SHoP Architects

November 15, 2016

See new photos inside the world’s tallest modular tower; leasing kicks off at 461 Dean

It's been a long an tumultuous journey for 461 Dean, also know as the B2 tower, and better known as the world's tallest prefab tower. The fire-engine-red stacked building has seen numerous delays in the last four years thanks to lawsuits, leaks, and alignment issues. Its developer Forest City Ratner even opted to exit the modular business last month—although that's not to say that the technology developed is any less valuable (more on that ahead). But now that celebratory champagne bottle can finally be popped, as this afternoon the developer held a grand opening ceremony to kick off the official start of leasing.
more details here
November 1, 2016

New renderings revealed for Essex Crossing’s 150,000 square-foot mega-market

The Essex Crossing megaproject is taking shape in the Lower East Side, most notably with the Market Line, the 150,000 square-foot retail area serving the project's buildings. Within will be the new home for the neighborhood's beloved 76-year-old Essex Street Market, upon which concept the modern retail destination was built. As 6sqft previously reported, the SHoP Architects-designed market will be among the largest in the nation. Principal Rohan Mehra of the project's retail development firm Prusik Group told Curbed that he compares the new market to Seattle’s Pike Place Market or Barcelona’s La Boqueria, “hubs of activity” all. The Market Line will stretch over 700 feet across three buildings, incorporating the new city-operated Essex Street Market and several new spaces.
More renderings this way
September 29, 2016

New renderings for JDS and SHoP’s 1,000-foot Lower East Side supertall

Last 6sqft checked on the rental building at 247 Cherry Street in the Two Bridges area of the Lower East Side, it was revealed that the tower would rise to 1,000 feet, not surprising considering it comes from the supertall power team of JDS Development and SHoP Architects. And now, after a Community Board 3 meeting earlier this week where JDS and SHoP addressed the controversial project, CityRealty.com brings a new set of renderings that show close-ups of the 77-story building's green terra cotta facade and sky decks.
Check out all the new views
September 27, 2016

Sales launch with new renderings at 242 Broome Street, Essex Crossing’s first condos

Only one of the 10 towers at Essex Crossing--the 1.65 million-square-foot, mixed-use, mega-development underway on the Lower East Side--will offer condos, and those looking to buy a residence there now have their chance. Curbed reports that sales have launched at 242 Broome Street, the SHoP-designed tower that will house 55 one- to three-bedroom condos, 11 of which will be affordable. As 6sqft previously shared, market-rate units will range from $1,275,000 to $7,000,000. Along with this news comes the first set of interior renderings from DXA Studio, whose designs "balance serenity with modernism."
More details and renderings ahead
August 19, 2016

Tour the American Copper Buildings’ skybridge and roof, first look at its floating lap pool

After last week's rush of news surrounding the American Copper Buildings--the launch of its affordable housing lottery for 160 units and the first reveal of its interior renderings--6sqft decided to take a tour inside the SHoP Architects-designed project. JDS Development Group's dancing East River towers have become best known for their copper facade (made up of 5,000 metal panels) and its three-story, amenity-filled skybridge that hovers 300 feet above the site at 626 First Avenue. Not only did we walk through the bridge, but we also took a peek at the buildings' already greening copper patina, had a first look at the lap pool on the 28th floor that will float between the towers, and also checked out the insane views from the roof.
See it all this way
August 12, 2016

POLL: Will Amenity-Filled Skybridges Become a New Architectural Trend?

When the SHoP Architects-designed American Copper Buildings were first revealed, it wasn't as much their twisting silhouettes that made headlines as it was their diagonal, amenity-filled skybridge. The three-story bridge, boasting a lap pool and lounge and topped with private terraces, is located 300 feet above the street, the highest such structure in the city and a new concept in enticing residents to the luxury market. And just this week, Bjarke Ingels unveiled new views of his High Line towers, which will feature two skybridges. Though they're much closer to the ground, they're also planned as amenity spaces, which makes us wonder--is this architectural feature set to become a new trend in NYC?
Share your opinion here
August 11, 2016

Renderings Revealed for SHoP-Designed Interiors at the American Copper Buildings

Today is the day for big reveals at the American Copper Buildings. Earlier, 6sqft broke the news that the affordable housing lottery for the project's low-income units will begin Monday (with homes ranging from $833/month studios to $1,247/month three-bedrooms), and now Curbed has shared the first interior renderings of the 761 apartments, as well as some additional amenity details. SHoP Architects, who designed the pair of dancing towers for JDS Development, are also responsible for the interiors, an unusual occurrence for the firm. They've outfitted the residences with 10-foot ceilings and floor-to-ceiling windows, and custom-designed oak floors, kitchens, lighting, and shades.
Check out all the renderings
August 11, 2016

Live in SHoP’s American Copper Buildings for $833/Month, Lottery Launching for 160 Affordable Units

One of the flashiest new residential projects on the horizon is the American Copper Buildings, the SHoP Architects-designed dancing towers along the East River that have become best known for their three-story, amenity-filled skybridge, the highest such structure in the city at 300 feet above street level. As 6sqft previously reported, when completed early next year, the shimmering buildings will offer 761 rental units, 20 percent of which will be earmarked for low-income households. This latter group of 160 apartments has now officially come online through the city's affordable housing lottery, ranging from $833/month studios to $1,247/month three-bedrooms.
Find out if you qualify here
July 19, 2016

Pricing Revealed for Essex Crossing’s SHoP-Designed Condo Tower

Though Essex Crossing will bring 1.65 million square feet of residential, community, and commercial space to the Lower East Side, only one of the 10 sites will offer condos--242 Broome Street. Located at Site One, the SHoP Architects-designed tower is currently getting its foundation poured, and along with this groundbreaking comes a sales website with new details on the project, reports CityRealty.com. The 14-story building will have a five-story base to house retail and commercial tenants and a bowling alley from Splitsville Luxury Lanes. On the fifth floor will be a cultural space (the Andy Warhol Museum previously planned to open an outpost here) and rooftop sculpture garden. Above will be 55 one- to three-bedroom condos, 11 of which will be affordable. Tentative pricing for the market-rate units ranges from $1,275,000 to $7,000,000, according to the latest edition of Elliman Magazine (the brokerage will be handling sales).
More details this way
June 29, 2016

JDS and SHoP’s Cherry Street Tower Will Be Taller Than Expected, May Reach 1,000 Feet

Back in April, the power team of JDS Development and SHoP Architects unveiled plans for a 900-foot, 77-story rental building at 247 Cherry Street in the Two Bridges area of the Lower East Side. This neighborhood has become controversial for a recent influx of sky-high development; 247 Cherry will rise directly next to Extell's 850-foot One Manhattan Square and not far from two 50-story towers at 265-275 Cherry Street. Its 900-foot height would've made it the tallest tower between Midtown and Downtown, but left it 100 feet shy of the supertall status JDS and SHoP are known for (the duo is responsible for the 1,438-foot-tall 111 West 57th Street and 9 DeKalb Avenue, Brooklyn’s first 1,000+ foot tower). However, Bowery Boogie reports today that the height may actually be at or above 1,000 feet, rising 80 stories.
More details ahead
June 23, 2016

New Renderings of South Street Seaport’s Fulton Market Revamp From SHoP Architects

Though they didn't have much luck with their controversial tower at the Seaport, SHoP Architects and the Howard Hughes Corporation have gotten approvals for their revamp of the historic, 1983 Fulton Market Building. Yimby reports that on Tuesday, the Landmarks Preservation Commission approved the revised design for the building's exterior, which alters the signage from the original 2014 proposal. To show how the signs will look, SHoP prepared several new renderings of the site.
See them all here
June 1, 2016

VIDEO: JDS Takes Us Behind the Construction of the American Copper Buildings’ Skybridge

Aside from their "dancing" silhouette, what makes the SHoP-designed American Copper Buildings (named for the 5,000 metal panels that make up the facade) so unique is the three-story diagonal skybridge that connects the 470- and 540-foot towers. Floating 300 feet over the street at 626 First Avenue, it's the city's first major new skybridge in over 80 years and will be the highest such structure in New York when completed. Though the bridge is no small feat—its steel trusses weigh over 421,000 pounds, it has 24 connection points, and it will be close to one million square feet—it all started with a single piece of string. In a new video from their "Building Know-How" series, JDS Development takes us behind the construction of this architectural wonder, sharing their approach
Watch the full video here
April 28, 2016

JDS and SHoP Architects Unveil Plan for 900-Foot Lower East Side Tower

There's a new tallest tower taking over the Lower East Side, and unsurprisingly it comes to us via the supertall super-team of JDS Development and SHoP Architects, the same duo responsible for the 1,438-foot-tall 111 West 57th Street and 9 DeKalb Avenue, Brooklyn's first 1,000+ foot tower. Their latest record-setter is a 900-foot, 77-story rental building planned for 247 Cherry Street, reports The Lo-Down. It will rise directly next to Extell's One Manhattan Square, which made waves for its 850-foot height in the low-scale Two Bridges area. The newest tallest tower between Midtown and Downtown will have a 10,000-square-foot retail base with 600 rental apartments above, about 150 of which will be made permanently affordable. Though the design isn't finalized, SHoP says it will likely be terracotta brick and glass and feature outdoor terraces in the middle. There will also be a top-floor amenity space for all residents, and SCAPE Landscape Architecture has been tapped to create a publicly accessible plaza surrounding the structure.
More details this way
April 27, 2016

Lottery Launches for 181 Affordable Units in Pacific Park’s Modular Tower

After suffering delays, lawsuits, leaks and alignment issues, Pacific Park's 461 Dean Street (aka the B2 Tower) is finally wrapping up construction and has just launched its affordable housing lottery. The 32-story structure from SHoP Architects will be the world's tallest prefab tower, and of its 363 units, 181 will be available to low- and middle-income households. This will range from $559/month studios to $3,012 two-bedrooms and from individuals earning $20,675 annually to families of four earning $144,960.
Get a look at the apartments and find out if you qualify
April 21, 2016

First Domino Sugar Refinery Tower at 325 Kent Avenue Now Rising Above Williamsburg

After breaking ground last spring, the first tower of Two Trees' three million-square-foot Domino Sugar Refinery Master Plan has finally lifted out of the ground. Addressed 325 Kent Avenue (Site E), the 400,000-square-foot building rises one block inland from the East River waterfront and the remaining five parcels of the master plan. The future 16-story, 189-foot-tall project covers three-quarters of its block bound by Kent and Wythe Avenues and South 3rd and 4th Streets. All in all, the two-winged tower will hold a whopping 522 rental units, making it the second largest residential building in Williamsburg after the also-in-construction 2 North 6th Street.
Find out more about the development
April 20, 2016

SHoP’s East River Towers Named American Copper Buildings; Go Inside Their Skybridge

We've been referring to SHoP Architects' pair of East River rental buildings at 626 First Avenue as the "dancing towers," but now that they've shimmied up to their full 470- and 540-foot heights, they've been officially named with a more mature moniker, the American Copper Buildings. First reported by Curbed, the title is "a nod to the 5,000 metal panels that make up the facade," which weigh in at a whopping 2,100 tons. In addition, developer JDS has released a teaser site and a fresh set of renderings that finally show the interior of the three-story, amenity-filled skybridge.
Get a look inside
April 20, 2016

Skyline Wars: Brooklyn Enters the Supertall Race

Carter Uncut brings New York City’s latest development news under the critical eye of resident architecture critic Carter B. Horsley. Here, Carter brings us his fifth installment of “Skyline Wars,” a series that examines the explosive and unprecedented supertall phenomenon that is transforming the city’s silhouette. In this post Carter looks at Brooklyn's once demure skyline, soon to be Manhattan's rival. Downtown Brooklyn has had a modest but pleasant skyline highlighted by the 350-foot-high Court & Remsen Building and the 343-foot-high great ornate terraces of 75 Livingston Street, both erected in 1926, and the 462-foot-high flat top of the 1927 Montague Court Building. The borough’s tallest building, however, was the great 514-foot-high dome of the 1929 Williamsburg Savings Bank Tower, now known as One Hanson Place, a bit removed to the east from Downtown Brooklyn. It remained as the borough’s tallest for a very long time, from 1929 until 2009. A flurry of new towers in recent years has significantly enlarged Brooklyn’s skyline. Since 2008, nine new towers higher than 359 feet have sprouted there, in large part as a result of a rezoning by the city in 2007. A few other towers have also given its riverfront an impressive frontage. Whereas in the past the vast majority of towers were clustered about Borough Hall downtown, now there are several clusters with some around the Brooklyn Academy of Music and the former Williamsburg Savings Bank Tower and some around the Williamsburg riverfront.
more on Brooklyn's skyline here
April 19, 2016

LPC Approves Brooklyn’s First 1,000+ Foot Tower; New Renderings and Details

Brooklyn is finally getting a new skyscraper development worthy of its 2.6 million populace. Today, the Landmarks Preservation Commission approved SHoP Architects' vision for 9 DeKalb Avenue, a rehabilitation of the landmarked Dime Saving Bank that will marry it with a dramatic, supertall skyscraper behind, the first 1,000+ foot building to arrive in the borough. The Beaux-Arts banking hall, which is both an interior and exterior landmark, hosted a J.P. Morgan Chase branch up until last year. Now, its new owners, Michael Stern's JDS Development and the Chetrit Group, plan to transform the hall into a public and retail space that will complement their new tower. To bring back more of the building's grandeur, its exterior and interior spaces will be restored, and to accommodate the tower behind, the team is calling for the demolition of two nondescript one- and five-story rear annexes, which will then allow for a grand entrance to the skyscraper and a public through-space. The LPC was enamored with the project, calling it "flawless" and "enlightened urbanism at its best," as well as touting that it "improved the vision of this historic landmark." One commissioner even went so far as to say "It's similar to the Parthenon sitting on the Acropolis." The LPC had only a few minor modifications, the most notable being that the teller cages be retained until the team can show a plan detailing how the retail tenant (there will only be one) will use the space.
Get a look at all the presentation materials
March 25, 2016

SHoP’s Dancing East River Towers Top Out With Plenty of Flood-Proofing Below

Three-and-a half years after Superstorm Sandy, New York developers are taking to the sea at a faster pace than ever. The most dramatic changes are in store for the East River shoreline, where more that two dozen developments are in construction or planned on both the Brooklyn and Manhattan sides. Ranging from the two million-square-foot Cornell Tech campus to the second largest condominium tower in the city going up at One Manhattan Square, the developments will usher in thousands of new residents and a sprinkling of workers to the flood-prone areas. As of late, the tidal strait's most striking addition has been a pair of asymmetrical, copper-clad towers at 626 First Avenue in Murray Hill. Last week, the team led by Michael Stern's JDS Development topped off construction on the 470-foot-tall southeastern tower. The taller 49-story, 540-foot northwestern tower finished its vertical rise some time earlier this month.
How is the project protecting itself from another possible storm?
March 14, 2016

New Close-Up Renderings of Brooklyn’s Future Tallest Tower

About a month ago we were treated to a lone rendering of Brooklyn’s future tallest tower at 340 Flatbush Avenue Extension (now re-dubbed 9 DeKalb Avenue) that showed its full 1,066-foot height, towering against the rest of Downtown Brooklyn. Now, Curbed has spotted a full set of views, these showing more facade details and close ups of the building's triangular base next to the historic Dime Savings Bank.
All the renderings ahead
March 10, 2016

Property Markets Group Shares New Eye Candy of 111 West 57th Street

Here's a new set of images of Property Markets Group's and JDS Development's 111 West 57th Street. In case you haven't been paying attention, the highly-anticipated tower will be among the tallest residential skyscrapers in the world, climbing some 1,421 feet high to its tip. Designed by SHoP Architects, the feathery spire is sheathed in terra cotta, bronze and a glass curtain wall. The tower will be the most slender skyscraper in the world with a height to width ratio of 24:1.
More renderings ahead
March 2, 2016

Six Architects Reimagine the MetLife Building As an Eco-Friendly Tower of the Future

Earlier this week, the six finalists in the "Reimagine a New York City Icon" competition were announced (h/t NY Yimby). The competition to reimagine the MetLife Building, sponsored by Metals in Construction magazine and the Ornamental Metal Institute of New York, isn’t part of any real-life plans for the iconic Midtown tower, but when great minds get to this kind of imagining, great ideas are born. Architects and engineers were asked to "reimagine 200 Park Avenue with a resource-conserving, eco-friendly enclosure—one that creates a highly efficient envelope with the lightness and transparency sought by today’s office workforce—while preserving and enhancing the aesthetic of the building’s heritage." Designed by Emery Roth & Sons, Pietro Belluschi, and Walter Gropius, the 59-story MetLife Building, located to the north of Grand Central Terminal, opened in 1963 as the Pan Am Building. MetLife bought the building in 1981, and though they sold it in 2005, the architectural icon keeps their name. Below are the finalists' descriptions and renderings for the tower's eco-friendly future.
See what the finalists came up with
February 18, 2016

New Rendering, Details of Brooklyn’s Future Tallest Tower

A little over a month ago, 6sqft learned that Brooklyn’s first 1,000+ foot tower, designed by SHoP Architects, would rise a whopping 1,066 feet, amounting to 556,164 square feet of total space. It all started back in 2014 when developers Michael Stern and Joe Chetrit purchased 340 Flatbush Avenue Extension (a five-story mid-century building that takes up about one third of the triangular site in Downtown Brooklyn) for $46 million with plans to demolish it. Then, in December, they closed on the adjacent Dime Savings Bank building for $90 million, providing 300,000 square feet of air rights needed to construct the 73-story tower. Along with a new rendering, a piece today in the Times reveals some additional details, namely that the supertall will have nearly 500 rental units, at least 20 percent of which will be affordable under the city's 421-a program. But there's one issue that could make things a little complicated...
More on that, here
December 24, 2015

Brooklyn’s First 1,000+ Foot Tower Moves Forward, Developers Close on Last Site Needed

It's official, developers Michael Stern and Joe Chetrit have closed on the Dime Savings Bank building at 9 DeKalb Avenue in Downtown Brooklyn for $90 million, providing them with the air rights needed to build the borough's tallest tower. According to Crain's, who first broke the news, Stern and Chetrit will be able to transfer the bank building's 300,000 square feet of unused development rights to the new structure's site at 340 Flatbush Avenue Extension. As 6sqft previously reported, the new tower will soar more than 1,000 feet and is being designed by SHoP Architects. It will also be the city's tallest building outside of Manhattan when complete.
on the deal here
December 21, 2015

The Food Hall Obsession Makes Its Way to Staten Island

Following a slew of recent headlines–Anthony's Bourdain's food and retail market headed for the SuperPier, the mega-market coming to Essex Crossing that will be one of the largest in the world, and Jean-Georges Vongerichten's seafood-themed food hall planned for the South Street Seaport–6sqft recently posed the question: Is the city's food hall obsession about to burst? Though the votes were divided, the trend has shown no signs of slowing down, especially considering that it's now making its way over to the often-forgotten borough of Staten Island, with perhaps the most gimmicky name we've heard yet. Curbed reports that the team behind Gansevoort Market has partnered with Empire Outlets developers BFC Partners to open a locally curated food market by late 2017. Dubbed MRKTPL, the hall will span 15,000 square feet of indoor and outdoor space that will "tie together the history of the New York Harbor with modern communal spaces to eat and gather," as per the press release.
More details this way