The Westport - Rental

[Edward]

AT&T Switching Center and the 500 West 56th Street, on Tenth Avenue, between 55th and 56th Streets. 11 January 2003.

http://www.wirednewyork.com/real_estate/westport/att_center_tenth_avenue_11jan03.jpg

[amigo32]

I like that pic of the switching station, that is massive compared to the three storie stations nearby my location.

[Derek2k3]

The building under construction is not part of the Foundry, it's the Anthem.

500 West 56th Street/845 Tenth Avenue
24 stories
Costas Kondylis & Associates
Under Construction 2002-December2003

The Foundry Tower II
510 West 55th Street *
6 stories
SLCE Architects
Completed 2001

The Foundry
505 West 54th Street
12 stories
SLCE Architects
Completed Spring 2001


(Edited by Derek2k3 at 12:44 pm on Jan. 22, 2003)

[Edward]

NEW YORK CONSTRUCTION NEWS/CONSTRUCTION.COM
http://dodge.construction.com/dcp/NYCN/NY-Jan03/feature1_0103.htm

Site, Logistics, Design
Challenge 500 W. 56th St.
Development Team


By David Chartock

While project teams often face many hurdles in the design and construction of a building, in the case of 500 W. 56th St., it was the site and its logistics that created the toughest task for this project team.

From the beginning, excavation and foundation work ran into rock. Not just a little bit of rock, but a large amount of rock that did not show up in geotechnical information and was therefore unaccounted for in design documents, explained Bob Schwartz, a project executive for Plaza Construction, the project's New York-based construction manager for this $75 million, 400,000-sq.-ft., 25-story, 371-unit apartment building.

"We expected some rock, but it was more than we expected. In some areas, we had a vertical fault or seam which required drilling some heavy reinforcing rods into the rock and rest the footings on that," explained Norman Shapiro, a senior project manager with Laquila Construction of Brooklyn, N.Y., the project's excavation and foundation contractor.

Shapiro said that approximately 1,500 cu. yds. of rock was excavated for the foundation. And, "as the rock was exposed, it was fractured and had fissures," Schwartz said.

The foundation, Schwartz said, consists of a combination of spread footings and piles because the transition from spread footing on rock to piles was not indicated on the design documents.

Overall, it is a 150-ton pile foundation, explained Moshin Ahmed, a managing principal with Thornton-Tomasetti Engineers, the project's New York-based structural engineer. In some cases, there are 40-ton piles along with spread footings.

"Pile driving," added Schwartz, "had to be coordinated with our neighbors, many of whom have television and recording studios. On numerous occasions, we had to interrupt construction so they could record segments for their weekly broadcasts."

In addition, excavation had to be coordinated with the structural engineer to determine what would be supported by piles and what would be supported on bearing rock. In some cases, the two were right next to each other.

Site logistics and the installation of the foundation also involved the New York City Department of Transportation (NYCDOT), according to Bob Mannino, a project manager for Pinnacle Industries, the project's Mamaroneck, N.Y.-based superstructure concrete contractor.

Mannino explained that NYCDOT has a sidewalk vault along 10th Avenue. This meant the owner had to obtain permits from NYCDOT to close the sidewalk on 10th Avenue so the foundation contractor could go out to the curb line to complete foundation work and then pour the first floor slab under a tight deadline.

To meet that deadline, the entire project team worked in tandem to complete the 10th Avenue side of the project, Mannino added.

The structural system includes 6,000 psi concrete columns and 4,000 psi and 5,000 psi shear walls. It is a concrete flat-slab construction with three transfer floors, one each at the eighth, 13th and 15th floors, Ahmed said.

Continuing, Ahmed explained that the transfer on the eighth floor uses only the slab to transfer the column loads from above it to below it to two different column locations. Transfers on the 13th and 15th floors are concrete beams that transfer the building load from one set of columns above them to a different set of columns below them. The reason concrete beams were chosen as a transfer for these floors is because they were more cost-effective for these floors, Ahmed added.

According to Costas Kondylis, a partner with the project's New York-based architectural firm, Costas Kondylis & Partners, "the building was designed as a contextual building with a six-story base that contains a four-story transition area, followed by a 24-story tower. The façade will feature red brick to conform with the surrounding buildings and large glass windows.

Keeping the building down to 25 stories, Kondylis said, was a requirement. This was accomplished by creating the base of the building and setbacks. "We massed the building with the six-story base along 10th Avenue, followed by the four transition floors and then the tower. If this were not done, we would have had a 36-story building that would not have complied with the contextual surroundings of the area."

Another architectural task was to maximize the amount of glass used and still have the structure appear as a masonry building, Kondylis explained. "This was done by designing the façade with geometric square patterns of brick and glass to create a distinctive geometry."

Construction is expected to be completed by December 2003.

[Derek2k3]

My mistake, it's not called The Anthem just 500 West 56th Street for now. The Anthem is another project on 34th Street.

[DominicanoNYC]

I've been wondering what the construction over there was. And great pic.

(Edited by DominicanoNYC at 10:12 pm on Jan. 24, 2003)

[JerzDevl2000]

Isn't the Helena going up right around here? I remember reading about it in the Sunday Times Real Estate section. I gotta dig that out...

[DominicanoNYC]

Is the Helena by any chance being build on 62nd and Amsterdam.

[Derek2k3]

The Helena
57th and 11th Avenue
37 stories
Fox & Fowle Architects
Under Construction 2002-fall of 2004

Whats going on at 62nd and Amsterdam. Are sure thats the address?

[DominicanoNYC]

No, but I'll post up a factual address by tommorow. If you take the M11 bus downtown look for a red crane at around 66th street.

[DominicanoNYC]

The street is Brodway between 66th and 65th street.

[JerzDevl2000]

Thanx Derek, this should be a nice area to watch, especially with the West Side Ferry Terminal and Tower that is on the "skyscrapers and architecture" thread!

[Derek2k3]

Quote: from DominicanoNYC on 9:52 pm on Feb. 5, 2003
The street is Brodway between 66th and 65th street.

That's what I thought you were talking about. Here's an earlier thread on it.
\http://www.wirednewyork.com/forum/topic.cgi?forum=4&topic=312

[DominicanoNYC]

The 1930 Brodway building doesn't lok too bad.

[Howie]

It is now The Westport. It is a Related Companies building
http://www.thewestportnyc.com

[Edward]

Thanks, Howie

Some info and pictures from the Westport website:

The Westport -- One of the Premiere Luxury Rentals in New York City
500 West 56th Street
Phone: (212) 581-5858


Prices:

Studio starting at $1,895
1 Bedroom starting at $2,495
Corner 1 Bedroom starting at $2,695
Junior 4 starting at $2,995
2 Bedroom starting at $3,595

Views:

http://www.thewestportnyc.com/site/images/views/1-evening.jpg

http://www.thewestportnyc.com/site/images/views/day-north-east.jpg

[chris]

Very nice panos.

[TLOZ Link5]

Those pics make me appreciate Random House just a little bit more.

[Edward]

Recently opened Westport and *AOL Time Warner Center (http://www.wirednewyork.com/aol/default.htm). 19 July 2003.

http://www.wirednewyork.com/aol/images/aol_center_westport_19july03.jpg (http://www.wirednewyork.com/aol/default.htm)

[Derek2k3]

it looks crappy.

[TLOZ Link5]

It's an average NY apartment tower. *Not architecturally distinctive; just a run-of-the-mill building with a relatively handsome facade.

[cina]

Quite simply, you do not want to live here. That is unless you like to live in a luxury building that has broken appliances, leaky pipes, foul smells, and seemingly constant jack-hammering. This building is less than 2 years old - doors should not be falling of their hinges (literally). We have also had numerous occasions without hot water. Every tenant that I know has complained about the Westport's conditions. And the standard response from the Westport is to do nothing.


The Westport has routinely demonstrated that they are unresponsive and unwilling to take responsibility to remedy both big and small matters, repairs and grievances that are brought to them on an individual basis. The incredible turnover with the Supers and Service Managers only exacerbated the problems and frustrations of getting repairs done promptly, professionally, and satisfactorily. The massive turnover also led to a chronic lack of accountability and "it's not my problem....I didn't do it" mentality on behalf of the management. Instead of trying to fix the apartment problems brought to them, they direct their effort pointing the finger at someone else, ultimately leaving the resident with the problem still remaining and nothing resolved. Also, it's come to my attention that the Westport arbitrarily submits workorders into their maintenance log or sometimes they just don't even enter them. If your maintenance request goes unattended and you ask for an explanation for the delay, they say, "This is the first time we heard of the problem, there isn't a workorder for it." The Westport does this so that they can create a false track record of being a problem-free building. On an individual basis, the Westport can play these games, but on a collective and group basis, they can't. With all that being said, there will be a large exodous of tenants moving out soon. So all you potential renters beware. I do suggest, however, that before you sign on for 12-14 months of misery you should email a larger group of tenants with your questions. The email is westportproblems@aol.com. Good luck.

[morris4]

We were tenants at the Westport from Sept. 2003 through May 2004 and had a very similar experience. Infact, we left for a combination of reasons but one main one was medical and loss of income. We provided an appropriate departure letter three weeks prior to departure and requested a meeting to discuss our obligations but were verbally told it was OK! A couple of months later we were served with a dispossess notice. We contacted the lawyer on the notice, explained our departure, etc, and they finally responded with OH!!! OK we will take care of it don't worry about anything. Then about two months ago we heard from yet another Lawyer-one of those collection types, made them a small offer, explained again and they laughed at us. They have now served us with a Civil Court action which we have answered plus we are filing a counterclaim for all the problems that we experienced during our stay. One glaring issue is the truth in advertising brochure stating 24/7 Concierge/Doorman. As you probably know this never happened regarding the promised doorman. Does anyone recall whether there was a time that a key had to be used to enter the building after hours.

Anyone possibly available to appear as a witness in our lawsuit against the Westport? And has there be any discussions regarding Class Actions?

Ron