1775 Broadway - by William Welles Bosworth / Shreve & Lamb - Reclad+Renov by Gensler

**Derek2k3** · January 31st, 2011, 08:44 AM

No surprise that Moinian has bad taste. Nearly all his buildings look like mierda.

Bet this building gets torn down in 25 yrs anyway. We can thank the developers of today for giving us plenty to raze and redevelop in the future.

**NoyokA** · January 31st, 2011, 09:14 AM

Originally Posted by NYTIMES

Mr. Ross said, and the other side confirmed, that he had offered Mr. Moinian $150 million to walk away, while he took on the mortgage. In response, Mr. Moinian asked Mr. Ross if he could buy the Time Warner Center and tear it down.

“I’m not selling,” Mr. Moinian said recently. “There is no price.”

This isn't comparing apples to apples. One is a masterpiece the other a monstrosity.

**Stroika** · January 31st, 2011, 08:00 PM

Originally Posted by Merry

Mr. Ross moved to foreclose, conducted an architectural competition for the tower and signed a deal with Nordstrom.

I never heard that before -- that there was a competition for a new design. Had anyone else heard this? If so, are there any renders that were released ... or is there anyone with access to any renders?

Ross isn't exactly the Medici, but he's head and shoulders above Moinian, and this site, for now, is one of the what-ifs (if not one of the "great" what-ifs) of New York's architectural history. (For that matter, another what-if is "What if they'd just left the old GM/Newsweek Building sans mutilation?")

**Derek2k3** · March 3rd, 2011, 10:08 PM

chrisk1982

**LightningEagle** · March 3rd, 2011, 11:41 PM

oh the horror....

**BBMW** · March 4th, 2011, 11:27 AM

Does anyone know if the current building is up to zoning max on it's FAR? If there's no unused air rights, we might be linving with it for a long time.

**Peteynyc1** · March 6th, 2011, 02:39 AM

Thats actually the most flattering picture I have seen of this building. Too bad it look 100X worse in person.

**TREPYE** · March 6th, 2011, 11:42 AM

Originally Posted by Derek2k3

chrisk1982

Makes you wanna vomit.....on Mr. Moinian.

**lofter1** · March 6th, 2011, 11:49 AM

Originally Posted by BBMW

Does anyone know if the current building is up to zoning max on it's FAR? If there's no unused air rights, we might be linving with it for a long time.

It seems that what's here now may be overbuilt* beyond the allowable FAR.

The irregular lot (~ 121' x 216' x 201' x 200') measures ~ 32,200 sf. An article from the NY Post (December 2007) states that the existing building has 625,000 gsf. I searched for other references to the full size of this building, including various filings at DOB, but found nothing -- so I'll move ahead based on the Post info (sometimes a bad start for an argument, but what else can one do?) ...

Zoning for the site is C5-3 (High Density Commercial) which has a Commercial FAR of 15.0 (based on the Zoning Date Table 6 [pdf] from City Planning).

Allowable: 32,000 sf x 15.0 FAR = 483,000 square feet.

625,000 sf (existing) - 483,000 sf = 142,000 sf overbuilt

Additional FAR could be available via plazas (none on this lot currently) and various public amenities (the subway entrances / station beneath could qualify).

*Me is not a lawyer or a zoning professional, so take with the proper grain of salt.

**BBMW** · March 7th, 2011, 01:44 PM

^
Thanks,

The point being that if there no addition floor space to be garnered by a demo/rebuild, why would anyone do it?

**lofter1** · March 7th, 2011, 01:58 PM

Not sure how the financials would work, but look at the prices commanded by a somewhat comparable residential developments overlooking the Park, like 15 Central Park West or Time Warner. And consider the future of commercial rents in this area.