99 Church Street (30 Park Place) - 57 stories, 807 ft - by Robert A.M. Stern

[Alonzo-ny]

it doesnt look that expensive a design. the majority of the tower is a basic rectangular shape with an elaborate crown making up about 1/6 of the building. I for one will be optimistic and say i have high hopes on this one, will look great. And from costas no less, if this is what we are getting from an architect with a bad reputation then things are going well.

[Citytect]

Nice attempt at a top, but it falls flat. Nevertheless, there's a nice vertical thrust in the tower. It could turn out decent with the right material choices.

I hope the base is a work in progress.

[londonlawyer]

As per Curbed's Aug. 28, 2007 edition, we got excited over nothing:

FIDI—Regarding the astounding renderings from architect Costas Kondylis for a 60-story tower adjacent to the Woolworth Building at 99 Church Street, a highly reputable tipster bursts our bubble: "Your information is completely incorrect! SLCE will be the architect of record, and RAMSA will be the design architect." Whoa, Robert A.M. Stern heading downtown? We've asked for clarification from the supposed involved parties, but haven't got word as yet. Who among our august crowd of Curbed readers knows more? (Also: WTF is up with the weird pop-up warning that Stern's website is serving up? Anyone?) [CurbedWire Inbox]

[sfenn1117]

I'd believe the the rendering we saw over that unconfirmed comment. Why would Kondylis bother to design a building only to be dropped....plus Silverstein's past use of Kondylis would leave me to believe that he will indeed be the architect.

[lofter1]

Not much lost if the Kondylis version is not built ...

I walked by here yesterday, and now understand why this building MUST come down.

It is outmoded -- and sits in contradiction to what NYC & America are now about.

Read the words on the plaque over the entryway ...



'Nuff Said.

Trust and confidence in our fellow man? How quaint, eh?

We are so not the America of 1951 ...



And so it must go.

It's sad to lose this one. I love its simplicity ...





And the way it defers to The Woolworth next door ...



Seen from between the columns of St. Peter's Roman Catholic Church across the street ...



Reflected in the windows is a new neighbor down the block ...





As is the solid & sturdy Federal Building, which sits katty korner to the SW at 90 Chruch Street ...



That one ^^^ is by Cross and Cross; it went up in 1935 ...



It ^^^ complments 99 Church perfectly.

Add to 90 & 99 Church the elegant old St. Peter's Church (1840; John R. Haggerty and Thomas Thomas) on the SE corner of Church & Barclay and this intersection is nearly a perfect composition -- if only we could get rid of that banal full-block blue 60's faux-International style thing to the west.

Alas ....

[stache]

[QUOTE=lofter1

We are so [I]not[/I] the America of 1951



Looks ghey!

[ZippyTheChimp]

The three entrances to 90 Church lead to an impressive, high-ceiling lobby - accessible and worth a look if you're in the area.

But don't even think about taking a photo.

[Fabrizio]

They ARE a cute couple up there.

I love that they dressed them in Jean Paul Gaultier:

http://nufang.net.cn/attachmentddd/M...d4d9522b7a.jpg


Could you IMAGINE trying to do a sculpture like that today on an office building?


__

Anyway, these stark limestone buildings from the 1940s to early 50's era, are favorites of mine. Hugely stylish.

---

Repeat after me: "klaatu barada nikto"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sIaxSxEqKtA


---

[lofter1]

I'd do pretty much anything Patricia Neal asked me to do ^^^ ...

KLAATU re-thunk

[JCMAN320]

I love this proposal. The crown is going make or break this building; with the right materials and right lighting effects at night on the crown this can be one of the nicest modern skycrapers on the island.

Shame to lose Woolsworth again behind a newbie.

[krulltime]

^ Unfortunately, that proposal won't get built. Again another dissapoinment.

[TREPYE]

Originally Posted by londonlawyer

As per Curbed's Aug. 28, 2007 edition, we got excited over nothing:

FIDI—Regarding the astounding renderings from architect Costas Kondylis for a 60-story tower adjacent to the Woolworth Building at 99 Church Street, a highly reputable tipster bursts our bubble: "Your information is completely incorrect! [CurbedWire Inbox]

I knew it......<sigh!!>

[NYguy]

http://www.nysun.com/article/64525

Silverstein Is Going Upscale Downtown

By BRADLEY HOPE
October 15, 2007

The main developer of ground zero, Larry Silverstein, is bringing a piece of the magic that broke records at the residential project 15 Central Park West to Lower Manhattan.

Today he will announce the hiring of architect Robert A.M. Stern to design a five-star hotel and luxury condominium tower at 99 Church St., just a block from the World Trade Center site. Mr. Stern is known most recently for his ultra-luxury limestone building at 15 Central Park West, developed by Zeckendorf Development LLC. A condominium there sold for $42 million to a former chief executive of Citigroup, Sanford Weill, a record for a single-unit condo.

"He's a world-class architect who probably understands luxury residential better than anybody," Mr. Silverstein said of Mr. Stern.

Mr. Silverstein bought the 11-story office building that presently sits at 99 Church St. from Moody's in partnership with the California State Teachers' Retirement System for $170 million in 2006.

The windows are already boarded up and demolition is expected to begin in mid-November and finish by May 2008. The new building, expected to be about 60 stories tall, will be completed and ready for occupancy in early 2011, Mr. Silverstein said.

The new building will fit directly into Mr. Silverstein's constellation of projects near the World Trade Center. It is situated about a block away from the 52-story 7 World Trade Center and three planned towers along Church Street that will contain more than 6 million square feet of office space.

The building will "serve a duality of roles," Mr. Silverstein said.

On the one hand, it will be interdependent with the tenants of the new World Trade Center buildings, providing hotel rooms, event space, and a restaurant for the thousands of business people expected to move into the area. On the other, the luxury condominiums will allow senior executives of those firms to live close to their work and with the amenities of more traditional neighborhoods of Manhattan, Mr. Silverstein said.

The development decision comes as 13 other hotel projects are under way or planned for sites below Canal Street, according to the Real Estate Board of New York's August list of Manhattan hotel development. The projects include a new W Hotel below the World Trade Center site at 123 Washington St. by the Moinian Group and a Global Hyatt in the old headquarters of the JPMorgan building at 75 Wall St. One of the largest hotel developers in the city, McSam Hotel LLC, has two sites under construction and three more planned, the list shows.

The business improvement district for the area, Downtown Community Alliance, estimates that another 2,000 to 2,500 hotel rooms will be added to the existing 2,000 hotel rooms by 2010.

"There is a lot of hotel supply coming to that area," the head of Cushman & Wakefield Sonnenblick Goldman's hospitality group, Mark Gordon, said. "By hiring a landmark architect, he is distinguishing it from the others."

The plan is another step toward making downtown a "24/7 neighborhood," the president of Community Board 1, Julie Menin, said.

"This area is kind of in between the financial district, the civic area, and TriBeCa," she said. "It's an area that needs more activation — more grocery stores and amenities for residents who live there."

Mr. Menin said she hoped Mr. Silverstein would also open up space in the building for cultural events and performances.

"It's going to be a new landmark in Lower Manhattan," Mr. Stern, 68, who is the dean of the Yale University School of Architecture, said. He also designed the Westminster in Chelsea, as well as Tribeca Park and Tribeca Green.

Most of the design elements for 99 Church St. are under development, he said, but there are plans for event space, a high-end restaurant, a health club, and a public plaza between it and the Woolworth building.

"This is a critical moment in the evolution of New York and Lower Manhattan in general," Mr. Stern said. "Everybody involved wants to make this a really important building."

By May of next year, demolition will be finished and foundation work will start in June. The general contractor will be Tishman Construction Corp., which also built 7 World Trade Center.

[londonlawyer]

It would be nice if the cheap SOB Sapir teamed up with a competent developer and razed the POS 100 Church and the other huge monstrosity that he owns just north of it.

He is a corporate slum lord. His two huge, filthy properties on Madison in the 30's also are eyesores.

[Optimus Prime]

Originally Posted by londonlawyer

It would be nice if the cheap SOB Sapir teamed up with a competent developer and razed the POS 100 Church and the other huge monstrosity that he owns just north of it.

He is a corporate slum lord. His two huge, filthy properties on Madison in the 30's also are eyesores.

What's funny (at least to me) about 100 Church is that the lobby and the building's bathrooms seem to have been renovated recently with high end materials. Marble in the lobby, granite in the bathrooms, etc. But the office space is absolutely disgusting. Practically the entire building needs to at least be painted. I don't know if this is Sapir's fault or the tenant's (the city), probably both. In any event, hopefully the city will move out of that building at some point and Sapir will be forced to do something with it, because no one will want to take a new lease there.