Financial District

Norman Foster Still in the Running to Design 2 World Trade Center

Foster’s original design

May 5, 2016

Norman Foster Still in the Running to Design 2 World Trade Center

By
Nearly one year ago it was revealed that starchitect Bjarke Ingels would be taking over the design of 2 World Trade Center from Norman Foster as developer Silverstein Properties was in talks with Fox and News Corp. to make the tower their new headquarters. However, plans fell through in January when the media companies opted to remain at their Midtown headquarters at 1211 and 1185 Sixth Avenue. Now without a tenant and two different designs in hand, Chairman Larry Silverstein is said to be weighing both options. “[The top of] Two was a distinguishing feature of Norman Foster’s design,” Silverstein told The Post. “Opposed to what Bjarke Ingels proposed. We can go in either direction. Which way, we are not sure yet.” But he did add that they were leaning towards Ingels' design in discussions being had with prospective anchor tenants, which include BlackRock and JPMorganChase.
Find out more here
Hula-Hoop Master Lists Colorful and Quirky Financial District Condo for $2.2M
May 5, 2016

Hula-Hoop Master Lists Colorful and Quirky Financial District Condo for $2.2M

By
In the midst of New York's gray and rainy weather, this apartment is sure to brighten your day. Located at 111 Fulton Street in the Financial District, it belongs to Stefan Pildes, a hula-hoop instructor and the president of Groovehoops, a performance troupe of hula-hoop entertainers. (He bought it in 2009 for a little over $1 million.) The 1,738-square-foot apartment already has good bones -- eight-foot windows, 11-foot ceilings -- but it's been completely decked out with wallpaper, colorful furniture and art, and custom lighting.
Take the grand tour
Skyline Wars: In Lower Manhattan, A New Downtown Is Emerging
April 18, 2016

Skyline Wars: In Lower Manhattan, A New Downtown Is Emerging

By
Carter Uncut brings New York City’s latest development news under the critical eye of resident architecture critic Carter B. Horsley. This week Carter brings us his fourth 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 the evolution of the Lower Manhattan skyline. Lower Manhattan at the start of the Great Depression was the world’s most famous and influential skyline when 70 Pine, 20 Exchange Place, 1 and 40 Wall Street, and the Woolworth and Singer buildings inspired the world with their romantic silhouettes in a relatively balanced reach for the sky centered around the tip of Lower Manhattan. Midtown was not asleep at the switch and countered with the great Empire State, the spectacular Chrysler and 30 Rockefeller Plaza but they were scattered and could not topple the aggregate visual power and lure of Lower Manhattan and its proverbial “view from the 40th floor” as the hallowed precinct of corporate America until the end of World War II. The convenience and elegance of Midtown, however, became increasingly irresistible to many.
More on the the history of Lower Manhattan and what's in store
The Port Authority Paid $47.6M in 2015 to Cover Condé Nast’s Move to One WTC
April 12, 2016

The Port Authority Paid $47.6M in 2015 to Cover Condé Nast’s Move to One WTC

By
Though the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey would like you to think it's been smooth sailing finding tenants for One World Trade Center, their spending habits say otherwise. As Crain's reported, more than a year after Condé Nast made the big move from 4 Times Square to One World Trade, the agency is still dropping $3 million a month to pay for the old lease. This deal came about in 2011 when the Port Authority offered the incentive to entice the media company to relocate amid floundering activity at the downtown tower. In 2015 alone, they spent $47.6 million, and the payments are expected to continue into 2019 (when the lease ends) unless building owner the Durst Organization can find a new tenant.
More details ahead
A Closer Look at ODA’s 75 Nassau Street & Other Nearby Towers Planned For Fulton Street
March 30, 2016

A Closer Look at ODA’s 75 Nassau Street & Other Nearby Towers Planned For Fulton Street

By
Capitalizing on a revitalized Financial District, Fulton Street is bursting with residential development activity. With a re-imagined Fulton Street Transit Hub open and the second coming of the World Trade Center shopping center and Pier 17 on the horizon, at least five sizable towers are jostling to join the street's renaissance. Most interesting of the bunch is a 40-story residential skyscraper set to rise at 75 Nassau Street. Developed by Lexin Capital and designed by ODA Architects, its 307,000-square-foot, slab-like massing is distinguished by fragmented and nibbled-away edges that run vertically along the tower's corners. At its more than 500-foot-high pinnacle, a forest of trees will top the structure, giving the high rise a profile that will recall the iconic finials of the district's skyscrapers.
More on ODA's tower and its four other neighbors
Controversial Zoning Change Would Fill Lower Manhattan Public Plazas With Retail
March 30, 2016

Controversial Zoning Change Would Fill Lower Manhattan Public Plazas With Retail

By
Whether you consider them "dead-end" corridors devoid of street life or nifty urban shortcuts (or just convenient rain shelters), the city's covered public walkways and arcades are finding themselves in something of a spotlight, reports the Wall Street Journal. This recent focus is on the covered walkways that run alongside skyscrapers in the Water Street corridor in lower Manhattan. A proposed zoning change, which would affect property owners in the Water Street Subdistrict, would allow retail to open up shop in these arcades.
Find out why some object to new retail additions
1,436-Foot Supertall May Rise at 80 South Street in the Financial District
March 18, 2016

1,436-Foot Supertall May Rise at 80 South Street in the Financial District

By
The sale of 80 South Street from Howard Hughes Corp. to China Oceanwide Holdings has been finalized, reports The Real Deal. The $390 million deal was first announced in August, but closing was contingent on Howard Hughes transferring an additional 303,113 square feet in air rights to the address after already securing 104,167 square feet. With this, 80 South Street's development potential has grown to 817,784 square feet and a tower of 1,436 feet (to put this in perspective, 432 Park is 1,396 feet tall, while 1 WTC is 1,368 feet tall by roof height) with 113 floors could soon rise on the site which has sat in redevelopment limbo for over a decade.
more here
Checking in on Downtown’s Next Supertall, 125 Greenwich Street by Rafael Viñoly Architects
March 16, 2016

Checking in on Downtown’s Next Supertall, 125 Greenwich Street by Rafael Viñoly Architects

By
It's been some time since 6sqft checked on 125 Greenwich Street, a slender tower that will soar more than 1,000 feet high and offer a limited collection of condominium residences with unparalleled views of the lower Manhattan skyline and beyond. Developed by a joint venture comprised of Michael Shvo, Bizzi + Partners Development, and Howard Lorber's Vector Group, the 9,000-square-foot corner site will yield 275 compact residences spread over 306,000 square feet of space, along with a retail- and amenity-filled podium. Plans submitted to the Department of Buildings in October show that most of the building's floor plates will house six apartments each.
Get a look at the current site
One-Cent Coffee Stand Fed Hungry New Yorkers Back in the Day
March 14, 2016

One-Cent Coffee Stand Fed Hungry New Yorkers Back in the Day

By
The corner coffee cart is a well-known part of New York City's landscape, but it may have been first actualized as a much more charitable endeavor. Back in 1887, the first one-cent coffee stand for poor New Yorkers opened on Ann Street off Broadway. Standing in front of City Hall's high-octane newspaper offices of Park Row, St. Andrews One Cent Coffee Stand served a half-pint of coffee with milk sugar and a slice of bread for just a penny.
READ MORE
Downtown Wonder: How One Chase Manhattan Plaza Changed the New York Skyline
March 13, 2016

Downtown Wonder: How One Chase Manhattan Plaza Changed the New York Skyline

By

This large, boxy skyscraper at 28 Liberty Street may not be ornate or even as attractive as some of the simple glass towers we see sprouting up on the city’s side streets, but One Chase Manhattan Plaza’s architectural significance is profound. Erected in 1960, the building is accredited with bringing forth a downtown renaissance that paved the […]

VIDEO: Watch the World Trade Center Oculus Get Built in 65 Seconds

Time-Lapse Courtesy of EarthCam

March 3, 2016

VIDEO: Watch the World Trade Center Oculus Get Built in 65 Seconds

By
When we talk about Santiago Calatrava's $4 billion World Trade Center Transportation Hub, there's always the inevitable mention of how long (12 years!) it actually took to get the project up and running and built. Which is why this stunning time lapse is all the more fitting to mark the Hub's opening today at 3:00pm. The webcam experts at EarthCam teamed up with the project contractor, Skanska USA, to capture all 42 months (June 2011-December 2014) of construction progress for the famed and notorious winged oculus and condense it into a 65-second video.
Watch the full time lapse here
Renderings Revealed for Downtown Supertall 45 Broad Street
February 26, 2016

Renderings Revealed for Downtown Supertall 45 Broad Street

By
Back in January, 6sqft uncovered preliminary renderings of downtown supertall 45 Broad Street, a project of Madison Equities and Italy-based Pizzarotti Group that's reportedly being designed by the architects at CetraRuddy. The design showed a presumably glass tower, "crowned by a distinctive pitched roof and an angling cantilever located some 400 feet above street level along its northern facade." After groundwork began at the site earlier this month, The Real Deal has now obtained more concrete views of the tower, which will stretch 1,100 feet high, have 86 floors, and contain 245 condo residences catering to entry- and mid-level buyers. The new renderings mimic the original massing, but show much more detail, like the golden, Gothic-inspired ribs traveling up the facade, the pointed crown, and the narrow mid portion.
More details ahead
Port Authority Will Hold Opening Ceremony for WTC Transportation Hub After All

Santiago Calatrava: WTC Transportation Hub , New York (Photo: Mega Projects and Skyscrapers, via YouTube)

February 26, 2016

Port Authority Will Hold Opening Ceremony for WTC Transportation Hub After All

By
On Tuesday, news broke that the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey would not be holding a ribbon cutting ceremony when the World Trade Center Transportation Hub opens next week. They called Santiago Calatrava's project "a symbol of excess." Perhaps feeling the backlash from their decision, the agency sent out a press release yesterday saying that though there will still be no event to mark the opening on March 3rd at 3pm, they will hold a ceremony once the Hub is fully up and running this spring, according to the Wall Street Journal. They credit their change of heart to a desire to thank the thousands of workers who built the station. Additionally, Port Authority Chairman John Degnan said, "It will stand, along with the memorial, museum and the buildings themselves, as a tribute the resiliency of the region."
More this way
There Will Be No Ribbon Cutting for the WTC Transportation Hub Opening

Santiago Calatrava: WTC Transportation Hub , New York (Photo: Mega Projects and Skyscrapers, via YouTube)

February 23, 2016

There Will Be No Ribbon Cutting for the WTC Transportation Hub Opening

By
When the subject of Santiago Calatrava's World Trade Center Transportation Hub comes up, what's most likely to come to mind is not the flying-bird-looking architecture, but the fact that it was so incredibly delayed (it’s six years off schedule) and over-budget (final construction costs ring in around $4 billion in taxpayer dollars, twice what was projected, making it the world’s most expensive train station). The latter is not sitting well with the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, who oversee the hub, as they've announced that they will not host an event to mark the opening during the first week of March, calling it "a symbol of excess," according to Politico. Similarly, Governors Christie and Cuomo, who control the agency, have declined to commemorate the opening.
Get the scoop
Groundwork Begins at Downtown Supertall 45 Broad Street
February 11, 2016

Groundwork Begins at Downtown Supertall 45 Broad Street

By
Wasting no time getting started, Madison Equities and Italy-based Pizzarotti Group have begun soil testing at the site of their upcoming supertall tower 45 Broad Street. After 6sqft revealed a trio of preliminary renderings last month, Pizzarotti Group's CEO Rance MacFarland told Curbed that the tower will stretch 1,100 feet high and have 86 floors. He also shared that it will contain 245 condo residences catering to "entry- and mid-level buyers."
Get a look at the current site
Confirmed: Calatrava’s WTC Transportation Hub Will Open First Week of March!

Santiago Calatrava: WTC Transportation Hub , New York (Photo: Mega Projects and Skyscrapers, via YouTube)

January 19, 2016

Confirmed: Calatrava’s WTC Transportation Hub Will Open First Week of March!

By
The Port Authority has announced today in a press release that the World Trade Center Transportation Hub—anchored by architect Santiago Calatrava's Oculus–will open the first week of March. The hub will link the World Trade Center PATH station and "enable travelers to have a seamless connection with 11 New York City subway lines and the East River ferries in addition to access to PATH trains."
What about the mall?
Fox and News Corp. Ditch Plans to Move Into 2 World Trade Center
January 15, 2016

Fox and News Corp. Ditch Plans to Move Into 2 World Trade Center

By
Big news on the 2 World Trade Center front. After several months of negotiation and hashing out design plans, News Corp. and 21st Century Fox Inc. have decided not to move into the new tower. The Post first broke the news, reporting that the media companies will remain at their Midtown headquarters at 1211 and 1185 Sixth Avenue where they currently have a lease in effect until 2020. "After much careful consideration we have decided to maintain our New York headquarters and other business operations. We have extension options that could continue our occupancy on Sixth Avenue through 2025,” the companies wrote in a joint statement. Sources added that the move would have been "a huge distraction for the companies' global operations."
FInd out more here
WeWork’s Communal Living Concept on Wall Street Gets Its First Residents
January 13, 2016

WeWork’s Communal Living Concept on Wall Street Gets Its First Residents

By
Co-working space provider WeWork (which has 40,000 members in 19 US, European and Asian cities that share office space with perks like free coffee, cool furniture and a communal atmosphere) has launched their new "co-living" apartment concept, beginning with 45 units in a Wall Street building. FastCompany reports that last weekend, 80 new residents moved into furnished apartments at 110 Wall Street, where the company already runs a co-working space on the building’s first seven floors. They're part of what the company says is the first stage of beta testing for this community-driven concept, with New York City as the guinea pig. The concept is, according to a company spokesperson, "focused on enabling people to live more fulfilling lives. During this testing phase, we’ll be listening to feedback from our community." Plans are in the works to accommodate 600 people on 20 floors of the building.
Find out more about the latest co-living experiment
REVEALED: 45 Broad Street, Slated to Be Among the Highest Condo Buildings Downtown

** UPDATE as of 1/6/16: Pizzarotti CEO Rance MacFarland confirmed to Curbed that 45 Broad Street will be a 1,100-foot-tall, 86-story supertall tower. It will have 245 units that will cater to “entry- and mid-level buyers,” as well as five floors of commercial and retail space. 

January 5, 2016

REVEALED: 45 Broad Street, Slated to Be Among the Highest Condo Buildings Downtown

By
Last October, it was announced that the long-vacant lot in the heart of the Financial District at 45 Broad Street would be redeveloped into a 65-story residential skyscraper by way of a partnership between Pizzarotti IBC and Madison Equities. Now, via Pizzarotti's project page, we have our first look at the design of the 300,000-square-foot CetraRuddy-designed tower that the development group affirms "will be the highest condo in Downtown Manhattan." The team will have to move quickly, though; at least two condo towers are proposed to be taller including Shvo's supertall at 125 Greenwich Street.
More details ahead
REX Revealed as the Architects Redesigning the World Trade Center Performing Arts Complex

Image pointing to the site of the Performing Arts Center at the World Trade Center. Rendering by DBOX

November 20, 2015

REX Revealed as the Architects Redesigning the World Trade Center Performing Arts Complex

By
Ever since Frank Gehry and his design for the Performing Arts Center at the World Trade Center (PACWTC) site got the boot last year, many have been eager to know who would be taking the helm in his place. Since July, the PACWTC has been working with an anonymous architectural firm to hash out a new concept, and now, nearly five months later, the board has finally released the name of the lead architect: Brooklyn-based studio REX led by Joshua Prince-Ramus, a former protégé of starchitect Rem Koolhaas. PACWTC chairman John Zucotti said in a statement, "The selection of REX and the Lower Manhattan District Council’s renewed commitment are critical milestones in our collective effort to create a vibrant new cultural and community anchor for all of Lower Manhattan. We are now two important steps closer to completing the World Trade Center and fully realizing our vision of Lower Manhattan as the world’s most dynamic, 24/7 urban community."
more details on the design here
REVEALED: 26-Story, LEED-Certified Hotel Coming to the Financial District
October 29, 2015

REVEALED: 26-Story, LEED-Certified Hotel Coming to the Financial District

By
Here's our first look at Tribeca Associates upcoming 26-story hotel at 143 Fulton Street in the Financial District, where demolition at the site is already underway. The 90,000- square-foot tower designed by SLCE Architects will contain 228 rooms, ground-level retail, and typical hotel amenities such as a fitness center and a bar/lounge on the third floor. Hotel suites, found on floors 5 through 25, average ten per floor. The building will also seek LEED accreditation.
More details
65-Story Condo Tower Designed by CetraRuddy to Rise in the Downtown Skyline

Renderings of the tower at 900 feet, courtesy of CityRealty

October 27, 2015

65-Story Condo Tower Designed by CetraRuddy to Rise in the Downtown Skyline

By
Last week it was announced that the long vacant Financial District lot at 45 Broad Street would be redeveloped into a 65-story condominium tower through a partnership between Madison Equities and the Pizzarotti Group. According to The Real Deal, "The buyers closed on the purchase of the land for $86 million and secured a $75 million acquisition loan." While it is not yet clear what the project’s exact size and number of units will be, given the lofty ceiling heights of today's high-end condo developments, 65 stories could yield a tower of up to 900 feet.
READ MORE
New, Cheaper Design for WTC Performing Arts Center to Be Revealed Soon
October 22, 2015

New, Cheaper Design for WTC Performing Arts Center to Be Revealed Soon

By
The Performing Arts Center at the World Trade Center has seen a lot of ups and downs since it was first conceived over a dozen years ago. The biggest shakeup occurred a year ago, when Frank Gehry's design for the center got dumped by officials, followed by the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation's decision earlier this year that the project should cost no more than $200 million, far less than the original estimates of $350 to $400 million. In July, LMDC funded a $500,000 study to explore how the "current conceptual design" could work within those cost restraints, and since then they've been working with a yet-unnamed architectural firm to reimagine the plan, according to the Wall Street Journal. The paper reports that "their latest take envisions a roughly 80,000-square-foot building, rising three to four stories aboveground, where new works of theater, dance, music and digital art would be produced."
More details ahead
Downtown’s Beekman Residences Tower Is Ready for Its Crowns – Now 50 Percent Sold
September 22, 2015

Downtown’s Beekman Residences Tower Is Ready for Its Crowns – Now 50 Percent Sold

By
Rising from the birthplace of the romantic skyscraper, a svelte 51-story condominium known as the Beekman Residences will soon receive its twin pyramidal crowns. The to-be-illuminated, open-air pinnacles will bring the building's 599-foot roof height up an additional 51 feet, granting us skyline-watchers a new silhouette to gaze upon. While the tower's height is unremarkable in today's world of kilometer-high skyscrapers (it's only the 24th tallest building now under construction in the city), its peculiar design and prominent location overlooking Park Row is sure to add to the exceptional urban room created by the variously-styled towers surrounding City Hall Park.
More details ahead
New Renderings of Vinoly’s 125 Greenwich Street, Downtown’s Future Tallest Residential Skyscraper

Rendering by ArX Solutions

September 11, 2015

New Renderings of Vinoly’s 125 Greenwich Street, Downtown’s Future Tallest Residential Skyscraper

By
On the 14th anniversary of the day that caused the city to question our skyward building ambitions, we give you a new look at lower Manhattan's future tallest apartment tower, 125 Greenwich Street. Not only has the city regained its confidence in building high again, but it has now been feverishly erecting 1,000-plus-foot supertall towers at a faster rate than nearly any other global metropolis. This particular residential spire will soar 77 stories and roughly 1,100 feet high, some 200 feet taller than downtown's next tallest ground-up residential buildings, 30 Park Place (937 feet) and New York by Gehry (870 feet).
Find out more here
2 World Trade Center Could Be the Most Expensive Office Tower in the World

2 World Trade Center rendering via BIG

August 6, 2015

2 World Trade Center Could Be the Most Expensive Office Tower in the World

By
The Post reports that the construction of the Bjarke Ingels Group-designed 2 World Trade Center will come with a $4 billion price tag. The 2.8 million-square-foot downtown tower will top out at 1,340 feet, just 28 feet shy of One World Trade Center, which currently holds the title of the world's most expensive office building with construction costs coming in at $3.8 billion.
More details this way
Pitch a story icon

Pitch a Story

We love to hear from you!

"*" indicates required fields

Interested in seeing the property in person?

It’s free, with no obligation.

CityRealty Logo

"*" indicates required fields

or Call (212) 755-5544

Interested in seeing the property in person?

It’s free, with no obligation.

CityRealty Logo

Distinctive Post Form

"*" indicates required fields

or Call (212) 755-5544
Contact us image

Get in Touch

We love to hear from you!

"*" indicates required fields

Send us a tip image
Delivering New York stories focused on design, lifestyle & real estate.

Send us a Tip

We love to hear from you!

"*" indicates required fields

Interesting in learning more about purchasing a new home?

Let us know what you are looking for and we’ll help you find the home of your dreams. It’s free, with no obligation.

CityRealty Logo
or Call (212) 755-5544

Thinking about selling your home?

We’ll provide current market comps and connect you with a trusted expert.

CityRealty Logo

Sell a Home (Footer)

"*" indicates required fields

or Call (212) 755-5544

Before You Move On
from this Page.

Subscribe for NYC's Lastest Design, Lifestyle,
and Real Estate Trends!

No Worries. We Don’t Spam.

By providing your email address, you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.
You can unsubscribe at any time.

Your Daily Dose
of NYC Life!

No Worries. We Don’t Spam.

By providing your email address, you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.
You can unsubscribe at any time.