NYC Supertall Clears Final Hurdle With Public Upgrades

Hundreds of millions of dollars in public transit improvements, new arts/culture space and public terraces prompted the New York City Council to greenlight TF Cornerstone’s and RXR Realty’s plan that includes a 2.1 million-ft², 1,575-ft-tall mixed-use supertall, a 500-room hotel, a sky lobby, a lounge and a restaurant on the site of the Grand Hyatt Hotel at 175 Park Avenue, 6sqft is among outlets to report. New zoning rules in East Midtown Manhattan allow developers to build massive towers in exchange for transit and public improvements. The project is set to rise on the opposite side of Grand Central Terminal from One Vanderbilt, a 1,401-ft supertall that was the first to make use of the new zoning measure by including a US$220 million package of transit and public upgrades. Designed by Skidmore, Owings & Merrill (SOM) with pre-construction by AECOM Tishman, 175 Park Avenue will come with a cultural program that will bring art installations and more, a US$5-million endowment for local nonprofits, US$38 million for the East Midtown Public Realm Improvement Fund and, for Grand Central Terminal, a new, 5,328-ft² transit hall and new subway entrance at East 42nd Street. All told, hundreds of millions of dollars in infrastructure and transit upgrades are coming.