:

• Vornado floats futuristic new design for Hotel Pennsylvania-replacing office tower
• To lure Google workers, investors drop $83M on a block of Chelsea apartments
• See inside WeWork’s first elementary school in NYC designed by Bjarke Ingels

Images courtesy of Vornado Realty Trust except where noted.