Baccarat Hotel and Residences - 20 W53rd St -

**gundam00** · March 9th, 2012, 03:44 PM

Starwood, Tribeca move forward with Midtown condo and hotel

March 06, 2012 09:00AM

Starwood Capital and Tribeca Associates have finished acquiring surrounding air rights and are beginning construction on the 45-story condo and hotel tower planned for the former site of the Donnell Library in Midtown.

The New York Post reported that Tishman Construction has begin excavation work at 20 West 53rd Street for the 340,000-square-foot building’s foundation. It will dedicate the bottom three stories to a Donnell Library replacement, the next nine to an ultra-luxury hotel and the remaining floors to condominium apartments.

The building will reach that height thanks to two recent deals Starwood and Tribeca struck with nearby landlords. In December they paid $30.825 million for air rights from the owners of 666 Fifth Avenue, and a month later they paid $16.6 million for air rights from Orient-Express, which owns the ’21′ Club behind the construction site and were the original developers of the project before Starwood and Tribeca bought it out last year. The ownership group also took out a $63 million mortgage on the site.

Though the Department of Buildings has yet to approve all the plans, final renderings haven’t been released, and it’s still unclear what the hotel will be branded, the New York Public Library, which operates Donnell, expects it to be complete by 2014.

http://therealdeal.com/blog/2012/03/...ndo-and-hotel/

**lofter1** · March 9th, 2012, 08:34 PM

2014? They've barely begun to dig the foundation. 2015 at the earliest.

**Gulcrapek** · March 11th, 2012, 11:37 AM

Permits say 610' by SOM.

**Derek2k3** · April 24th, 2012, 11:48 PM

Originally Posted by Derek2k3

The planned towers in this area are like trees reaching for sunlight, but in this case for a view of Central Park.
At 610 feet, it'll be taller than Museum Tower which is home to many of the nimby's who protested Torre Verre. The tower would impede the tower's SE views.

lucydodsworth

It would rise almost right in front of Museum Tower in the view, blocking about half of it.

Another tree in the forest.
A direct reference to Seagram. This will continue to be a classy street.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB1000...WhatsNewsThird
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**BStyles** · April 25th, 2012, 04:49 AM

Doesn't look too bad. It has that modern NY feel to it.

**londonlawyer** · April 25th, 2012, 06:45 AM

I saw this in the WSJ today. It sucks. This area deserves something better than this. These guys are wangs.

It seems that Related, Durst, and Hines should be the only groups permitted to build in NY.

**Stroika** · April 26th, 2012, 06:02 PM

Ha, I'd second that. With all the Macklowes, Moinians, Sitts, Changs and others wreaking havoc on the city, ensuring the architectural non-$hi&&iness of the nation's premier city is the one area of the economy where I'd like to see some regulation.

**Derek2k3** · August 16th, 2012, 09:34 AM

Baccarat New York doesn’t sparkle

August 01, 2012
By James Gardner

http://therealdeal.com/issues_articl...-gone-too-far/

**RoldanTTLB** · August 16th, 2012, 01:55 PM

Scathing. I think this tower is the ultimate in boring demandied by what are sure to be equally boring residents. I am sure it will offer up an even less adventuresome experience for those who found the Centurion to be a little too spicy for their millions.