New Apple store and tower? 21 W. 34th St

[krulltime]

From Ismael Leyva Architects (http://www.ilarch.com/)

http://www.pbase.com/image/86794947.jpg

http://www.pbase.com/image/86794951.jpg

[krulltime]

Here is an old story...


Apple plans new retail store opposite the Empire State Building


By Katie Marsal
Published: Monday, December 19, 2005

"Apple Computers has found itself a third Manhattan pod with a new lease opposite the Empire State Building at 21 W. 34th St.," reports the New York Post.

The Mac and iPod maker reportedly net-leased the entire, 30,000-foot five-story building from Jeff Sutton of Wharton Realty and his partner, SL Green Realty Trust.

Apple's lease signing on West 34th street comes just months after the company ditched plans to open a two-story retail store in Manhattan's Flatiron district.

There, Apple was reportedly met with opposition from a local community board over its retail design proposal, which aimed to transform the historic 136 Fifth Avenue location into a glass enclosed two-story Apple retail store.

Next spring Apple will also unveil a 20,000-square-foot retail store in the underground concourse of the General Motors building near Midtown.

The Midtown Apple store will be topped by a giant $9 million 32-foot hollow glass cube that was personally designed by Apple chief executive Steve Jobs.


AppleInsider © 1997-2006 (http://www.appleinsider.com/articles/05/12/19/apple_plans_new_retail_store_opposite_the_empire_s tate_building.html)

[vanshnookenraggen]

Are those renderings new or from that story? That tower is pretty bad, I hope it is just a conceptual design.

[alonzo-ny]

Ismael is akin to costas in my opinion, consistantly crap.

[krulltime]

Are those renderings new or from that story? That tower is pretty bad, I hope it is just a conceptual design.

These renderings are new. They came out in the past week on his website.

[lofter1]

DOB shows a new Permit (http://a810-bisweb.nyc.gov/bisweb/JobDetailsServlet?requestid=7&allisn=0001408034&allboroughname=&allnumbhous=&allstrt=) was issued on 8.17.2007 for scaffolding / sidewalk shed at both 21-23 W. 34th & 25-27 W. 34th for "remedial repair" -- which is often the precursor to Demolition in situations like this.

Department of Finance shows that those two properties (Lot # 18 = 21 - 23 W 34th and Lot 16 = 25 - 27 W 34th) were bought by the same company in November 2006: Both Mortgage and Agreement documents dated 11.21.2006 show the combined area of the lots is 100' x 98'9". There is also an easement granted to the combined property from 36 W 35th Street (not sure if that is air rights). The mortgage was for $70,000,000 +. The name of the designated signature for the purchaser on the documents Jeff Sutton.

[antinimby]

We get that uninspired stack of boxes above but Ismael gives Seattle this:

http://i188.photobucket.com/albums/z40/buddyrough69/1903fifth.jpg

[czsz]

^ Ick, that's gaudier than the worst of the new buildings in Times Square. Let Seattle keep it.

[NYatKNIGHT]

I wish the uninspired 34th St. building was as unrealistic as that mirror skinned Seattle rendering with its hyper-false perspective.

[londonlawyer]

DOB shows a new Permit (http://a810-bisweb.nyc.gov/bisweb/JobDetailsServlet?requestid=7&allisn=0001408034&allboroughname=&allnumbhous=&allstrt=) was issued on 8.17.2007 for scaffolding / sidewalk shed at both 21-23 W. 34th & 25-27 W. 34th for "remedial repair" -- which is often the precursor to Demolition in situations like this.

Department of Finance shows that those two properties (Lot # 18 = 21 - 23 W 34th and Lot 16 = 25 - 27 W 34th) were bought by the same company in November 2006: Both Mortgage and Agreement documents dated 11.21.2006 show the combined area of the lots is 100' x 98'9". There is also an easement granted to the combined property from 36 W 35th Street (not sure if that is air rights). The mortgage was for $70,000,000 +. The name of the designated signature for the purchaser on the documents Jeff Sutton.

I had started the following thread last summer. The thing that sucks about this is that these buildings are nice. By contrast, the crappy building just west of the ESB remains standing!

New tower at 21-29 W 34th St.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------

Crains printed an article in August of 2006 stating that the owner of buildings located at 21-29 West 34th Street planned a new residential/hotel tower there. These buildings are now empty. At one time all three were quite nice, but the one in the middle of the site has lost its ornamentation over the years. The building on the east side of the site is quite nice and should be preserved. The one on the west side of the site is nice enough and should be preserved. I speculate, however, that all three will be razed. Since the Herald Sq. area has so many beautiful pre-War buildings, I hope that developers will not start razing them en masse like they did in Midtown over the years now that H.S. is becoming prime real estate.

[londonlawyer]

Thankfully, the lame box is no longer on Leyva's website. He is a pretty creative architect, so it would have been sad to see him design a boring Macklowe/Morty Zuckerman POS box.

[krulltime]

Alot of the buildings are already been demolished on this block.

[vanshnookenraggen]

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2020/2197609291_3abf60e5f3_b.jpg

[londonlawyer]

Alot of the buildings are already been demolished on this block.

I read that the "developer" is simply building a two story structure.

[ASchwarz]

Are you sure? The site is zoned for a tower.

I have never heard of somebody assembling properties and air rights to build a two-floor taxpayer.

[londonlawyer]

Yes. I read it somewhere. Perhaps it will be a structure that can be built upon in the future.

[krulltime]

I read that the "developer" is simply building a two story structure.

Say what! Please say it ain't so.

[antinimby]

Apple Is Building on 34th, But Will It Set Up Shop?


byEliot Brown | February 15, 2008 (http://www.observer.com/2008/apple-building-34th-will-it-set-shop)

Apple has applied for a building permit at 21 West 34th Street, listing plans for a two-story 19,000-square-foot retail structure on the site, owned by SL Green.

So will this be the next iStore?

Maybe, maybe not.

The retailer signed a lease with SL Green over a year ago, though in a conference call with investors last year, SL Green executive Andrew Mathias said that Apple is mandated to build something there by the lease, but it may sublease its space.

“We have had some conversations with Apple and they're exploring their alternatives,” Mr. Mathias said, according to a transcript. “They have not made a formal decision yet either to go ahead and build their building or to sublease the space. They do have an obligation under the lease to build a brand-new building there.”

When asked about the site and why a building permit application listed Apple as the developer, an Apple spokeswoman said that the company has not made any announcements at that location.

An SL Green spokesman, Rick Matthews, did not comment on Apple’s plans beyond the construction, but said SL Green is currently demolishing the site and developing two retail shops adjacent to the Apple parcel.

“Apple will build a store—SL Green will then build and develop the rest of the combined parcel,” Mr. Matthews said.

©, The New York Observer, L.P.

[avngingandbright]

Anyone know how many buildings they tore down for this trash? R.I.P. N.Y.C.

[londonlawyer]

Two and a third is coming down. One of the buildings was really nice too.

[The Benniest]

I googled the area around where this new iStore is going up (21 West 34th Street) and was curious as to what buildings they were. Here is a screenshot of the above view Google gave me:

http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y290/benthal/2ada5134.jpg

Thanks,
Ben

[merc1985]

I found retail listing for the store. Doesnt look like apple will be going through with it but instead subleasing it for 13 years (which is probably the length of their lease). http://www.rkf.com/cgi-bin/Go.cgi?x_action=propertySearch&d_id=281&submitted=1&p_keywords=21%20w%2034th%20st

Anyone hear of any other rumors about the tall building that was rendered? No new permits are for 21-23, 25-27 W 34th Street. Only one permit for 29 W 34th Street for a 3- story building. Could they spend all this work on demo of 2 five story buildings and one 12 story building to only build a 3 story store? It would seem more likely they would assemble the lots for the air rights but with the retail listing, it points to otherwise. Would love to hear more information/rumors....

[londonlawyer]

I wonder if the following from curbed.com is for this site:

"Awesome Rumor Alert: 34th Street's Giant Windmill"

Thursday, July 10, 2008, by Joey

Some reader-submitted rumors are so staggeringly amazing that they can't be held back for end-of-day CurbedWire or quicklinking. Nay, they must be unleashed on the world immediately where they can climb into your eyeholes and start eating away at your brain. This, friends, is one of those brain-eaters:

A New York city architectural firm is designing a tower with a giant wind turbine for its top. While the windmill's fate is somewhat uncertain in terms of DOB approvals, this 32-story tower on 34th Street is planning on having either a 30-foot-tall vertical-spinning ribbon turbine or a more conventional 30-foot diameter "fan." The developers of the tower (responsible for probably the most obnoxious ad campaign currently on the market) have shown that they are willing to spend money on green features with their past projects. For this project (a hotel), currently being designed for an international franchise, the fan will only provide a green facade. The fan will generate such a minute portion of the building's electricity that it is functionally irrelevant.
Up yours, waterfalls! And here is where the speculation starts. In terms of developers who love the "green" thing, we instantly think of the Durst Organization, but what that "most obnoxious ad campaign currently on the market" business is about, we're not sure. But who cares about the guessing game right now? Tur-bine! Tur-bine! Tur-bine!

[avngingandbright]

Any word on this travesty or are we stuck with just another hole in the ground?

[NYC4Life]

NY Post

APPLE DROPS OUT OF 34TH ST. SITE


http://www.nypost.com/img/cols/stevecuozzo.jpg http://www.nypost.com/img/sl/realtycheck.gif
Posted: 3:55 am
November 4, 2008

CALL it the Bad Apple of West 34th Street.
Neighborhood advocates are irked - and retail brokers mystified - over the big, empty hole that Apple Inc. has left on one of Manhattan's busiest shopping blocks as it tries to unload the site that CEO Steve Jobs no longer wants.

Apple controls 21-25 W. 34th St. between Fifth and Sixth avenues, diagonally across from the Empire State Building. Its 75-by-100-foot site constitutes half of the crater that also includes 27-29 W. 34th St., which has been leased to fancy footwear retailers Geox and Aldo.

But while a building to house the shoe stores is expected to rise soon, the Apple situation is less clear.

"It's been all cloak-and-dagger," said Prudential Douglas Elliman honcha Faith Hope Consolo.

The land under both sites is owned by a joint venture of SL Green and Jeff Sutton. The JV leased nos. 21-23 to Apple way back in November 2006.

Small buildings on the site were demolished. Merchants on West 34th Street - where stores like Banana Republic and Victoria's Secret have been replacing schlocky discounters - looked forward to another spectacular Apple emporium like the one on Fifth Avenue.

An Apple rep sniffed this week, "We've made no announcement about that location and can't comment."

But publicly traded SL Green has no such luxury - the lease with Apple is noted in its February 2007 10-K statement to the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Apple liked the location so much it subsequently leased adjacent 25 W. 34th, giving it 75 feet of precious sidewalk frontage. Apple pays $5,906,692 in annualized rent, according to Green's latest 10-K.

But Steve Jobs soon decided he didn't want a store there after all; one source said he looked at a run-down building across the street and said, "This is not for Apple."

So Apple put the site up for sublease through Robert K. Futterman. RKF's Web site says the property - which can support about 18,000 square feet on three levels - will be available for 13 years starting April 1, 2009.
RKF broker Karen Bellantoni did not return a call.

So far, there's no word of a nibble.

"None of this makes any sense to us," said Dan Pisark, vice president of retail services for the 34th Street Partnership.

Leading retail brokers all think it's a great location. Cushman & Wakefield's Brad Mendelson called it "one of the city's premier shopping streets."

Lansco President Alan Victor said, "There's so much foot traffic, you can't walk on the sidewalks."

"It's a bit perplexing," echoed Newmark's Jeffrey Roseman. "I chalk it up to Apple having a lot on their plate."

The media are full of stories about development schemes that supposedly tanked.

Some have indeed cratered, but not all have - at least not yet - despite what The New York Times says.

Two weeks ago, the Times included Aby Rosen's 65-story, Norman Foster-designed Shangri-La hotel/condo tower on Lexington Avenue at 53rd Street among "stalled" hotel projects because it was counting on a construction loan from Lehman Brothers. Crain's piled on, calling the Shangri-La "another potential victim" of the Lehman mess.

In fact, excavation and foundation work are noisily ongoing. Lehman's $145 million loan to Rosen's RFR Realty was not for major construction, but rather a starter loan to get the job off the ground, banking sources said.

RFR declined to comment. But we've learned that Lehman had sold off 80 percent of the debt to ING Finance before the firm collapsed; and Swedbank of Sweden has taken over the remaining small Lehman position.
There is an element of "uncertainty," as my colleague Lois Weiss recently wrote.

RFR will need a construction loan next year - a challenge for sure. But that's a far cry from the Times' "stalled." It will be genuine news indeed if powerful RFR comes up dry.

The Times also included in the "delayed or canceled" category "Larry Silverstein's 175-room Four Seasons Hotel at 99 Church St." - an odd way to describe a hotel/condo that will be the city's tallest residential tower rising to 912 feet.

But an army of men is working on the huge site.

The Silverstein camp declares, "Larry is committed, CalSTRS [his joint-venture partner] is committed and Four Seasons is committed."

And sources said Silverstein already has offers for a construction loan well before he'll need one.


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