New 51-story tower Downtown

[NYguy]

NY Post...

Residential tower plan for Gold. St

By Lois Weiss

A brand new, 51-story residential tower will be built on a downtown site that includes a former Federal Reserve Bank building which was acquired by Rockrose Development Corp.

The approximately 650,000-square-foot, $200 million-plus project which will be called 2 Gold Street and which will likely use Liberty Bond financing - will occupy most of the block bounded by Maiden Land and Gold, Platt and Pearl streets.

"We did buy the Federal Reserve Building," confirmed H. Henry Elghanayan, a principal in Rockrose along with his two brothers. "We are going to build a rather large residential project, in the order of 500 to 600 units."

Last October, Rockrose purchased the eight-story, 104,000-square-foot former Fed site at 95 Maiden Lane for less than $40 million; *Elghananyan would not confirm the exact price.

The deal was instigated by the Witkoff Group's Steve Witkoff when, in 1998, he negotiated a lease to move the Federal Reserve Bank to 33 Maiden Lane.

The better-known, landmarked Federal Reserve Bank Building is located nearby at 33 Liberty St.

"As part of the lease negotiations, Witkoff received an ongoing option to purchase 95 Maiden for $5.5 million," advised a broker who declined to be identified.

According to the preliminary plans, 2 Gold. St. is being designed by Avinash K. Malhotra Architects.

[Just Rich]

NY Guy I think I'll start replying to your posts here rather than at *the Skyscraperpage forum.

This is a large site for a residential building if indeed they do have the whole site. *It's a good location for a potential 500 footer and should be nicely viewed from the north and from Brooklyn Bridge. *Gotta be excited about residential Downtown. *

Has there been any talk about converting any Downtown buildings from office to residential?

[Agglomeration]

I haven't heard of such a thing in months.

[NYatKNIGHT]

Just north of 70 Pine...

[Zoe]

At 51 floors I would put its height between 600 and 700 feet. *This is great news!

[Kris]

What are those architects?

[billyblancoNYC]

I would think once downtown begins to really come back, and with the new WTC, etc. office projects, a lot of the older, B and C class offices will be converted.

We'll see.

[NyC MaNiAc]

Such great news! Downtown is starting to hear about building in the area which can only be a good thing! This gets me very excited to hear!

[Fabb]

I'm not as excited as you are.
The 90-story proposal seems to be in limbo. I don't know what to think about this one.

[TLOZ Link5]

Yeah, I haven't heard much about One New York Place in a while. *Davis might have just propoosed it to stimulate new interest in Downtown development, but I still have a lot of confidence that it'll be built.

[NYguy]

Quote: from Just Rich on 11:58 am on Jan. 31, 2003
Has there been any talk about converting any Downtown buildings from office to residential?

Bloomberg's recently revealed "plan" for Downtown calls for converting a lot of buildings to residential use. *But there is another 50-story or so residential building planned for the lot just west of that site. *Also, the 1 NY Place project would have to wait until the property is acquired for the Fulton St subway hub that is to be built underneath, so its at least a few years away...

[NYguy]

NY Times...

3 Buildings From 1830's Threatened By a Tower
By CHARLES V. BAGLI

A *dispute over how to rebuild Lower Manhattan is raging on a narrow street five blocks southeast of ground zero, where three modest Greek Revival buildings dating to the 1830's stand amid looming skyscrapers in an echo of the city's commercial and seafaring origins.

A developer wants to demolish at least one of the five-story brick buildings, on Pearl Street, to make way for a driveway leading to the garage for a 50-story apartment tower under construction behind the three buildings.

Rockrose Development, the builder of the $200 million tower, which is on Gold Street between Platt Street and Maiden Lane, has been encouraged by the Bloomberg administration, which favors residential development downtown and is desperate to promote new construction in a district wounded by the terrorist attack that destroyed the World Trade Center.

But some community groups, downtown politicians and preservationists are waging a last-ditch effort to halt the wrecking ball, saying it would be a shame to wipe out these remnants of the city's 19th-century past. They find it especially ironic that the developer has applied for tax-free federal Liberty Bonds to finance a project that would raze a piece of the city's original commercial district.

"Here are three survivors of the Great Fire of 1835, a little remembrance of what old Manhattan looked like," said Peg Breen, president of the New York City Landmarks Conservancy. "I think they deserve to stand. This is a reminder that as we plan for new development downtown, we should give consideration to older buildings and their potential. It's the mix of history down there that makes the area special. There's plenty of room for new development."

There is some talk of a compromise that would preserve the facade of the building scheduled for destruction, which is at 211 Pearl Street, although it remains to be seen whether a deal can be struck that satisfies all sides.

Some of the same issues are at play three blocks to the north in the South Street Seaport Historic District, where the Milstein real estate family wants to build a two-tower residential building with 450 apartments on a parking lot at Water and Beekman Streets. Community groups and elected officials, who fought the project in the past, have promoted a zoning change that would prohibit tall towers, which they say are incompatible with the district's smaller, 18th-century buildings.

The City Planning Commission recently adopted a compromise that neither side liked and the battle has now moved to the City Council. The Milsteins have said they may not build if the height restrictions are imposed, a prospect that dismays the Bloomberg administration.

Preservationists say they are not trying to stop the Rockrose project but to preserve the three buildings on Pearl Street. The buildings gained attention only recently, when a real estate broker and amateur historian, Alan Solomon, began digging into the past.

The building at 211 Pearl Street was erected in 1832 as a warehouse in what was then the center of the city's mercantile trade. Although it does not look very remarkable now, the handmade brick building, with granite columns, molded stone lintels and oak floors, was then an imposing structure in a city of wood-frame buildings.

William Colgate, a founder of Colgate-Palmolive, who was selling soap at his nearby Dutch Street shop, either built it or was one of several investors in the project, Mr. Solomon said. When the 1835 fire raged on Wall Street, Mr. Colgate called on his Honeybee Volunteer Fire Company to protect the warehouse.

In recent decades, the three Greek Revival buildings have been home to a series of restaurants on the ground floors, with lofts on the floors above.

Rockrose began buying parcels on the block in 1998 for a residential tower but did not begin demolition until late last year.
Mr. Solomon took his research to the Landmarks Preservation Commission and won support from Community Board 1; City Councilman Alan J. Gerson; Representative Jerrold Nadler; Sheldon Silver, the Assembly speaker; and others.

The commission negotiated a one-month standstill agreement but ultimately took no action, because the developer already had a demolition permit. But because Rockrose applied for $200 million in Liberty Bonds, the project is under review by the State Historic Preservation Office.

"This totally took us by surprise," said H. Henry Elghanayan, a principal of Rockrose. "We were days away from demolition, without any indication from anyone that there was anything significant about these buildings. We're hoping to work something out."

Rockrose has also been meeting with state and city officials to come up with a compromise, according to one person involved in the discussions. Under a proposal, Rockrose would preserve the facade of 211 Pearl Street, using the first floor as an entryway to the driveway and garage for the apartment building.

Rockrose owns one of the other brick buildings and hopes to buy the third, for a second tower, which would be built on Pearl Street. If that happens, the fate of the two other buildings is uncertain.

Mr. Solomon said he found the compromise proposal for 211 Pearl Street interesting. "But," he said, "it involves taking out the first floor and the Greek columns, a signature piece of the architecture. It's sort of like knocking down the church steeple."

[TLOZ Link5]

There was a picture of those buildings in the Metro Section. *None of them particularly looked like they were worth saving, although most of their ground-level facades were obscured by scaffolding.

This doesn't necessarily sound like NIMBYism, though. *The community activists seem semi-sane and willing to compromise. *It's important to note that it's not the apartment building that they're opposing, just the driveway.

[NYguy]

I'm not too impressed with those buildings themselves, but I do like the contrast in height given that Downtown is almost completely canyon. *I took some photos of the site earlier today...


Here you see the site currently under demolition...
http://www.pbase.com/image/14377993


The AI Building towers over the site...
http://www.pbase.com/image/14378054

The controversial lowrise buildings that will be affected by the tower...
http://www.pbase.com/image/14378063

http://www.pbase.com/image/14378070


Meanwhile, less talked about and on the next block is another 50 to 60 story (forgot) residential tower already under construction, just east of the Chase Manhattan...
http://www.pbase.com/image/14378149

Chase and 40 Wall/Trump tower over that site...
http://www.pbase.com/image/14378154

http://www.pbase.com/image/14378168

So we can already see that Downtown has begun to grow with new residential construction.

[NYatKNIGHT]

**edit**

(Edited by NYatKNIGHT at 11:26 am on July 8, 2003)