Tower updates and a report from the tradeshow floor

Supertall The Spiral Marks a Milestone in Hudson Yards

The Spiral, a 66-story supertall office building at 66 Hudson Boulevard in Hudson Yards (ELEVATOR WORLD, April 2016 and November 2018), reached a milestone in April when its first steel column was installed, New York YIMBY reported. Designed by Bjarke Ingels Group with a design that features outdoor terraces spiraling around it, The Spiral will house 2.85 million sq. ft. and is being developed by Tishman Speyer. Banker Steel is the steel fabricator for the tower, expected to be complete in 2022.

Construction should reach street level sometime over the summer, with vertical ascent to start shortly thereafter.

Graffiti Touches on Nearly Complete 5Pointz Towers

A pair of 48- and 41-story towers housing 1,115 residential units and podium-level retail at 22-44 Jackson Avenue in Long Island City (LIC), Queens, had topped out in April prior to anticipated completion before the end of the year, New York YIMBY reported. The HTO Architects-designed and G&M Realty-developed towers are rising on the former site of graffiti art space 5Pointz warehouse, and will feature a graffiti-style logo and interior flourishes paying homage to this heritage. Cradled by the 7 train as it makes its way to the Court Square station, the 1.21-million-sq.-ft. development includes 223 “affordable” units, 40,000 sq. ft. of retail and parking.

City Hosts Back-to-Back Building Shows

Signs of early spring in NYC signal that the building tradeshows will make their annual visit to the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center. First was NY Build on March 12-13. This show is geared to the general contractor with a corresponding lineup of vendors.

Although the elevator trade was represented, your reporter was a bit disappointed with the representation of our trade. Last year, there were multiple elevator vendors, but this year, only three. In keeping with the theme of continuing education, Margie Russell from New York Association of Realty Managers again provided a forum on door-lock monitoring. Hopefully, the New York Build Expo management team will recruit our industry better next year.

On April 2-3, the Javits Center hosted the Buildings NY tradeshow, run by Reed Expo. Unlike NY Build, Buildings NY captured our industry with multiple vendors and two educational sessions. First was “Elevator Upgrade: Are You Prepared?” which again highlighted the door-lock monitoring compliance by 2020 and rope-gripping device compliance in 2027 and was led by Joe Caracappa from Sierra Elevator Consulting. The second discussion was presented by Liberty Elevator from New Jersey, titled “Vertical Style — What Does Your Elevator Say About Your Brand?” Dru Brooks from Liberty discussed how “regular maintenance and elevator modernization can make an immediate improvement on how your business is perceived by your clients and your employees.”

All in all, NYC is still bustling with elevator activity, and these tradeshows provide both the educational and social opportunities for many to see other trades, vendors or new products outside of their own industry. Reported by Matt Jackson, EW Correspondent