Times Square Plaza - 11 Times Square - 42nd St @ 8th Ave - by FX Fowle Architects

[antinimby]

Even bigger tax breaks to who ever takes them down!

[Alonzo-ny]

Id do it with my bare hands.

[scumonkey]

steve cuozzo -the post



...The Eighth Avenue whirlwind is breathtaking. On the East Side between 41st and 42nd streets, SJP's 40-story 11 Times Square is rising ahead of schedule, with steel having reached the eighth floor and the concrete core up to 18; curtain wall glass will begin to appear next month.
SJP chief Steven J. Pozycki expects to top the tower off by the end of the year and to complete the entire project by the end of 2009. He's confident of landing tenants and said, "There's a lot of activity right now."
Pozycki expressed relief that his building won't have exterior horizontal rods like those on the New York Times tower next door, where last week two people were arrested after having scaled the building. SJP has its marketing office for 11 Times Square in the building.
"It would scare the hell out of me to have guys climbing a ladder outside," he joked....

[kliq6]

This badboy is flying!! This is great. That lot was such an eyesore very unsightly. This will make the area feel alot more dense and fully complete the canyon affect down 42nd st. Now lets set our sites on Duane Reade across the corner. ;)

In the next few months something will break on this site, I wish I could say what now but I cant.

[Fabrizio]

Although you can't tell us what, you can tell us if you are enthusiastic about what you know.

(or if you think it'll be a let-down).

Well?

[kliq6]

1.1 million sf tower with a possibly anchor tenant that is very solid as well as NY State assistance in bring the project into the TS redevelopment area, thus helping get it off the ground like they did when they added NY Times site.

[pianoman11686]

That's great news. This intersection will be unrecognizable in 5 years.

I wonder what the address will be. 12TS?

[antinimby]

kliq, how close is SJP to landing a major tenant for 11 TS? What about the retail portion? We need something exciting to anchor that corner.

[kliq6]

They had a potential deal for close to half the tower but it seems to have broken down. However it can still be done. They are also talking about two smaller leases as well with a law firm and a financial firm ( non hedge fund)

[Derek2k3]

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3165/2597511375_7a2c53e8e4.jpg


http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3062/2597511371_e6a7ebf0f0_o.jpg



http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3152/2597511687_4cbb1301c3_o.jpg




http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3128/2597511721_088df971e5_o.jpg
12 towers in this pic did not exist a decade ago and there are still 2 more to join.



http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2203/2597511733_d27627d2f3_o.jpg




http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3035/2597511753_c06939c511_o.jpg




http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3088/2597511361_06320bd2fe_o.jpg



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http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3145/2597511705_e8597863a6_o.jpg

[Alonzo-ny]

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3165/2597511375_7a2c53e8e4.jpg

My favourite kind of NY picture, foreground looks empty and deserted with skyscrapers towering nearby in the background.

[philvia]

nice pics!
from those angles nyc looks like tokyo

[ablarc]

^ It's all that technoclutter. Looks like an oil refinery.



Have they put up blinds in the Times building? Thought the rods would obviate that.

[lofter1]

Supposedly the Times Tower has electronically controlled blinds which all work in unison with the movement of the sun.

[antinimby]

I'm sure there's probably a manual override so if someone thinks it's too bright or not bright enough, they can pull up or down the shades.

[BrooklynRider]

Supposedly the Times Tower has electronically controlled blinds which all work in unison with the movement of the sun.

We have those in my office. It keeps everything unified, but it's a bitch to look outside when you want to.

[USSManhattan]

Reuters looks... off without the "REUTERS" on its side.

Any plans to replace it with the new name/logo since the consolidation?

[kliq6]

This tower is rising nicely and Plaza is doing a great job. They may be able to move up a bit in the contracting world based on this performance if it keeps going.

[lofter1]

This week ...

http://i130.photobucket.com/albums/p242/Lofter1/11%20TS%20Plaza/L111TS_262.jpg

http://i130.photobucket.com/albums/p242/Lofter1/11%20TS%20Plaza/L111TS_269.jpg

http://i130.photobucket.com/albums/p242/Lofter1/11%20TS%20Plaza/L111TS_276.jpg

http://i130.photobucket.com/albums/p242/Lofter1/11%20TS%20Plaza/L111TS_2711.jpg

http://i130.photobucket.com/albums/p242/Lofter1/11%20TS%20Plaza/L111TS_2721.jpg

http://i130.photobucket.com/albums/p242/Lofter1/11%20TS%20Plaza/L111TS_2718.jpg

11TS

[philvia]

rising tall and fast!
i'm impressed :cool:

[NYC4Life]

At last, the New Jersey Nets banner no longer hangs around the AMC thearter :)

[Dirty]

I hear SJP is waiting to hear back from a 500k anchor tenant
within next 2 weeks---50/50 chance to land this deal I'm told

There is also a 190k tenant ready to sign (SJP holding off until above user's decision)

SJP internal personnel Construction and Management are overseeing Plaza pushing them and the subs. SJP is inspecting all the site work them selfs and with their own consultants and doing own bids against what Plaza has brought in (CHECK & BALANCE SYSTEM)

I also heard SJP is constantly bring new technology into the building design (weekly)


CBRE is handling the leasing; who will be handling the management, CBRE?
Looks like SJP has great product in NJ well taken care, top notch stuff. I would be disappointed if the building is mismanaged and becomes unsightly?

[antinimby]

That's good news that they have potential tenants lined up.

I really want to see SJP do well here and get rewarded with success because they're putting a quality product out there with no Macklowe-esque type cheapskateness.

By the way, what rents are they asking for here? Is it comparable to the Times next door?

[Alonzo-ny]

I know the facade consultants on this project (also for beekman) they are high end and do a great job.

[antinimby]

Starting to become visible from the ESB...

(click on pic to view LARGE version)
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2281/2741576992_b78b30afa8.jpg?v=0 (http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2281/2741576992_70fbdd21df_o.jpg)
pai.anil (http://flickr.com/photos/anil_pai/2741576992/)

[antinimby]

Article from July but informative nevertheless...


Times Square Building Construction Ahead of Schedule

http://newyork.construction.com/images/2008/0807-SJP-Properties.jpg
Steel erection began at 11 Times
Square, the 1.1 million-sq-ft
commercial and retail tower in
Manhattan, and will use
approximately 7,000 tons of steel
within the 40-story building during
the construction period.


July 2008 (http://newyork.construction.com/news/redevnews/archive/2008/07.asp)

Steel is rising at 11 Times Square, the 1.1 million-sq-ft commercial and retail tower on the corner of 42nd Street and Eighth Avenue in Manhattan.

The project, which broke ground in June 2007, will use approximately 7,000 tons of structural steel. The 40-story building is expected to top out by the end of 2008.

11 Times Square will employ a concrete core which will allow for fewer columns on the office floors, making the space versatile for both office-intensive and open layouts. The building will have seven column-free corner offices on every floor.

Project architects FXFOWLE decided to use a concrete core because “It’s a tremendous safety benefit,” said Dan Kaplan, senior principal at FXFOLWE. “The concrete core gives 11 Times Square a robust enclosure for the building’s various critical elements, including stairways, elevators and critical utility risers.

Second, there are acoustic benefits to using concrete. The mechanical room on each floor will be fully enclosed within the concrete walls, shielding offices from vibrations and noise.”

The building in Times Square is also seeking LEED Gold Certification. Sustainable features will include a building management system to control and monitor mechanical systems and increased air filtration from higher elevations that will provide 30% more outdoor air than required by American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers standards.

Additionally, exterior sunshades or silk screened fritted glass will be utilized to reduce interior glare and improve thermal comfort. A storm water detention and filtration system will reduce site runoff and collected water will recharge the cooling tower. Low consumption plumbing fixtures will be used to reduce the building’s water usage by over 30%.

“Less than a handful of new buildings will come close to meeting the environmental standards that will be the foundation of 11 Times Square,” said Kaplan.

Developer SPJ Properties has not yet released information on possible tenants for the 53,000 sq ft of retail and 14,000 sq ft of commercial space.

The project is currently two months ahead of schedule and is expected to be turned over by late 2009.

© 2008 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.

[ablarc]

Hope it conceals that stupid, ugly hotel.

[lofter1]

There is separation between 11 TS & the Hilton , so the hotel's
west-facing checkerboard painted wall will remain visible ...

http://newyork.construction.com/images/2008/0807-SJP-Properties.jpg

http://i130.photobucket.com/albums/p242/Lofter1/11%20TS%20Plaza/L111TS_2721.jpg

[NYC4Life]

Can't wait to see this one topped out.

[antinimby]

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3011/2761296503_ec365a341e_b.jpg
wyliepoon (http://www.flickr.com/photos/wyliepoon/2761296503/)

[antinimby]

I believe the glass has already been put up on the second floor on the Eighth Ave side.

[Tectonic]

Figured that would happen soon

https://community.emporis.com/images/6/2008/08/640510.jpg

[antinimby]

Thanks for that update Sky.

The concrete core should top out late September or the beginning of October. Currently, it's in the low 30's.

The steel--which is currently around the 20th floor--I estimate will top out three months after that (late December, early January).

This has been a model construction project. In other words, the anti-One Bryant Park/Trump SoHo/TKTS. ;)

[CoolCzech]

Figured that would happen soon

https://community.emporis.com/images/6/2008/08/640510.jpg

Looks to be a pretty shade of blue for the facade...

[Tectonic]

Thanks for that update Sky.
This has been a model construction project. In other words, the anti-One Bryant Park/Trump SoHo/TKTS. ;)

My pleasure, how about the anti-Freedom Tower.

[antinimby]

That, too (except now it's called WTC Tower One). :D

Sadly, there's too many projects in this city that could also be included. :(

[lofter1]

Skylimitone http://www.wirednewyork.com/forum/images/icons/icon14.gif: You got the scoop on CURBED (http://curbed.com/archives/2008/08/19/construction_watch_11_times_square_gets_some_glass .php); from today ...

Construction Watch: 11 Times Square Gets Some Glass

http://curbed.com/uploads/2008_08_11TSFacade1a.JPG
Newly-installed glass creates a balcony overlooking 42nd and Eighth.

It seems like yesterday that we reported (http://curbed.com/archives/2008/04/10/steeling_times_square.php) steel had started to rise on
SJP Properties' 40-story 11 Times Square. Now, a mere four months
later, this midtown cornerpiece is getting some glass. Not much, but a
band of grey-ish glass has appeared on the big curve that swoops south
around the corner of 42nd and Eighth and which is dramatically drawn on the
11 TS website (http://eleventimessquare.com/). The facade is just one part of the plan to achieve LEED
Gold Certification: " ...exterior sunshades or silk screened fritted glass
will be utilized to reduce interior glare and improve thermal comfort."
Construction is two months ahead of schedule (http://newyork.construction.com/news/redevnews/archive/2008/07.asp). The concrete core
continues to rise and the tower, which will ultimately contain 7,000 tons
of structural steel, is scheduled to top out by the end of 2008. The
turn-over date is now set for a refreshingly optimistic "late 2009."

· Steeling Times Square (http://curbed.com/archives/2008/04/10/steeling_times_square.php) [Curbed]
· Eleven Times Square > Home (http://eleventimessquare.com/) [11 Times Square website]
· Industry News: Times Square Building Ahead of Schedule (http://newyork.construction.com/news/redevnews/archive/2008/07.asp) [NY Construction News]

http://curbed.com/uploads/2008_08_11TSFacade2.JPG
A rim of glass running above 42nd Street.

http://curbed.com/uploads/2008_08_11TSFacade4.JPG
A workman coordinates the installation of a facade support.

http://curbed.com/uploads/2008_08_11TSFacade5b.JPG
Steel has risen up to the 20th floor.

http://curbed.com/uploads/2008_08_11TSFacade6.JPG
A new subway entrance at the SE corner of 42nd and Eighth.

http://curbed.com/uploads/2008_08_11TSFacade7a.JPG
A crew on 41st Street puts together rebar for the concrete core.

http://curbed.com/uploads/2008_08_11TSFacade7b.JPG
Weaving together the rebar.

http://curbed.com/uploads/2008_08_11TSFacade7c.JPG
Woven blocks of rebar ready to be incorporated into the rising concrete core.

http://curbed.com/uploads/2008_08_11TSFacade7d.JPG
Rebar sections awaiting a crane to lift them to the top of the tower.

· Steeling Times Square (http://curbed.com/archives/2008/04/10/steeling_times_square.php) [Curbed]
· Eleven Times Square > Home (http://eleventimessquare.com/) [11 Times Square website]
· Industry News: TS Building Ahead of Schedule (http://newyork.construction.com/news/redevnews/archive/2008/07.asp) [NY Construction News]

sjp 11ts

[NYC4Life]

This one is rising faster than anyone can keep up it seems. Great progress.

[Alonzo-ny]

This project is a great success story so far.

[antinimby]

That glass is too reflective for my tastes. Too bad.

I had such high hopes for this project. :(

I don't get it, FoxFowle gave 4 TS (Condé Nast) good, quality clear glass on the base but here they go with reflective.

[NYC4Life]

With all the glitter and lights on 42nd street, I think the reflective glass actually will work on this tower.

[lofter1]

Right ^ plus a large part of the base & glass right above 42nd / Eighth will be covered with signage of one sort or another.

[antinimby]

Clear glass always look better in any lighting condition than reflective wavy glass.

[antinimby]

Clear...

http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1357/1297258436_b814829ebb.jpg?v=0
4 Times Square


...versus reflective

http://curbed.com/uploads/2008_02_785Glass6a.JPG
785 Eighth

[lofter1]

Samples of GLASS for this tower (http://www.wirednewyork.com/forum/showpost.php?p=140082&postcount=514) that were erected on site back in January '07.

[CoolCzech]

It looks as though the glass panels are either textured somehow, or have some sort of backing attached to them... is that to cut down on glare coming in from the outside?

[lofter1]

From Ninth ...

http://i130.photobucket.com/albums/p242/Lofter1/11%20TS%20Plaza/L111TS_343.jpg

http://i130.photobucket.com/albums/p242/Lofter1/11%20TS%20Plaza/L111TS_348.jpg

More glass ...

http://i130.photobucket.com/albums/p242/Lofter1/11%20TS%20Plaza/L111TS_3415.jpg

http://i130.photobucket.com/albums/p242/Lofter1/11%20TS%20Plaza/L111TS_3412.jpg

11ts

[philvia]

the glass looks good... not too reflective

[ItstheBeat]

From what I can see I feel the same way. Nice reflective blue glass. Not at all wavy like 785 8th Ave.

[Dac150]

This building will without a doubt help balance out the Westin. I think part of the problem regarding the Westin was that is was out of the loop so to speak as far as being in the Times Square district. Now that that district is vertically expanding, the architecture of the Westin will more so be apart of the norm for that area. The cladding of 11 Times Square shown as of now, to me, has already justified that.

[BrooklynLove]

My fine Times Square. How nicely you've matured over the years.

[lofter1]

More glass; up to the Fourth Floor now ...

http://i130.photobucket.com/albums/p242/Lofter1/11%20TS%20Plaza/L111TS_354.jpg

http://i130.photobucket.com/albums/p242/Lofter1/11%20TS%20Plaza/L111TS_352.jpg

http://i130.photobucket.com/albums/p242/Lofter1/11%20TS%20Plaza/L111TS_355.jpg

11ts

[antinimby]

Well, that was fast.

[CoolCzech]

so far the cantilever effect of the tower is not nearly as pronounced as it appears on the renders...

[NYC4Life]

Tower rising so fast it needs a daily update.

[Alonzo-ny]

Give it time it doesnt cantilever that much that it would be obvious, especially not from the angles taken in the previous pics.

[Tectonic]

Yeah the cantilever is there, this is risiing so darn fast, unbelievable. 510 Madison was a bit quick too.

[lofter1]

Plus the lower levels of the cantilevered area are now somewhat obscured by the Patti & Sons tarps (the fireproofing crew).

[LeCom]

Taken last night

http://img244.imageshack.us/img244/9845/p104051911timessquareucov8.jpg

http://img300.imageshack.us/img300/3203/p104052111timessquareuchz5.jpg

http://img413.imageshack.us/img413/1175/p104052211timessquareucnc1.jpg

[scumonkey]

Sky Quills
http://i211.photobucket.com/albums/bb276/scumonkey/skyQuills.jpg

[NYC4Life]

September 16, 2008

http://img515.imageshack.us/img515/8805/11timessquareme2.jpg

http://img168.imageshack.us/img168/8209/11timessquare2ft0.jpg

http://img168.imageshack.us/img168/173/11timessquare3kw0.jpg

[DRS9]

Thanks for the pictures; I was wondering how this building was doing.

[antinimby]

Still no announcement on a tenant. I'm worried about this one.

[scumonkey]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XDyM4CfExXU&feature=related

[Chrysler New Yorker]

Still no announcement on a tenant. I'm worried about this one.

Grade A office space in the middle of Manhattan in a globalized market,... won't be empty long even if they don't lease to one big tenant that occupies most of the space.

[antinimby]

Are you oblivious to the economic situation we are in right now?

[Tectonic]

This city could end up with a lot of see-throughs and giant holes in the ground. I am very worried.

[lofter1]

What did Paulsen say to the US Congress that "sucked all the oxygen out of the room" and, within 30 mionutes, turned everyone into a Socialist?

[Chrysler New Yorker]

The only area hit hard in this mess is the financial sector. Of course the ripples will be felt elsewhere due to the spiderweb-like connection in the economy, but AIG might not need the government (taxpayers) $ afterall. AIG has over 1-Trillion in assets alone, they only have to harvest off their financial services division that put them in this conundrum with bad lending. BOA bought Merrill Lynch which creates the largest financial company on earth. In the end of capitalism there will be only a handfull of mega-companies that bought all the rest up. The tech, healthcare (World Product Center), consumer goods and small to medium size firms/businesses need space now more than anyone else, not to mention the international companies looking for a spot in Manhattan (Chinese in the Freedom Tower).

[Chrysler New Yorker]

What did Paulsen say to the US Congress that "sucked all the oxygen out of the room" and, within 30 mionutes, turned everyone into a Socialist?

He basically said that greed from the financial companies that created this mortgage mess and credit crunch which is leaving hundreds of thousands of families out on the street have to pay the bill to bail them out.

[lofter1]

Oh, no doubt he said a lot more than that.

A roomful of congressman are left speechless and sucking for air because some folks are losing their houses and are out on the street?

Get real.

[Chrysler New Yorker]

We'll you got me there. I know deep down Washington dems nor rep care about families losing their homes.Maybe congress is mad because they have no say in the matter. Does it matter anyway, the democratic congress already declared they are not going to act or do anything before their boy Obama gets elected, which is why the have worse ratings/polls than W.

[BrooklynRider]

Discuss the financial meltdown in the News & Politics forum.

Stay on topic.

Thank you.
_________________________

I haven't been by this site in a while. How high up is it?

[buildingboom]

I pass by this site everyday going to and from port authority bus terminal. Seems to be one of the fastest and safest construction site in the city that I've seen. I really like the concept of core&shell. hopefully more buildings in the city will go this route (worked well for 7WTC as well)

[BrooklynRider]

I'm guessing it had more to do with manufacture and delivery of steel as opposed to "methodology".

[scumonkey]

http://i211.photobucket.com/albums/bb276/scumonkey/DSCN00141.jpg

[antinimby]

Can someone get that ugly McSam to move out of the way in that picture? Way out of the way, like Nebraska or something like that.

[lofter1]

Shaping up ...

http://i130.photobucket.com/albums/p242/Lofter1/11%20TS%20Plaza/L111TS_415.jpg

http://i130.photobucket.com/albums/p242/Lofter1/11%20TS%20Plaza/L111TS_4027.jpg

http://i130.photobucket.com/albums/p242/Lofter1/11%20TS%20Plaza/L111TS_4014.jpg

http://i130.photobucket.com/albums/p242/Lofter1/11%20TS%20Plaza/L111TS_4023.jpg

Some glass on West 41st ...

http://i130.photobucket.com/albums/p242/Lofter1/11%20TS%20Plaza/L111TS_4016.jpg

http://i130.photobucket.com/albums/p242/Lofter1/11%20TS%20Plaza/L111TS_4017.jpg

http://i130.photobucket.com/albums/p242/Lofter1/11%20TS%20Plaza/L111TS_4019.jpg

http://i130.photobucket.com/albums/p242/Lofter1/11%20TS%20Plaza/L111TS_4021.jpg

http://i130.photobucket.com/albums/p242/Lofter1/11%20TS%20Plaza/L111TS_419.jpg

http://i130.photobucket.com/albums/p242/Lofter1/11%20TS%20Plaza/L111TS_414.jpg

11 ts

[antinimby]

I'm not too crazy about the glass so far. Reflective glass tend to lessen the classiness of a building.

[Tectonic]

Agreed, I'm a lil disappointed so far.

[lofter1]

Most of the glass we see so far above Eighth / 42nd will be covered in signage of some sort. The glass will be the background to blinking lights, 3-D adverts and assorted other stuff.

Besids this is Times Square -- it's not supposed to be classy. Just crass-y :cool:

[philvia]

yea the reflective glass is good for this area

[NYC4Life]

Great photos Lofter. Not a real fan of the glass panels either, but for Times Square, the reflection of lights should make up for it.

[NYC4Life]

Stunning aerial shots of Midtown.

Photos By: Dan DC (http://flickr.com/photos/dandc/) - Flickr

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3265/2817696447_40b59c7caf_b.jpg

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3176/2817697453_b5c8d9b6f2_b.jpg

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3047/2817693223_b1f44bec63_b.jpg

[Daquan13]

What is the structure that is u/c next to the NYT Tower?

[lbjefferies]

What is the structure that is u/c next to the NYT Tower?


You aren't the sharpest pair of scissors, are you?

[NYC4Life]

What is the structure that is u/c next to the NYT Tower?

You're on the right thread, look at previous posts. :confused:

[NoyokA]

You aren't the sharpest pair of scissors, are you?

lol!

[Antares41]

This bldg seem more and more risky by the day. Its a prime location, but, could be a while before they see near 100% occupancy, given the economic strom clouds on the horizon.

[NYC4Life]

Risky, but its location allows it to move foward. No major tenants yet, but hopefully the economy will stabilize enough by the time the tower is completed in a year.

[buildingboom]

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/01/nyregion/01develop.html?_r=1&em&oref=slogin

in the article is says there still aren't any tenants.

in other updates: i heard the concrete is all topped out (40 floors) and the steel is up to around 34 or 35.

[antinimby]

SJP should stop seeking one large corporate tenant. Under these economic conditions, that is no longer a likely option.

Instead, he should go the other route, which is to rent to multiple tenants that may only need smaller blocks of space. That means law firms, media companies, not-for-profits, entertainment, etc.

You get enough of them and you've got a tower filled up. Not all towers need to have one, large main corporate tenant to be successful.

[lofter1]

You aren't the sharpest pair of scissors, are you?

Even the trusty IGNORE feature doesn't spare me the pain ...

[lofter1]

Yesterday and today ...

http://i130.photobucket.com/albums/p242/Lofter1/11%20TS%20Plaza/L111TS_4211.jpg

http://i130.photobucket.com/albums/p242/Lofter1/11%20TS%20Plaza/L111TS_4215.jpg

http://i130.photobucket.com/albums/p242/Lofter1/11%20TS%20Plaza/L111TS_4221.jpg

http://i130.photobucket.com/albums/p242/Lofter1/11%20TS%20Plaza/L111TS_431.jpg

http://i130.photobucket.com/albums/p242/Lofter1/11%20TS%20Plaza/L111TS_432.jpg

http://i130.photobucket.com/albums/p242/Lofter1/11%20TS%20Plaza/L111TS_434.jpg

http://i130.photobucket.com/albums/p242/Lofter1/11%20TS%20Plaza/L111TS_438.jpg

http://i130.photobucket.com/albums/p242/Lofter1/11%20TS%20Plaza/L111TS_436.jpg

11 ts plaza

[londonlawyer]

Nice photos, Lofter.

I like how this building flares out at the top.

http://i130.photobucket.com/albums/p242/Lofter1/11%20TS%20Plaza/L111TS_4211.jpg

[lofter1]

*

http://i130.photobucket.com/albums/p242/Lofter1/11%20TS%20Plaza/L111TS_4311.jpg

http://i130.photobucket.com/albums/p242/Lofter1/11%20TS%20Plaza/L111TS_4310.jpg

http://i130.photobucket.com/albums/p242/Lofter1/11%20TS%20Plaza/L111TS_4315.jpg

http://i130.photobucket.com/albums/p242/Lofter1/11%20TS%20Plaza/L111TS_4316.jpg

http://i130.photobucket.com/albums/p242/Lofter1/11%20TS%20Plaza/L111TS_4317.jpg

http://i130.photobucket.com/albums/p242/Lofter1/11%20TS%20Plaza/L111TS_4323.jpg

http://i130.photobucket.com/albums/p242/Lofter1/11%20TS%20Plaza/L111TS_4322.jpg

11 ts plaza

[BrooklynRider]

This really seems to be developing into an example of a perfect design for the location. It's looking great an the angle is really amplified by the other buildings around it.

[kz1000ps]

I'm liking what the pictures show so far. Some have had reservations about the reflectivity of the glass, but for me I'd say it's a non-issue. At the very least, it's nowhere near being in the same league of tackiness as the Astor Place tower.

Actually, I really like what I see in the first couple of close-up shots from Lofter's second set. The silvery tones and brise soleil will play very well with the buttoned-up New York Times tower while still having a lively energy of its own.

[NoyokA]

I've always liked the premise of this building. I liked how it flared out while having a corporate subdued face anchoring it. I think its a perfect balance for the new Times Square. That said I feared with such a complicated design program reality might ruin such a premise, the materials would make or break the design. So far the materials look great. What wrong with a little reflective glass, this is Times Square after all.

[TREPYE]

Stunning aerial shots of Midtown.

Photos By: Dan DC (http://flickr.com/photos/dandc/) - Flickr

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3265/2817696447_40b59c7caf_b.jpg

Looking great so far. I love the way it kinda subtly canvetiliers via a slant our onto the street a bit.

From the west side this tower is gonna have a very important function. It will block off our sight the hideous 7TS. Now we need a couple of nicer towers (which does not take much) from the east and south to bury that POS.

[antinimby]

http://img412.imageshack.us/img412/2127/img0154td0.jpg

http://img137.imageshack.us/img137/3531/img0158in9.jpg



You know there's something interesting about this tower when even the tourists are pointing and gazing up at it.

"Look how tall it's getting..."
http://img371.imageshack.us/img371/8121/img0164at7.jpg

http://img389.imageshack.us/img389/8002/img0165le5.jpg



What they were admiring...

http://img410.imageshack.us/img410/7667/img0160oz5.jpg

[NYC4Life]

Tourists will look up at anything, just to stop pedestrian traffic.

[antinimby]

The concrete core should be topped out by now. They're putting up the steel for floors 33-34 so that means there are about 6 floors of steel construction left.

At a rate of about 1 floor per week, that means they will top out at the end of November/ beginning of December. They are on/ahead of schedule and with no accidents. Impressive.

This contractor is doing the best job in the city right now.

http://img186.imageshack.us/img186/2050/img0246iz2.jpg

http://img388.imageshack.us/img388/919/img0247ty8.jpg

http://img525.imageshack.us/img525/2793/img0248yf9.jpg

http://img504.imageshack.us/img504/2994/img0249bt0.jpg

http://img300.imageshack.us/img300/3070/img0250tl8.jpg

http://img391.imageshack.us/img391/2325/img0253hn2.jpg

[ZippyTheChimp]

http://img395.imageshack.us/img395/1323/11timessq01cvr5.th.jpg (http://img395.imageshack.us/my.php?image=11timessq01cvr5.jpg) http://img152.imageshack.us/img152/7649/11timessq02cke3.th.jpg (http://img152.imageshack.us/my.php?image=11timessq02cke3.jpg) http://img152.imageshack.us/img152/6693/11timessq03csa2.th.jpg (http://img152.imageshack.us/my.php?image=11timessq03csa2.jpg)

[NYC4Life]

Impressive indeed. Just earlier in the year, this site was a grass field. Now, it's all concrete and steel.

[scumonkey]

^ actually, it was a paved parking lot...;)
http://i211.photobucket.com/albums/bb276/scumonkey/lot-1.jpg

[ablarc]

They are on/ahead of schedule and with no accidents. Impressive.

This contractor is doing the best job in the city right now.
Bet his subs are minding their P's and Q's, with the crappy economy threatening to put them in an unemployment line.

[lofter1]

actually, it was a paved parking lot...;)

actually ... ;)

This hasn't been a paved parking lot for years. Back around '05 - '06 the site was fenced off and partially dug out in anticipation of development -- but then sat fallow for quite some time until they started digging out for this one in December '06.

Here's how it looked in November '06 ...

*

[scumonkey]

True dat but....that's still a far cry from a grass field ;)

[lofter1]

Twue ... a weedy pit might be more applicable :cool:

[NYC4Life]

That field should have been named "Times Square Park."

[lofter1]

Action along 42nd Street ...

http://i130.photobucket.com/albums/p242/Lofter1/11%20TS%20Plaza/L111TS_4540.jpg

http://i130.photobucket.com/albums/p242/Lofter1/11%20TS%20Plaza/L111TS_4526.jpg

http://i130.photobucket.com/albums/p242/Lofter1/11%20TS%20Plaza/L111TS_4527.jpg

http://i130.photobucket.com/albums/p242/Lofter1/11%20TS%20Plaza/L111TS_4549.jpg

http://i130.photobucket.com/albums/p242/Lofter1/11%20TS%20Plaza/L111TS_4551.jpg

http://i130.photobucket.com/albums/p242/Lofter1/11%20TS%20Plaza/L111TS_4555.jpg

http://i130.photobucket.com/albums/p242/Lofter1/11%20TS%20Plaza/L111TS_4560.jpg

http://i130.photobucket.com/albums/p242/Lofter1/11%20TS%20Plaza/L111TS_4516.jpg

http://i130.photobucket.com/albums/p242/Lofter1/11%20TS%20Plaza/L111TS_4525.jpg

11 ts

[lofter1]

More glass along W 41st ...

http://i130.photobucket.com/albums/p242/Lofter1/11%20TS%20Plaza/L111TS_452.jpg

http://i130.photobucket.com/albums/p242/Lofter1/11%20TS%20Plaza/L111TS_455.jpg

http://i130.photobucket.com/albums/p242/Lofter1/11%20TS%20Plaza/L111TS_456.jpg

The crew was having trouble getting some panels installed on W 42nd ...

http://i130.photobucket.com/albums/p242/Lofter1/11%20TS%20Plaza/L111TS_4531.jpg

http://i130.photobucket.com/albums/p242/Lofter1/11%20TS%20Plaza/L111TS_4532.jpg

http://i130.photobucket.com/albums/p242/Lofter1/11%20TS%20Plaza/L111TS_4537.jpg

http://i130.photobucket.com/albums/p242/Lofter1/11%20TS%20Plaza/L111TS_4542.jpg

http://i130.photobucket.com/albums/p242/Lofter1/11%20TS%20Plaza/L111TS_4543.jpg

http://i130.photobucket.com/albums/p242/Lofter1/11%20TS%20Plaza/L111TS_4563.jpg

http://i130.photobucket.com/albums/p242/Lofter1/11%20TS%20Plaza/L111TS_4564.jpg

Later that afternoon it was apparent that their effort hadn't been successful ...

http://i130.photobucket.com/albums/p242/Lofter1/11%20TS%20Plaza/L111TS_4565.jpg

http://i130.photobucket.com/albums/p242/Lofter1/11%20TS%20Plaza/L111TS_4566.jpg

http://i130.photobucket.com/albums/p242/Lofter1/11%20TS%20Plaza/L111TS_4567.jpg

http://i130.photobucket.com/albums/p242/Lofter1/11%20TS%20Plaza/L111TS_4568.jpg

11 ts

[brianac]

11 Times Square's Concrete Core All Set

by Tom Acitelli (http://www.observer.com/node/36094)
October 22, 2008

SJP Properties announced Tuesday that the 600-foot-high core of its spec office tower at 11 Times Square had been topped out ahead of schedule. The tower, undertaken originally during much flusher economic times, is scheduled to be ready for tenants (whomever they may be) in 2010.

Full release below:

SJP Properties Announces Concrete Core Topping Out at 11 Times Square
First Building in New York to Have Concrete Core Built Prior to Steel Frame

NEW YORK, N.Y., (October 21, 2008) - SJP Properties has announced that the 600-foot high concrete core at 11 Times Square, the 1.1 million square foot commercial and retail tower that is the largest speculative development under construction in midtown Manhattan, is topped out and completed ahead of schedule. Eleven Times Square remains on schedule to be completed for tenant occupancy in 2010.

Construction of the concrete core began in November of 2007 and was completed on October 1st, keeping the project on track for completion by January 2010. The core serves as the lateral load-resisting frame of the structure and is being built ahead of the steel framing that it will adjoin. Eleven Times Square is the first building in New York with the concrete core to be completed before the steel frame. The 7,000 tons of structural steel that were delivered in early April are also rapidly rising on the site and the structure is completed on the north and south sides of the tower up to the 36th floor. It is expected that the steel will be topped out in early November.

"We are very pleased at how quickly and efficiently the concrete core at 11 Times Square has risen. The concrete core structure is one of the most defining features of this building, adding safety and security to the entire structure and providing tenants with numerous benefits that aren't readily observed," said SJP Chief Financial Officer David Welch. "Eleven Times Square's highly innovative design, logistics planning and world-class construction team has enabled us to offer the most modern, state-of-the-art building available in Midtown today. This entire development process, led by the rising of the concrete core, has been one of the most exciting construction projects we have built in our company's 25 year history."

The concrete core at 11 Times Square enhances the tower's efficiency by eliminating the need for a multitude of columns. The strength of the core allows for the construction of floors with fewer interior columns and, ultimately, floor plates that work well for both office-intensive and open layouts. All of the building's critical elements, including extra-wide stairways, elevators and utility risers are enclosed within the tower's concrete core, as is the building's command center.

Mechanical, electrical and telecommunications rooms for each floor are fully enclosed within the core walls, ensuring that noise or vibrations from machinery does not reach office tenants, and providing unparalleled levels of safety and a quiet interior environment.

"The concrete core provides a tremendous safety benefit to the building's tenants," said Dan Kaplan, senior principal with building architect FX FOWLE. "The robust enclosure protects the building's critical elements from any threats and offers enhanced rigidity for exiting the building via emergency staircases. The fully enclosed mechanical rooms also provide acoustic benefits to tenants, ensuring that they won't hear or feel the operations of the building's systems."

The tower offers stunning architectural features, including unique floor plates that expand as the building rises skyward and six tenant-exclusive useable terraces on the tower, clearly visible through the steel progress to-date. The tower will offer seven column-free corner offices on every floor with panoramic views of the Hudson River, Times Square and the Empire State Building. Tower floors will have a minimum of 9-foot, 6-inch finished ceilings, floor-to-ceiling unobstructed glass, state of the art vertical transportation technology and a high-performance energy efficient environment. The base floors are the largest under construction in Midtown, measuring 41,000 square feet each.

11 Times Square will incorporate the latest technologies in air intake monitoring and filtration, water collection and construction with materials sensitive to the environment. With these enhancements and many others, Eleven Times Square is seeking Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Gold Certification from the U.S. Green Building Council, the nationally recognized benchmark for design, construction and operation of high-performance green buildings.

Located on Eighth Avenue and flanked by 41st and 42nd streets, 11 Times Square offers countless neighborhood retail, dining and lodging amenities and ideal access to several modes of transportation, including numerous bus lines and parking for commuters at the Port Authority Terminal, and immediate access to 12 subway lines with Grand Central Terminal and Pennsylvania Station just one subway stop away.

SJP Properties is one of the New York metropolitan area's leading developers of Class A office and luxury residential properties with over $2 billion in current New York City development. SJP Properties is also currently developing a New York luxury condominium project, The Platinum, a 42-story building near Times Square at Eighth Avenue and West 46th Street, which is over 70 percent sold.


SJP Properties

For more than 25 years, SJP Properties has been setting the benchmark for excellence in speculative, build-to-suit, investment and development services of Class-A office space in the New York metropolitan area serving major multinational and national tenants. Throughout its history, the company has developed in excess of 20 million square feet of Class "A", headquarters-quality office space and currently has an additional six million square feet in its development pipeline. SJP Properties is headquartered in Parsippany, New Jersey. For more information on SJP Properties, please call 973-299-9117 or visit

http://www.observer.com/2008/real-estate/11-times-squares-concrete-core-all-set

© 2008 Observer Media Group,

[NYC4Life]

Hmmmm, I thought this tower was scheduled for completion in late 2009? :rolleyes:

[JSsocal]

Hmmmm, I thought this tower was scheduled for completion in late 2009? :rolleyes:

Well, maybe they are making extra time so they can be "even more" ahead of schedule.:rolleyes:

[DKNY617]

Just a few pictures I took after college today.

http://i162.photobucket.com/albums/t263/DKNY617/IMG_0978.jpg
http://i162.photobucket.com/albums/t263/DKNY617/IMG_0979.jpg
http://i162.photobucket.com/albums/t263/DKNY617/IMG_0984.jpg

[NYC4Life]

Just seen these over at Skyscraperpage, great photos and good progress with the tower.

[BPC]

Walkd by it the other day. That curved glass exterior on the base is the very definition of ugly. Like some of the worst stuff built in the 70s. Can't imagine what they were thinking.

[lofter1]

All that curved glass down low shall be covered in signage.

[NYC4Life]

SJP Properties

http://www.sjpproperties.com/cms/Properties/image_retieval.php?iid=1039

[antinimby]

Curved corners and curves are great. They provide much needed variety in this city.

We don't have enough of them here. We have far too many square corners.

[econ_tim]

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3277/2969942843_3c460a4566_b.jpg

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3186/2970784854_7aa3a4c1da_b.jpg

[lofter1]

It's great how the concrete core remains exposed on that "internal" NE corner.

[antinimby]

It won't stay that way. It'll get covered up in what appears from some renderings, to be glass.

The budget for this project is around $1B so this ain't no 785.

[meesalikeu]

i was up here today avec camera -- here ya go:

http://i51.photobucket.com/albums/f370/meesalikeu2/ac5f0116.jpg http://i51.photobucket.com/albums/f370/meesalikeu2/846f9270.jpg

http://i51.photobucket.com/albums/f370/meesalikeu2/d847b252.jpg http://i51.photobucket.com/albums/f370/meesalikeu2/eefde63a.jpg

http://i51.photobucket.com/albums/f370/meesalikeu2/85e54c47.jpg

it really, really....really does lean! :eek:

http://i51.photobucket.com/albums/f370/meesalikeu2/3b20ca57.jpg http://i51.photobucket.com/albums/f370/meesalikeu2/bcf24d8e.jpg

[NoyokA]

The "lean" would damage the streetscape anywhere else. For Times Square, its perfect!

[antinimby]

I don't see why the taper would "damage" other streetscapes outside of TS?

[NYC4Life]

The Leaning Tower of Times Square.

[NoyokA]

I don't see why the taper would "damage" other streetscapes outside of TS?

Fifth Avenue for instance.

[NYC4Life]

The Wall Street area with its narrow streets.

[antinimby]

None of those two examples qualifies. A tapering tower on Fifth Ave. will not necessarily do anymore or less damage than any other tower.
I still don't see how the tapering hurts the streetscape.

NYC4Life, do you even realize that the top does not go beyond the lot line, eventhough visually it might fool you into believing that it does? A regular tower that shoots straight up would extend just as far as the outermost of this tower.

So then, how would narrow DT streets be affected by the taper?

[NoyokA]

A perfect example is Helmut Jahn's 425 Lexington Avenue with its flaring top. This building would be perfect for Times Square, however next to the Chrysler Building on formal Lexington Avenue it is kitsch and tacky and widely ridiculed.

http://www.hines.com/toolkit_images/Project%20Photos/425%20Lexington/425%20Lexington%20Signature_lres_web.jpg

[antinimby]

So getting rid of that flared top (which would then make it a boring perfectly square box) would somehow make it more appropriate next to the Chrysler and to be on Lexington?

Nice try but I'm not buying that one.

[NoyokA]

I wouldn't expect you to.

[antinimby]

Yeah, that's because you know well that I'm not naïve. ;)

[londonlawyer]

This building is awesome.

http://i51.photobucket.com/albums/f370/meesalikeu2/3b20ca57.jpg

[NYC4Life]

This one literally defines gravity.

[londonlawyer]

As I recall, it will have a slanted roof too.

[antinimby]

Can you believe only 3 more floors to go? It'll top out even before the end of November. Wow.

[Alonzo-ny]

Great project. Great job.

[Tectonic]

And no accidents so far.

[buildingboom]

its not really a real slanted roof. the north west corner has a "roof" thats about 2 floors taller then the rest and it slants up from the other corners to the point. however it only goes back about 5 feet, so its kind of a raised L going along the north and west walls. its called a clerestory.

[Dirty]

Topping out ceremony is Nov. 12

[NYC4Life]

^^^ So damn fast, amazing.

[antinimby]

Clearly there is very little left to go...

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3250/3003067751_00117376dd_b.jpg
d-arch (http://flickr.com/photos/d-arch/3003067751/)

[Hamilton]

I walked past this site this morning. Out on the 41st Street sidewalk there were executives in hard hats and a white steel beam on display with a small tree on top of it...meaning that 11 Times Square has officially topped out.

If I hadn't been in a rush I would've thanked the guys in the suits for not putting up a crappy, squat glass box.

[DKNY617]

This building has so far been turning out great! Walked passed the site two weeks ago and was impressed. Can't wait to see some more of the glass creeping up the tower!

And it is nice that the New York Times Tower has some company!

[JSsocal]

This building reminds me of a mullet, business in front, party in the back:D

[Hamilton]

^^haha

[Antares41]

Is this fantastic building still in search of a tenant?

[NYC4Life]

^^^ No major tenants at the moment.

[krulltime]

Took these shots two days ago...


http://www.pbase.com/image/106298882.jpg

http://www.pbase.com/image/106298883.jpg

http://www.pbase.com/image/106298884.jpg

http://www.pbase.com/image/106298885.jpg

http://www.pbase.com/image/106298886.jpg

http://www.pbase.com/image/106298889.jpg

[DKNY617]

Great pics! Glad to see the glass is reaching around the tower portion now after the base has been fully clad. I definitely like the tower glass better than the base, but since the base will be covered in ads, its not bad.

Wish it were 5-10 floors taller but it still looks great and is a nice neighbor for the NYT!

[NYC4Life]

What an impact the tower has made on that long vacant corner of West 42nd st. and 8th Ave.

[brianac]

Midtown Journal

New Subway Entrance Opens Window to an Old, Coal-Heated New York

http://graphics8.nytimes.com/images/2008/11/29/nyregion/29metjournalsub_span.jpg Michael Appleton for The New York Times
Contractors work at night at Eighth Avenue and 42nd Street. Vaults used for storing coal were under the roadway, a relic of a time when streets were narrower.

By CHARLES DELAFUENTE (http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/d/charles_delafuente/index.html?inline=nyt-per)
Published: November 28, 2008

In the heart of Midtown, a yearlong project to build a new subway entrance provides a nightly feast for sidewalk superintendents and urban archaeologists.

http://graphics8.nytimes.com/images/2008/11/29/nyregion/29metjournal2_650.jpgRichard Perry/The New York Times
Work continues by day. “You end up with a maze of things that you have to maneuver through,” a construction official said.

During the day, at least on weekdays, much of the underground work at Eighth Avenue and 42nd Street is hidden by steel plates weighing more than two tons each.

They are removed about 10 p.m., when there is less traffic, exposing a cornucopia of dirt-encrusted pipes and ducts, the very arteries and veins of the city. And the surgeons in hard hats have to move the biggest of them — the aorta, if you will — without nicking the others.

The new entrance, on the southeast corner of the intersection, is part of 11 Times Square, an office building owned by SJP Properties, going up from 41st to 42nd Street. Part of the project is moving utilities, said Matthew DiGiorgi, senior project manager of the builder, Plaza Construction. “First and foremost was relocating a 48-inch-diameter sewer main,” he said.

Plaza, a major New York construction company, is not normally in the sewer-pipe business. It is in charge of this work because creating the subway entrance was part of the deal on the property, Mr. DiGiorgi said.

On its face, the task “doesn’t appear to be that complex,” said Richard Wood, Plaza’s president, but it is always complicated to make changes under “a street that’s accumulated 100 years of infrastructure at different times, and not very properly documented.” He added: “You end up with a maze of things that you have to maneuver through.”

The work — which Mr. DiGiorgi said included digging pits as deep as 23 feet to lay the new pipe, 40 feet south of the old one — has attracted a lot of gapers at one of Manhattan’s busiest intersections.

It has also yielded a few surprises.

One of them involved the buildings that once stood on the site. They were built about a century ago and had basement vaults, extending to the curb line, that were used for storing coal. The vaults do not appear on underground maps, the way utility lines do.

When the old buildings were demolished years ago and the land was turned into a parking lot, there was no need to remove the subterranean vaults, which were not in anyone’s way. Now they are.

Giving an underground tour one recent cold night, Martin Giroux, Plaza’s project manager at the site, pointed out another complication. At the time the old buildings were built, the sidewalk on 42nd Street was wider and the streets were narrower. With the current narrower sidewalks, the vaults now lie not just under them but under the roadway. To brace the steel plates over 42nd Street, workers installed a 21-inch-thick beam.

It is possible, even during the day, to see the remains of the brick-and-concrete arches of the old vaults, and part of the 120-foot-long new pipe, from the part of the excavation that is left uncovered: a pit behind a fence near a temporary covered pedestrian walkway.

They are much more visible, as Mr. Giroux pointed out, from the unfinished subbasement of 11 Times Square.

The vaults had to be drilled out and removed largely by hand, because of the tangle of lines for telephone, electricity, water and fiber-optic connections — not to mention steam pipes — running under the street at varying depths. If workers had put a backhoe in there instead of working by hand, and “hit one of those lines, it’s a catastrophe,” Mr. Giroux said.

As sections of the old pipe were unearthed, they revealed the site’s history. The pipe appears to have been changed somewhat in the 1960s, Mr. Giroux said, but he estimated that its old base dates to the 1860s or 1870s.

Mr. Giroux marveled at the cooperation the project had engendered. A transplanted Midwesterner, he said that he had heard horror stories about trying to work with transit officials and workers, but that he had not encountered any.

Work on the new subway entrance started in May and was expected to be completed in a year.

When the new pipe is done, it will be covered with sand and concrete and the street will be filled in and paved. . The scars will heal, and the city will have another skyscraper with a convenient subway connection.

Asked what other projects of his had changed the city’s skyline, Mr. Wood diplomatically said that “every building is important to us.” But then he cited Riverhouse, at Battery Park City; 147 Flatbush Avenue Extension in Downtown Brooklyn (“a beautiful building”); and the “very visible” Random House (http://topics.nytimes.com/top/news/business/companies/random_house_inc/index.html?inline=nyt-org) building at Broadway and 56th Street. His clear implication was that 11 Times Square, with its escalators from the lobby to the subway below, would rank with them.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/29/nyregion/29metjournal.html?_r=1&ref=nyregion

Copyright 2008 (http://www.nytimes.com/ref/membercenter/help/copyright.html) The New York Times Company (http://www.nytco.com/)

[Tectonic]

Very interesting stuff.

[Antares41]

Seem like nearly every excavation site in NYC (especially Manhattan) yields some links to NYC's recent past; fascinating stuff.

[Tectonic]

Any ideas on how to dismantle the crane 'trapped' inside the building on the 41st Street side?

[NYC4Life]

More evident of how just below our feet, lies another city from both the past and present.

[Ed007Toronto]

Another reason why something like the Fulton Street Transit Center is taking so long.

[NYC4Life]

Fulton Street's issue is more financial than history.

[scumonkey]

http://www.nypost.com/img/cols/loisweiss_btb.jpg
From:New York Post:
We've finally tracked down some actual tenant action at the still under construction 11 Times Square.
Sources tell us the building on the southeast corner of West 42nd Street and Eighth Avenue, which is vying for a Gold LEED efficiency rating, was one of those considered by WestLB prior to it signing with Larry Silverstein's 7 WTC for the cheaper rent.
Other tenants that have combed the SJP Properties' concrete halls include Mizhuo, which has a request for 250,000 to 300,000 foot proposals out around town with CB Richard Ellis's Robert Flippin.
Sources said the National Basketball Association, whose ongoing headquarters search is being led by Barry Gosin of Newmark Knight Frank, was bouncing around as recently as September, and even had some architectural game plans made.
Gosin said they are considering all their options and that they haven't looked at 11 Times Square in "a year or two."
The NBA is now at 645 Fifth Ave., and has been looking everywhere for new space, including at one point eyeing possible new Brookfield towers along Ninth Avenue near Madison Square Garden.
Steve Siegel, the Global chairman of CB Richard Ellis who is in charge of leasing 11 Times Square, said he was meeting yesterday with a "potential 200,000 foot tenant" for the third time.
"At this moment in time we are in no rush [to lease]," Siegel said. "We have a year before it's completed and several years of carry built into the pro forma. While people will pay a premium, whether it's $20, $30 or $10 a foot we don't know yet."
So far, he's holding rents at $100 a foot but admitted some wiggle room for 200,000 foot lower floor tenants.
*

[NYC4Life]

Crain's NY / AP

December 11, 2008 8:45 am

NYC construction worker injured by concrete

A construction worker is in critical condition after fire officials said concrete fell on him from a building under construction near Times Square.

AP) - A construction worker is in critical condition after concrete fell on him as he worked in a pit at New York City's Times Square.

The worker was taken to Jacobi Hospital after the early accident Thursday morning in rainy, slippery weather. Fire officials say concrete apparently fell on the man from a building under construction, but it wasn't clear where he was working when he was injured.

The man was working 11 Times Square at 42nd St. at Eighth Ave. Deputy Fire Chief Steve Morelli says the pit was murky with a lot of mud and water that made for a difficult rescue.

The pit is apparently going to be an entrance to a subway. The building under construction is a 35-story office tower.

The worker's name wasn't released.


©Copyright 2008 Associated Press.

[JSsocal]

Please don't stop construction, pleaase do not stop construction!!!!:(

[Ebola]

I know; this is horrible, so let's hope they stop all construction. Having a skyscraper in modern NYC finish ahead of schedule would be nothing but a horrible blemish on the city. Just thinking about it makes me sick. :(

[JSsocal]

While I dearly hope that the construction worker is okay, and that safety needs to be made a priority, I do hope that this one keep this one moving, this one has been the best at keeping a steady pace, and, until now has been pretty safe.

[antinimby]

The very latest...taken earlier today.

In contrast to the highly reflective glass on the base, the glass on the tower is actually quite clear and nice.

http://img389.imageshack.us/img389/9179/img0345zq3.jpg

http://img518.imageshack.us/img518/6916/img0346km8.jpg

http://img68.imageshack.us/img68/452/img0347ks5.jpg

http://img68.imageshack.us/img68/3436/img0354dx0.jpg

http://img68.imageshack.us/img68/540/img0355fj2.jpg

[antinimby]

Oops, almost forgot. Here's one more...

http://img389.imageshack.us/img389/6360/img0332ze6.jpg

[nykid17]

WoW, I love the small indents that 'separate' the glass.
It's the details that matter, really.
This one looks unreal; one of the rare situations where the tower might actually resemble the renderings. (unlike BoA)

[spatulashack]

This building proves that not all "glass boxes" have to be bad design. All it takes is some good materials and small alterations to the basic skeletal form to change them into something worthy of being built in the city.

[avngingandbright]

This stretch is just so New York, I feel like it's been this way for years. Hard to imagine it being run down buildings and an empty lot not so long ago.

[NYC4Life]

Interesting to see when the glass is covered with the signage and billboards.

[lofter1]

This one looks good from all sorts of angles ...

http://i130.photobucket.com/albums/p242/Lofter1/11%20TS%20Plaza/L111TS_5110.jpg

http://i130.photobucket.com/albums/p242/Lofter1/11%20TS%20Plaza/L111TS_5119.jpg

http://i130.photobucket.com/albums/p242/Lofter1/11%20TS%20Plaza/L111TS_5123.jpg

http://i130.photobucket.com/albums/p242/Lofter1/11%20TS%20Plaza/L111TS_5126.jpg

http://i130.photobucket.com/albums/p242/Lofter1/11%20TS%20Plaza/L111TS_5131.jpg

http://i130.photobucket.com/albums/p242/Lofter1/11%20TS%20Plaza/L111TS_5135.jpg

http://i130.photobucket.com/albums/p242/Lofter1/11%20TS%20Plaza/L111TS_5138.jpg

http://i130.photobucket.com/albums/p242/Lofter1/11%20TS%20Plaza/L111TS_5139.jpg

http://i130.photobucket.com/albums/p242/Lofter1/11%20TS%20Plaza/L111TS_5137.jpg

11 ts

[antinimby]

One thing it doesn't seem to do well though, is to look tall.

[philvia]

it isn't very tall to begin with... but the glass on this looks amazing!

[kz1000ps]

Yes, the glass looks quite silky; both corporate and fun. And Lofter, that second shot (my name for it is the vertical nook) is primo stuff.

[RandySavage]

http://i130.photobucket.com/albums/p242/Lofter1/11%20TS%20Plaza/L111TS_5123.jpg


This photo is awesome! Nice composition.

[lofter1]

Note that the underside of the overhang is also covered in that reflective glass http://www.wirednewyork.com/forum/images/icons/icon14.gif

[Alonzo-ny]

Tall isnt what this building is about, thats whats good about it, it isnt trying to be something its not.

[TREPYE]

http://i130.photobucket.com/albums/p242/Lofter1/11%20TS%20Plaza/L111TS_5126.jpg







http://i130.photobucket.com/albums/p242/Lofter1/11%20TS%20Plaza/L111TS_5139.jpg

http://i130.photobucket.com/albums/p242/Lofter1/11%20TS%20Plaza/L111TS_5137.jpg

11 ts
Sharp.;)

This facade -totally unlike the facade of One Bryant Park (BoA)- enhances the architectural quality of this tower.

[Alonzo-ny]

Exactly, whoever chose the glass at BOA destroyed the whole building. And it wasnt a hard decision. How did they get to make such a huge choice on a billion dollar project.

[NYC4Life]

Hopefully, all the signage that will be placed will not destroy much of the glass' appearance.

[antinimby]

From the NY Post (http://www.nypost.com/seven/12302008/business/filling_in_the_blanks_146436.htm) yesterday...



http://www.nypost.com/img/cols/stevecuozzo.jpg
http://www.nypost.com/img/sl/realtycheck.gif


YES , the New Year will be a stinker. Even if relatively few pessimistic market-watchers (like this column) are right to say that the world isn't ending, it might feel that way.

The overall office-vacancy rate jumped to 10.2 percent in the fourth quarter of 2008 from 7.12 percent at the end of 2007, according to new data from Jones Lang LaSalle.

"The overall vacancy rate breached the 10 percent mark for all property types for the first time since the first quarter of 2004," said JLL Research Director James Delmonte.

JLL's numbers don't even take into account the new 11 Times Square, which has no tenants yet and will add another 1.1 million square feet to the market when JLL starts including them next month.

But it's a drop in the bucket in a total Manhattan inventory of 424 million square feet, as counted by JLL.

Much of this quarter's swollen availability resulted from sublease space, which now accounts for more than one-third of the Class-A Midtown market.

To be sure, Manhattan is in much better shape than it was even 15 years ago, and few outside the real-estate industry will care how many 100,000 square-foot blocks are up for grabs.

But at a handful of locations, it will be impossible not to notice that a giant hole or an entire new building stands empty.

Here's a quartet of sites in urgent need of prayer:

* 11 TIMES SQUARE:Steven Pozycki's SJP Properties is not pushing the panic button over its 1.1 million square-foot tower at Eighth Avenue and 42nd Street, as SJP still has a year to find tenants before the building opens.

But it can likely rule out French investment bank Natixis, which was prowling for 200,000 square feet - but more recently lost over a half-billion dollars through investments with accused Wall Street scammer Bernard Madoff.

Copyright 2008 NYP Holdings, Inc.

[antinimby]

1/18/2009

http://img185.imageshack.us/img185/3497/img0444qt1.jpg

http://img510.imageshack.us/img510/8104/img0445rz9.jpg

http://img407.imageshack.us/img407/1968/img0449zz9.jpg

http://img168.imageshack.us/img168/162/img0450yy7.jpg

http://img93.imageshack.us/img93/2123/img0453hz3.jpg

http://img238.imageshack.us/img238/2540/img0455gk1.jpg

[195Broadway]

http://img185.imageshack.us/img185/3497/img0444qt1.jpg
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2219/2532870846_2efe45b8e8.jpg

[philvia]

^^ :confused:

glad for some updates but it seems slow to me...

[lofter1]

Slow? Compared to what?

One year ago it was barely more than a hole in the ground ...

(This shot is from mid-March 2008)

*

[BrooklynLove]

Maybe the comment was referring to the past few months when viewed relative to the previous pace of the project. I think it's fair to say that the pace has slowed considerably recently.

[Derek2k3]

Lots of interior construction is probably going on.

[Tectonic]

Weather?

[JSsocal]

I think I like those recessed edges every two floors, or otherwise the not-so complex shape of this guy would be dumbed down even more.

So far this one is living up yo all of my expectations and then some :)

[BrooklynRider]

I'm loving it too. the "new 42nd Street" got great bookends on both sides of the street.

[nykid17]

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3311/3229567346_dc618595ab.jpg

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3396/3229567202_8f9b008650_b.jpg

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3489/3228718437_dfa5449e19.jpg

[eddhead]

It is pretty neat looking. From a PM perspective, it really seems to have been managed well. Organized efficient and timely.

[ItstheBeat]

The glass here really points out how much better the facade on BofA could have been.

[JSsocal]

^^^I'd disagree, the glass here, if used on OBP, probably would make it seem even fatter, considering the horizontal lines. The facade at OBP is also good because it moves away from all the blue glass these days.

[lofter1]

A big glossy & reflective tower at the OBP corner would have been, in a word, wrong.

[ItstheBeat]

I was suggesting a similar facade not the exact same color. here the facade emphasizes the shape of the building IMO.
BofA just went all wrong with the two different horizontal shades which just makes a fat building look even fatter.
1BP should have had a treatment that shows off its verticality and sharp angles. All that said I think this facade enhances 11TS.

[spatulashack]

Is it BofA or OBP? We all need to settle on an acronym. I vote for BofA.

[lofter1]

It will always be One Bryant Park, due to location.

Whether or not the name "Bank of America Tower" remains is questionable, given the current status of the American economy.

[Dirty]

Proskauer to go to 11 Times Square?Daniel Geiger
1/21/2009 Deal would be coup for SJP Properties
Yesterday we wrote about how the real estate rumor mill, which once flourished with juicy tidbits of info during the real estate boom years, was running near empty in recent months as the pace of notable deals has dwindled down to nearly nothing amid the recession.

Well here’s some gossip that we just heard being murmured from a few sources: Proskauer Rose, the huge law firm at 1585 Broadway is said to be reconsidering a nearly done deal it had for 500,000 square feet or so of space at 250 West 55th Street, an as yet undeveloped office tower on Eighth Avenue.

Two separate sources told us that Proskauer was now considering a deal in 11 Times Square instead, the brand new one million square foot office tower down Eighth Avenue on 42nd Street that developer SJP Properties is set to finish building later this year.

A deal with Proskauer would be a massive coup for SJP Properties, which has appeared to be one of the developments most imperiled by the problems gripping the office market.

When SJP began the skyscraper in the summer of 2007, rents in Manhattan and particularly in midtown, seemed to be ceaselessly charting upwards. Only sky high rates were enough to justify the considerable costs of new construction. But executives at SJP appeared to be confident that the tower could command just such rents, rates well into the $100s per square foot.

Their ambitions seemed plausible. After all, high-end buildings not nearly as new and state of the art as 11 Times Square were commanding never before seen prices from tenants. And Eighth Avenue, once considered dingy and remote compared to midtown’s more established office corridors, had appeared to have finally gained mainstream acceptance even among white shoe firms.

Not long after a handful of law firms migrated to 620 Eighth Avenue – a tower built by Forest City Ratner – the firm Gibson Dunn committed to more than 200,000 square feet in 250 West 55th Street, a tower planned by the real estate investment trust Boston Properties.

Vornado Realty Trust meanwhile reached a tentative deal with the Port Authority to build an office tower above the bus terminal on 42nd Street and redevelop the station’s retail space.

But since the days of exhilarating anticipation when SJP broke ground on the roughly $1 billion project, the Manhattan office market has steadily seemed to deteriorate. Even as the market slackened and cataclysmic upheaval began to shake the financial sector, Manhattan’s biggest space using industry, SJP held firm on the premium rents it was seeking.

The aggressive stance ended up costing the firm tenants, including the French bank Natixis according to sources, which considered the property before doing a large deal for considerably cheaper sublease space on Park Avenue that was being offered by JPMorgan Chase. So far SJP hasn’t been able to secure a single deal for the property and in recent months, sources said that the developer was rethinking how firm it would continue to hold on rents.

A deal with Proskauer, if it in fact is in negotiations, would likely be at a discount to what SJP was initially seeking for the space. Proskauer’s commitment to the building, because of its large size alone, would likely also go a long way towards putting the project on sound financial footing – what would be a miraculous turnaround from what appeared to be its dire predicament only a few weeks ago.

Proskauer had been negotiating for over a year at 250 West 55th Street. One complication that sources say arose in that deal was what, if any, financial incentives would be provided by Morgan Stanley, the investment firm with whom Proskauer shares 1585 Broadway. Proskauer is said to have expansion rights in 1585 Broadway, space that Morgan Stanley had envisioned itself growing into in recent years and wanted to free up by encouraging Proskauer to move.

But when Morgan Stanley ran into severe problems during Wall Street’s black September, whispers went through the brokerage community that it likely was no longer in a position to sweeten Proskauer’s deal at 250 West 55th Street and that it may no longer even need the space. Morgan Stanley has reorganized, along with Goldman Sachs, as a bank holding company, a structure that is expected to dampen its growth while increasing stability.

If Proskauer breaks from the deal at 250 West 55th, it would leave Boston Properties in a difficult predicment, whether to build an office tower with a large block of free space at a dire time in the market. The firm may be feeling increasingly conservative since the summer when, just before the crisis in the financial sector, it bought the General Motors for $2.8 billion. It is widely believed that the building is worth less than that now.

[antinimby]

Let's hope Proskauer signs here instead of at Boston Properties' boring box on 55 St.

Not only is 11 TS a vastly superior tower in terms design, appearance and safety (concrete core) but the location can't be beat either: the bus terminal (for NJ employees), the 7 & S train / crosstown bus to Grand Central (Westchester/CT employees), one short stop to Penn Station (LI employees).

[Derek2k3]

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3482/3237536145_58de290bf7_o.jpg
Red Square Architectural Visualization
http://redsq.us/

Larger and other renderings at website.

[Dirty]

Eighth Ave. Tower on Hold
By Paul Bubny (http://www.globest.com/cgi-bin/udt/im.author.contact.view?client_id=globest&story_id=176633&title=Eighth%20Ave.%20Tower%20on%20Hold&author=Paul%20Bubny&address=http%3A//www.globest.com/news/1337%5F1337/newyork/176633%2D1.html&summary=NEW%20YORK%20CITY%2DBoston%20Properties%20 reports%20in%20its%20Q4%20SEC%20filing%20that%20wo rk%20on%20a%20proposed%20office%20tower%20near%20T imes%20Square%20has%20been%20suspended.)
News Tip? (http://www.globest.com/cgi-bin/udt/im.author.contact.view?client_id=globest&story_id=176633) | http://www.globest.com/redesign/images/email_icon.gif (http://www.globest.com/cgi-bin/udt/im.send.story.prompt?client_id=globest&story_id=176633) Email (http://www.globest.com/cgi-bin/udt/im.send.story.prompt?client_id=globest&story_id=176633) | http://www.globest.com/redesign/images/printer_icon.gif (http://www.globest.com/news/1337_1337/newyork/176633-1.html?type=pf) Print (http://www.globest.com/news/1337_1337/newyork/176633-1.html?type=pf) | http://www.globest.com/redesign/images/reprints_icon.gif (http://remreprints.com/) Reprints (http://remreprints.com/)

http://www.globest.com/newspics/nyc_gmbuilding.jpg
GM Building
NEW YORK CITY-Boston Properties has put its proposed office tower near Times Square on hold, the Boston-based REIT revealed in an SEC filing Thursday. BP had entered into a joint venture with Related Cos. in 2007 to acquire land parcels and air rights for the tower at the corner of Eighth Avenue and 46th Street, reportedly for $350 million.
The SEC filing, announcing the REIT’s fourth-quarter results, did not specify exactly when the decision to suspend development on the proposed 740 Eighth Ave. was made. "The proposed project was comprised of an assemblage of land parcels and air-rights, including contracts to acquire land parcels and air-rights, on which the joint venture was to construct a class A office property," according to the company’s form 8-k filing. As a result, Boston Properties took a charge totaling approximately $23.2 million, representing its share of land and air-rights impairment losses, forfeited contract deposits and previously incurred planning and pre-development costs.
In its 8-k filing, Boston Properties reported a loss of about $165 million in the value of three of the former Macklowe Properties it acquired as part of a JV (http://www.globest.com/news/1165_1165/newyork/171072-1.html) in May along with the General Motors Building at 767 Fifth Ave. Those office towers include the 292,000-square-foot 540 Madison Ave., a 591,000-square-foot office building at 125 W. 55th St., and the 664,000-square-foot Two Grand Central Tower at 44th Street between Lexington and Third avenues. The GM Building, considered the crown jewel of the $3.95-billion deal, has maintained its value. A spokeswomen for Boston Properties did not respond to GlobeSt.com’s inquiries by deadline. The now-delayed 740 Eighth was seen as a potential rival to the 1.1-million-square foot 11 Times Square, a speculative office property under construction by Parsippany, NJ-based SJP Properties. A spokeswoman for SJP, which topped out (http://www.globest.com/news/1271_1271/newyork/174647-1.html) the structure’s 600-foot concrete core in October, says the project is proceeding on schedule for a 2010 opening.

[NoyokA]

hallelujah ! No doubt they would have put up a boring box there.

[ASchwarz]

Different Eighth Avenue tower. 45th Street, not 55th Street. 55th is leased.

I said the same thing on the other thread, but people aren't reading the BP 10-K filing.

[londonlawyer]

If BP has a tenant for the 55th Street tower other than Gibson's 200,000 s.f. (i.e., 20% of the tower), who is it? If they think it's Proskauer, Proskauer apparently doesn't agree. If that's the case, I can't see BP proceeding on 55th Street with a building that's 20% leased.

[NoyokA]

Different Eighth Avenue tower. 45th Street, not 55th Street. 55th is leased.

I said the same thing on the other thread, but people aren't reading the BP 10-K filing.

I know. Although we haven't seen renderings for the 45th street site, with those developers behind it I'm sure it would've been a boring box.

[nykid17]

The glAsS is loOking goOd..
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3461/3240351416_47f7e626f5_b.jpg

[antinimby]

Thought I add another shot also from a different angle.

From earlier today...

http://img98.imageshack.us/img98/7478/img0590cl1.jpg

[econ_tim]

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3446/3241786993_f5ca4431b3_b.jpg

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3415/3242632960_6bba998a6c_b.jpg

[antinimby]

10 floors too short.

[nykid17]

I'm really starting to love the NYTT.
It's like the ideal modern gotham building.
And what's up with the floors that kind of poke out on the right side of 11 TS?
Mechanical floors or best office vistas?

[krulltime]

Nice photos econ_tim. Yeah how would I love for this one to have more floors.

[kz1000ps]

At this point in time, I'd rather not the NYTT have a height competition; let it stand alone and proud for at least a little bit. Maybe once the area is filled in with 600-footers I'd wish for a bit more vertical variety, but I like the idea of the NYTT ruling over this area.

[Derek2k3]

The proposed tower above Port Authority by Rogers is only slightly taller than the NYT and closer to the river. That kind of irks me. I think the worst way to pay respect to a skyscraper is to build another one at almost the same height right next to it. These are not brownstones.

No-nothing-nimbies were pushing for the new UN tower and the Turtle Bay South towers to be slightly lower (495') than the U.N. (505') to pay homage to it. How ridiculous. Trump World Tower at 861' hardly diminishes the prominence of the U.N. and only makes the East side skyline more remarkable.

The same outcries were heard with Miss Brooklyn vs. One Hanson (Williamsburg Savings), and Goldman Sachs vs. the Amex Building. Build the damn thing either lower or higher, otherwise the buildings just seem to cancel out.

[Alonzo-ny]

Exactly why power shouldnt go to people who dont know what they are doing.

[fioco]

Unfortunately, politicians and nimbys are a match made in Hades, and they flourish in muddy waters where debate is strangled by agendas, manipulated figures, and misleading renderings. Developers use the same effective tactics (chicken or egg?). Meanwhile, the common citizenry is robbed of effective models that could show us some ways forward.

When sound-bites rule, when we enjoy shouting over debate, then only over-the-top charges and extreme demands can thrive in this toxic environment. Discourse has no place (it is hard work, requires intellectual effort, negotiation, compromise, and a willingness among all parties to reach a common good, a common goal . . where vision takes the long view over expediency.

If the common citizenry had some lived experienced of vision that leads to a vibrant built environment, that provides public space that we are proud to "own" then these common citizens would demand leadership and a role for government, design standards, and healthy horse-trading.

I wonder how cities like Melbourne have been able to change the development culture. Ablarc's photo-essays give us concrete examples that it can be done right. Even right here in River City. . . er., you know. Some of our most cherished neighborhoods, our most celebrated public spaces, our most vibrant commercial centers grew out of the stew that is New York. We can't risk being reduced to whiners and complainers. There's many ways. That's what leaders do... They describe a vision (not a pipe-dream, not pie-in-the-sky, but something better) and others spark us to find a way.

[antinimby]

I agree.

[fioco]

I mistakenly thought the early days of the WTC rebuilding efforts could provide such a lived experience by the broader populace. When focus groups were confused by the massing models they were presented, it was because these folks were hungry for a vision of what could be. The Master Plan competition and Memorial competition engaged the public to a degree no one could have anticipated.

But the process became hijacked: by special interest groups, crackpots seeking a media spotlight, politically connected people skilled at getting what they wanted behind closed doors, and those with big ideas but no vision. Instead, the public became disillusioned with public process. Deals under the table, self-proclaimed entitlement groups, and Albany's "Three men in a room" prevailed. Cynicism replaced optimism; 'things never change' replaced 'we need change.'

My parents were poor but rich in hope, so I am condemned to believe that each of us can make a difference. Experience is a powerful teacher, which is why I have returned to working with young people. But the city itself needs some paradigm shifting experiences to get unstuck from the present quagmire.

[Derek2k3]

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3354/3259635472_c970c5e703.jpg


http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3531/3259635476_e3ab92a7ee_o.jpg


http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3376/3259635482_f8af65650f_o.jpg


http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3356/3259635486_2e949b75fc_o.jpg


http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3421/3259635494_e4eca98d83_o.jpg


http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3336/3259635504_1b6ccfbdbd_o.jpg


http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3516/3258802937_09420a0e91_o.jpg


http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3353/3258802941_1eac6111e0_o.jpg


http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3333/3258802943_08a073bd48_o.jpg


http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3515/3258802947_5b4de29afb_o.jpg


http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3019/3258802951_2ce70c0f02_o.jpg


http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3470/3258802953_8e03683b26_o.jpg


http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3323/3258803061_af5f7197d1_o.jpg


http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3524/3258803075_9518d6a52c_o.jpg


http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3049/3258803079_0d37241c30_o.jpg

[krulltime]

^ Nice shots! I love the glass and I like the fact that they are using it to cover that blank wall.

[BrooklynRider]

My camera battery was dying, but here are few shots in its final moments...

http://i220.photobucket.com/albums/dd121/BrooklynRiderRob/NYC%202-7-2009/DSCN2712.jpg

http://i220.photobucket.com/albums/dd121/BrooklynRiderRob/NYC%202-7-2009/DSCN2716.jpg

[nykid17]

Cladding still..
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3417/3261261543_d1afb3f625.jpg

[Alonzo-ny]

Construction on this has been flawless.

What are the chances of the advertising space on this going unsold during the recession?

[scumonkey]

Well if the amount of space that's been sold on the face of the PABT for advertising
(It was fitted out quite a while ago to accept big signs/ads), is any indication...
The building looks great without them(imho).

[BrooklynLove]

What are the chances of the advertising space on this going unsold during the recession?

This is some of the best advertising space in the world - it will sell.

[Alonzo-ny]

Agreed but its not times square advertising in the sense it wont ever really be caught on camera the way the advertising around the actual square is.

[scumonkey]

Call me crazy but....
look north across 42nd street from here-
There used to be all kinds of big flashy ads on that building.
Slowly but surely they have all but disappeared.

[Dirty]

(Update3)
Email | Print (http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=newsarchive&sid=ar4_CtuX9SZY#) | A (http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=newsarchive&sid=ar4_CtuX9SZY#) A (http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=newsarchive&sid=ar4_CtuX9SZY#) A (http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=newsarchive&sid=ar4_CtuX9SZY#)


By David M. Levitt
Feb. 6 (Bloomberg) -- Boston Properties Inc (http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/quote?ticker=BXP%3AUS)., the biggest U.S. office landlord, plans to suspend construction on a $980 million midtown Manhattan skyscraper after a law firm abandoned plans to lease space there.
“Recently the law firm informed the company that it could not proceed on those terms, thereby rendering the project economically infeasible in today’s environment,” the Boston- based company said today in a statement. The 1 million square- foot tower at 250 West 55th St. and Eighth Avenue was scheduled for completion in 2011.
Office building owners are being battered by the U.S. recession, with the 14-member Bloomberg Office REIT Index (http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/quote?ticker=BBREOFPY%3AIND) losing 51 percent in the past year. Manhattan office vacancies rose to 7.6 percent in the fourth quarter, the highest since 2004, broker CB Richard Ellis Group Inc. said last month. Lending has also dried up as financial companies have taken more than $1 trillion of writedowns and credit-market losses.
“It has more to do with the state of financial markets than the merits of individual projects,” said Dan Fasulo (http://search.bloomberg.com/search?q=Dan+Fasulo&site=wnews&client=wnews&proxystylesheet=wnews&output=xml_no_dtd&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&filter=p&getfields=wnnis&sort=date:D:S:d1), market analysis director at Real Capital Analytics Inc. in New York. “Lenders don’t want additional exposure to commercial real estate at this point. There’s nothing we can do about it but wait this out.”
Valuable Tower
A completed building on that site would have fetched $1,500 a square foot during the peak of the real estate market in 2007, Fasulo said. That would value the tower at $1.5 billion and made it one of the most expensive in the city, he said.
Boston Properties acquired some of the development rights for the West 55th Street site in May 2008 for about $34.2 million, according to company filings. It said it had invested $401.7 million in the project as of Sept. 30, 2008. It estimated its total investment would be $980 million, according to regulatory filings.
Boston Properties said today it expects to suspend its capital commitments by about $450 million through 2011 and is evaluating how the tower decision will affect earnings.
Last week the company said it had been negotiating with a top law firm and reached agreement. It didn’t name the firm.
Proskauer
The firm was identified as Proskauer Rose LLP in a Jan. 21 story in Real Estate Weekly newspaper. The report said the firm was reconsidering a deal at 250 West 55th St. and was looking at 11 Times Square across from the Port Authority Bus Terminal.
Boston Properties already had a lease with Gibson Dunn & Crutcher LLP for 22 percent of the 55th Street tower.
Calls seeking comment from New York offices of law firms Gibson Dunn and Proskauer Rose were not immediately returned.
Boston Properties Chief Executive Officer Edward Linde (http://search.bloomberg.com/search?q=Edward+Linde&site=wnews&client=wnews&proxystylesheet=wnews&output=xml_no_dtd&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&filter=p&getfields=wnnis&sort=date:D:S:d1) told analysts on a Jan. 29 conference call that he had “every reason to believe” the lease would be completed.
“We don’t put anything in the win column until the fat lady sings, to mix metaphors,” he said. “So there could be something that occurs between now and the time the documents get executed that would cause the transaction to come undone. I don’t expect it, but it’s a possibility.”
‘Serious Downdraft’
In an interview on Jan. 27, Boston Properties Chairman Mortimer Zuckerman (http://search.bloomberg.com/search?q=Mortimer+Zuckerman&site=wnews&client=wnews&proxystylesheet=wnews&output=xml_no_dtd&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&filter=p&getfields=wnnis&sort=date:D:S:d1) said the U.S. commercial real estate decline is likely to get worse this year as the credit crisis continues.
“We are still in a downdraft of a very, very serious credit crunch,” Zuckerman said in the interview on Bloomberg Television. “I don’t think that the credit crunch will be over for quite a while. We may see a much tougher 2009 than many people are expecting.”
The design of the tower, by the architectural firm Skidmore Owings & Merrill, was to include a glass tower sitting atop a wider podium, according to the Web site Greenbuildingsnyc.com.
Robert Selsam, Boston Properties’ New York regional manager, described the building as “a Lever House redux” after the Park Avenue landmark also conceived by Skidmore, the Web site said.
Boston Properties rose $4.09, or 10 percent, to $46.93 in New York Stock Exchange composite trading. The stock has declined 48 percent in the past 12 months.
To contact the reporter on this story: David M. Levitt (http://search.bloomberg.com/search?q=David+M.+Levitt&site=wnews&client=wnews&proxystylesheet=wnews&output=xml_no_dtd&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&filter=p&getfields=wnnis&sort=date:D:S:d1) in New York at dlevitt@bloomberg.net (dlevitt@bloomberg.net).

[Peteynyc1]

Dirty: Its obvious you have an agenda, but no need to post the same articles over and over in each thread.

[Dirty]

No agenda here, not everything is a conspiracy or has a hidden agenda. Please relax, deep breaths, and exhale.

Twice posted same articles on two different threads as each article relates to each thread

I do admit to making a mistake of posting the same article two times on the same thread. I so sorry over and over again! :D

[lofter1]

Dirt: One good way to deal with that is to post the article in the most-pertinent thread and then, in the secondary thread, post a link to your primary thread post.

To do that click the icon above (blue circle with chain link atop it) and cut / paste info.

You can also do it using the "quote" icons at the bottom right of the text box >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> \/ \/ \/

[Dirty]

lofter

much thanks for your help

no harm no foul

[BrooklynRider]

I couldn't get the damn window to open at my office. Better luck next time...

http://i220.photobucket.com/albums/dd121/BrooklynRiderRob/DSCN0058.jpg

[BrooklynRider]

I took a lot of photos of this today...

1.
http://i220.photobucket.com/albums/dd121/BrooklynRiderRob/nyc%203-31-2009/th_03312009026.jpg (http://s220.photobucket.com/albums/dd121/BrooklynRiderRob/nyc%203-31-2009/?action=view&current=03312009026.jpg)

2.
http://i220.photobucket.com/albums/dd121/BrooklynRiderRob/nyc%203-31-2009/th_03312009027.jpg (http://s220.photobucket.com/albums/dd121/BrooklynRiderRob/nyc%203-31-2009/?action=view&current=03312009027.jpg)

3.
http://i220.photobucket.com/albums/dd121/BrooklynRiderRob/nyc%203-31-2009/th_03312009029.jpg (http://s220.photobucket.com/albums/dd121/BrooklynRiderRob/nyc%203-31-2009/?action=view&current=03312009029.jpg)

4.
http://i220.photobucket.com/albums/dd121/BrooklynRiderRob/nyc%203-31-2009/th_03312009030.jpg (http://s220.photobucket.com/albums/dd121/BrooklynRiderRob/nyc%203-31-2009/?action=view&current=03312009030.jpg)

5.
http://i220.photobucket.com/albums/dd121/BrooklynRiderRob/nyc%203-31-2009/th_03312009032.jpg (http://s220.photobucket.com/albums/dd121/BrooklynRiderRob/nyc%203-31-2009/?action=view&current=03312009032.jpg)

6.
[/URL]
[URL="http://s220.photobucket.com/albums/dd121/BrooklynRiderRob/nyc%203-31-2009/?action=view&current=03312009034.jpg"]http://i220.photobucket.com/albums/dd121/BrooklynRiderRob/nyc%203-31-2009/th_03312009034.jpg (http://s220.photobucket.com/albums/dd121/BrooklynRiderRob/nyc%203-31-2009/?action=view&current=03312009033.jpg)

7.
http://i220.photobucket.com/albums/dd121/BrooklynRiderRob/nyc%203-31-2009/th_03312009035.jpg (http://s220.photobucket.com/albums/dd121/BrooklynRiderRob/nyc%203-31-2009/?action=view&current=03312009035.jpg)

[BrooklynRider]

From a distance...

1.
http://i220.photobucket.com/albums/dd121/BrooklynRiderRob/nyc%203-31-2009/th_03312009039.jpg (http://s220.photobucket.com/albums/dd121/BrooklynRiderRob/nyc%203-31-2009/?action=view&current=03312009039.jpg)

2.
http://i220.photobucket.com/albums/dd121/BrooklynRiderRob/nyc%203-31-2009/th_03312009042.jpg (http://s220.photobucket.com/albums/dd121/BrooklynRiderRob/nyc%203-31-2009/?action=view&current=03312009042.jpg)

[antinimby]

For anyone who wondered how or what they use to take the construction crane down when they're done with it. This pic provides the answer:

http://i220.photobucket.com/albums/dd121/BrooklynRiderRob/nyc%203-31-2009/th_03312009039.jpg (http://s220.photobucket.com/albums/dd121/BrooklynRiderRob/nyc%203-31-2009/?action=view&current=03312009039.jpg)

[Tectonic]

Another angle on 03-31, we're 25% through with 2009.

https://community.emporis.com/images/6/2009/04/692685.jpg

[lofter1]

Nice ^

She's looking a bit less staid from across 42nd Street ...

http://i130.photobucket.com/albums/p242/Lofter1/11%20TS%20Plaza/IMG_2128.jpg

http://i130.photobucket.com/albums/p242/Lofter1/11%20TS%20Plaza/IMG_2129.jpg

http://i130.photobucket.com/albums/p242/Lofter1/11%20TS%20Plaza/IMG_2130.jpg

http://i130.photobucket.com/albums/p242/Lofter1/11%20TS%20Plaza/IMG_2131.jpg

http://i130.photobucket.com/albums/p242/Lofter1/11%20TS%20Plaza/IMG_2132.jpg

http://i130.photobucket.com/albums/p242/Lofter1/11%20TS%20Plaza/IMG_2134.jpg

11 TS Plaza

[ZippyTheChimp]

http://graphics8.nytimes.com/images/misc/nytlogo153x23.gif (http://www.nytimes.com/)

April 15, 2009

Square Feet


Developers Struggle to Fill
Manhattan Office Space

By TERRY PRISTIN

A striking 40-story tower under construction on Eighth Avenue between 41st and 42nd Streets in Midtown Manhattan has a number of things going for it, including floor-to-ceiling windows, still relatively rare for an office building; six terraces; a thick concrete core that reduces the need for view-obstructing columns; and many of the latest advances in energy-efficient technology.

But less than one year before it is due to be completed, there is one major thing that the 1.1-million-square-foot tower, known as 11 Times Square, is lacking: tenants.

In the 1980s, 53 million square feet of newly built office space flooded the market and led to a collapse of real estate values. For many years afterward, lenders would not finance speculative projects, so only those with commitments from anchor tenants were built. In the current decade, developers have been relatively restrained, adding only 20 million square feet, according to the brokerage firm CB Richard Ellis.

As real estate values and rents escalated in middecade, however, a few developers were able to secure hundreds of millions of dollars in financing for ground-up construction or extensive rehabilitation of existing buildings — all without any advance lease commitments but with heady expectations of high rents.

In addition to 11 Times Square, which is being developed by SJP Properties of Parsippany, N.J., and Prudential Real Estate Investors, these buildings include 510 Madison Avenue, at 53rd Street, which is also entirely new; and several buildings that have been or are being completely transformed, including the former headquarters of The New York Times Company at 229 West 43rd Street, near Times Square, and 545 Madison Avenue, at 55th Street. In a building at 3 Columbus Circle, which was formerly called 1775 Broadway, the owner, Joseph Moinian, is spending $100 million on renovations, including installation of a new glass facade, said James D. Kuhn, the president of Newmark Knight Frank, the brokerage company that is marketing the building.

Two planned redevelopment projects outside Midtown — at 375 Pearl Street in Lower Manhattan and 330 Hudson Street in SoHo — have been indefinitely postponed because they have no tenants or construction financing, according to industry sources who were not authorized to speak about them.

These days, as vacancies in Manhattan climb and rents decline, developers of new or rehabbed buildings find themselves competing with cheap sublet space on Park Avenue and in other desirable locations. In March, the amount of actively marketed space that is vacant now or will be available within a year in Midtown reached 14.2 percent, the highest it has been since July 1994, CB Richard Ellis said. The average yearly asking rent for sublease space in Midtown was $60.44 a square foot, far less than the rents that were envisioned in the new or renovated buildings.

Those developers are also finding that capital-constrained tenants would rather stay put than spend money on a move — a trend that landlords are eager to encourage.

Most of the new or newly rehabbed buildings have yet to attract office tenants. One exception is 510 Madison Avenue, where the developer, Harry Macklowe and his son, William S. Macklowe, leased one floor to a hedge fund, Jay Goldman, in December 2007 for well above $100 a square foot.

But now, the lease may be in jeopardy. In a lawsuit filed in February, Jay Goldman accused the Macklowes of failing to meet their obligations by not delivering the space on time. In their legal filings, lawyers for the developers say the lease called for a period during which Jay Goldman would create its offices, with $400,000 of the cost to be absorbed by the Macklowes. They also accuse Jay Goldman of seeking a “pretext” to back out of the lease because of the “changed economy.”

There have been no takers for the office space at 229 West 43rd Street, now known as the Times Square Building, despite what Brian D. Gell, a vice chairman at CB Richard Ellis, describes as “cool funky space” for a tenant that is not seeking a “cookie-cutter building.”

Africa Israel bought the building for $525 million in April 2007, and has poured more than $150 million into renovating it. Recently, some newly created retail space, most of it in the basement and subbasement, was rented to Running Subway Productions, producer of the recent Broadway show “Dr. Seuss’s How the Grinch Stole Christmas.”

Africa Israel recently took a $380 million write-down on the building, according to The Jerusalem Post. Its principal lender, Credit Suisse, recently sold some of the debt to Banco Inbursa, a company controlled by the Mexican billionaire Carlos Slim Helú (who also recently lent $250 million to The New York Times Company).

These extravagant projects were fueled by the explosive growth of the financial services industry, the westward migration of law firms and other prestigious tenants to Times Square and Columbus Circle and the expectation that annual rents would soar above $100 a square foot. Some large tenants did pay more than $100, including the law firm Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld, which leased 203,000 square feet at One Bryant Park, a new tower at 42nd Street and Avenue of the Americas, and Colgate-Palmolive, which renewed its lease for 528,000 square feet at 300 Park Avenue, at 49th Street, its headquarters since 1955. But most of the tenants willing to spend that much on rent were much smaller hedge funds.

“The hedge fund community was this decade’s Internet bubble, and they were insensitive to pricing for the most part,” said Mitchell S. Steir, the chief executive of Studley, which represents commercial tenants.

Like landlords throughout the city, developers of new or newly renovated buildings are tailoring their marketing efforts to today’s economic realities. The Macklowes initially hoped to lure hedge funds to 510 Madison Avenue by incorporating a health club and a 20-yard-long swimming pool into their plans. But in the current environment, prospective tenants have more practical concerns, brokers say. To spare future tenants the expense and bother of outfitting their offices, for example, Macklowe Properties hired the design firm Gensler to create turnkey offices on two floors.

In November, LCOR, the company that stripped 545 Madison Avenue to its steel frame and rebuilt it, invited 150 brokers to lunch at the 17-story building and gave some of them $500 gift cards from Alfred Dunhill, a new retail tenant in the building. “It was a pretty effective way of getting people in to see the finished product,” said David A. Sigman, a senior vice president at LCOR.

With the recent decision by Boston Properties to abandon plans to build at 250 West 55th Street, 11 Times Square will be the only new office building on the West Side aimed at large tenants. Part of the marketing strategy involves convincing prospective tenants that the column-free design will permit them to house their employees in less space, said Steven J. Pozycki, the chairman and chief executive of SJP Properties. “When you’re coming up against a lease expiration and you haven’t touched your space in 20 years,” he said, referring to tenants, “you see that the paradigm has changed, and there are resulting economies.”

SJP and its partners have spent more than $1 billion on construction and other costs and initially hoped to get rents of $90 a square foot or more, a level that some brokers say was a stretch for an Eighth Avenue building.

But Mr. Pozycki said he was not surprised that prospective tenants had been dithering for months, unable to make a decision. “No one wants to make a big financial commitment,” he said.


Copyright 2009 The New York Times Company

[JSsocal]

Not much that's new...
http://i483.photobucket.com/albums/rr196/jerethangelfan/394.jpg?t=1239859642
http://i483.photobucket.com/albums/rr196/jerethangelfan/391.jpg?t=1239859588

[philvia]

still the fastest building construction in evarrrrr

[nykid17]

Almost finished?
http://i730.photobucket.com/albums/ww310/nYkind17/100_1045.jpg?t=1240443891

[midtownboy767]

Nice ^

She's looking a bit less staid from across 42nd Street ...





http://i130.photobucket.com/albums/p242/Lofter1/11%20TS%20Plaza/IMG_2130.jpg



11 TS Plaza

I like how the reflection of the east portion of the Westin hotel almost looks like a stand alone structure, reminiscent for the sail shape of the Burj Al Arab.

[antinimby]

Getting to the Core of 11 Times Square

http://www.theepochtimes.com/n2/images/stories/large/2009/04/23/11_Times_construction.jpg
Looking at 11 Times Square (R) under construction from the New York Times building.


By Charlotte Cuthbertson
Epoch Times Staff
Apr 22, 2009 (http://www.theepochtimes.com/n2/content/view/15773/)

NEW YORK—Eleven Times Square is on target to create a “heartstop” between 41st and 42nd Streets, says architect Dan Kaplan, senior partner at FXFowle. The building spans two distinct environments—from the glitz of 42nd Street to the executive grandeur of 41st Street.

Kaplan designed the 40-story building to be about space and light for tenants, a glassy tower that is “solar responsive,” he said. A concrete core inside the building allows for pillar-free corners and floor-to-ceiling windows. From the core there is a 45-foot open space to the windows. Seven unobstructed corner offices adorn each floor.

“The whole form is really unusual, it really celebrates corners,” Kaplan said. The tower will include over one million square feet of Class-A commercial office space and 55,000-square-feet of retail space on three levels. The joint owners, SPJ and Prudential, expect a LEED Gold certification from the U.S. Green Building Council.

The set-back design allows for six large terraces, adding usable outdoor space that will be planted out. The roof, free of mechanical equipment, has a wind wall and huge views.

Building Differently

A unique method of construction was used for the building, resulting in it being ahead of schedule throughout—a rarity in the construction industry. The concrete was put up before the steel, the opposite of usual practice.

Contractors Plaza Construction worked with unions to create extra safety measures for the new way of working. The method also saved the developer $20 million, according to Simon Wasserberger, a CB Ellis salesperson whose job it is to tenant the building. An anchor tenant is yet to be signed. “We have a lot of conversations but, you know, it’s rough out there,” Wasserberger said.

The concrete core idea was explored post-9/11 when safety became a paramount design concern. Now, Kaplan said, the concept has opened up one of the choices a developer/design team has.

“The concrete core is the superior way to do it,” he said. “My suspicion is that this will become a real option. I don’t know if it will become a new standard, but I think this will be seen in a lot of high rises.”

The forces on a tall building come from the side and the concrete core acts as a spine, a stiffening agent, Kaplan said. A diagonal lattice will be added to the exterior for extra strength.

Solar Responsiveness and the Cant

Eleven Times Square is bipolar in its solar features. The sunny south side is more reflective and has projecting solar shades—eliminating problems with glare and too much light. The north side cants out, giving it a more dramatic look as well as having more transparent glass.

“Exterior solar control devices have a lot of technical challenges and construction issues but will increasingly become a standard,” Kaplan said.
The cant also gives an extra 300 square feet for each subsequent higher floor. The base of the building squeezes in, allowing openness for pedestrians. Kaplan said the squeeze also helps create a “gateway” to Times Square with the nearby Westin Hotel.

“Urbanistically there is a very clear scale of 120-foot-high buildings in the area,” said Kaplan. Protecting the many historic low-rise theatres on Avenues 7 and 8 was important to the design team.

The tower is the most recent expansion of the 1980's masterplan for the area. The Reuters building, 4 Times Square, the New York Times building all preceded 11 Times Square. Hudson Yards will be next, Kaplan said.

Tenant possession is expected in November this year.

The Epoch Times Copyright © 2000–2009

[ablarc]

I like how the reflection of the east portion of the Westin hotel almost looks like a stand alone structure, reminiscent for the sail shape of the Burj Al Arab.
It's the best view of the sad Westin: reflected in another building!

[NYCboy1212]

Here some pictures ive taken

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3345/3499464536_9b33bb9ac5_b.jpg

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3539/3499463472_9c5120c7c6_b.jpg

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3600/3499464052_92e85636b4_b.jpg

[BrooklynLove]

Whoa. The sky in those shots is perfect.