The more indecisive among us will be able to relate to the back and forth dance Silverstein Properties is currently doing as it tries to make a decision about what to build on a large property in Manhattan’s Far West Side.
Before purchasing a Mercedes-Benz dealership on the site for $115 million and demolishing it back in 2015, Silverstein announced its plans to build two 60-story-plus towers with a total of around 1,000 apartment units. But after the purchase was made official, Silverstein instead decided to build a 1,100-foot tower with 1,400 apartments and a large retail component, Curbed New York reports.
But the best laid schemes of mice and men often go awry, and Silverstein has once again scrapped its plans and appears to be pursuing a different approach. The new plan, which, according to Crain’s, has not been set in stone, eliminates the supertall tower and goes back to a two-tower approach; one residential and one commercial.
This time, however, the project would be constructed in two phases. The first phase of the new plan would see a CetraRuddy-designed 600,000-sf condo tower rise on the site. Building the residential tower first would prove to be more lucrative and could help fund the construction of the second tower in phase two. The second tower would be the larger tower of the two, comprising 1.2 million sf of office space.
Plans have not been filed for the new two-tower project yet, however, and Silverstein is still exploring other options for the site. So don’t be too surprised if another change of plans occurs.
Related Stories
| Sep 5, 2014
First Look: Zaha Hadid's Grace on Coronation towers in Australia
Zaha Hadid's latest project in Australia is a complex of three, tapered residential high-rises that have expansive grounds to provide the surrounding community unobstructed views and access to the town's waterfront.
| Sep 2, 2014
Extreme conversion: 17-story industrial silo to be converted to high-rise housing
As part of Copenhagen's effort to turn an industrial seaport into a bustling neighborhood, Danish architecture firm COBE was invited to convert a grain silo into a residential tower.
| Sep 2, 2014
Melbourne's tallest residential tower will have 'optically transformative façade'
Plans for Melbourne's tallest residential tower have been released by Elenberg Fraser Architects. Using an optically transformative façade and botanical aesthetic, the project seeks to change the landscape of Australia's Victoria state.
| Aug 28, 2014
Stantec releases design for Edmonton's tallest tower
At 227 meters, Stantec Tower will be the tallest building in the city, dwarfing the two next-tallest: Epcor Tower and Manulife Tower.
| Aug 25, 2014
Tall wood buildings: Surveying the early innovators
Timber has been largely abandoned as a structural solution in taller buildings during the last century, in favor of concrete and steel. Perkins+Will's Rebecca Holt writes about the firm's work in surveying the burgeoning tall wood buildings sector.
| Aug 25, 2014
'Vanity space' makes up large percentage of world's tallest buildings [infographic]
Large portions of some skyscrapers are useless space used to artificially enhance their height, according to the Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat.
| Aug 25, 2014
Photographer creates time-lapse video of 1 WTC using 30,000 photos
Choosing from 30,000 photos he took from the day construction began in 2006 to the day when construction was finished in 2012, Brooklyn-based photographer Benjamin Rosamund compressed 1,100 photos to create the two-minute video.
| Aug 19, 2014
Goettsch Partners unveils design for mega mixed-use development in Shenzhen [slideshow]
The overall design concept is of a complex of textured buildings that would differentiate from the surrounding blue-glass buildings of Shenzhen.
| Aug 15, 2014
First look: RMJM’s 'jumping fish' tower design for the Chinese Riviera
The tower's fish-jumping gesture is meant to symbolize the prosperity and rapid transformation of Zhuhai, China.
| Aug 12, 2014
Shading prototype could allow new levels of environmental control for skyscraper occupants
Developed by architects at NBBJ, Sunbreak uses a unique three-hinged shade that morphs from an opaque shutter to an abstract set of vertical blinds to an awning, depending on what is needed.