Park Avenue Place - 60 East 55th Street - by Kohn Pederson & Fox

[yanni111]

i havent seen anyone mention this new building being built called Park Ave Place, its on 55th between Park and Madison right next to Heron tower. I went by it today and they were busy working on it and i saw that they put up a rendering of it, it looks like a nice design, a very narrow building too to fit into its very small midblock lot. The rendering shows it next to Heron tower which is 314 ft. It appears to be about 400 ft when compared to Heron and i think it said it was residential.
heres the info on Heron, by the way when you walk into the lobby of Heron, as i used to alot when i was a messenger, theres this cool optical illusion you see on the opposite wall as you enter the lobby, its these columns that are outside behind the building but it makes them look like they are very far off when they are really probably a few feet away from the glass, i dont know if that makes sense the way i said it, if your near the building check it out.
http://www.skyscrapers.com/re/en/wm/bu/115446/

[NoyokA]

I hear you yanni, the effect took me by suprise the first time too, very creative, really cool.

[Derek2k3]

Park Avenue Place
60 East 55th Street
38 stories
Kohn Pedersen & Fox
Under Construction 2002-2004

I've never seen so many designs for a building in such a short period of time.

Current design by KPF-Photo by NYGuy

Some previous designs. It used to be called the DeResident Tower by the way.






An article from over a year ago

NEW YORK POST By LOIS WEISS
February 27, 2002

Prolific developers RFR and Davis & Partners are ready to put their shovels in the Midtown ground.

We've learned the 86-by-100 foot empty plot at 60 E. 55th St. should soon host what they are calling Park Avenue Place.

The 38-story slender tower is being designed by Brennan Beer Gorman/Architects and will be capped with luxury residences.

"It will be a tall, thin building with a nice crown on top," said Peter Gorman. "They [the residents] will get nice urban views."

Gorman said the beige brick and glass building will also have limestone and multi-toned beige brick accents in keeping with the more traditional Park Avenue residential towers. The architects recently completed the new Ws in Union and Times Square, and the Sofitel Hotel.

As some of the amenities, this project is expected to have a 24-hour concierge service, a high-tech health club with a sauna and steam rooms, an outdoor deck, a garage and a fully equipped business center. A restaurant also may be installed off the lobby.

"It's very exciting," said RFR's Richard Farley. "It's a premier location and will exemplify the quality building of RFR/Davis.

Concepts for the lower portion of the building are still under review, Farley said.

The developers, the Americanized Germans, Aby Rosen and Michael Fuchs, and their suburbanized former South African partner, Trevor Davis, purchased the land next to the boutique office building, Heron Tower, in 1999 for $16.85 million.

Like a tarnished apple, the piece had lain fallow through the hottest market in history - being flipped from one owner to the next through the entire decade.

At the time they bought it, Rosen, Fuchs and Davis had intended to develop their own hotel concept, the Envoy Club. Then a year ago, we reported they were close to signing a deal to construct a new hotel for Rosewood, the Texas-based upscale hotel company, that instead, went on to buy the then very tired Carlyle.

To see how New York real estate fares over time, Homestead Village, the Security Capital/Goldman Sachs backed hotelier, had earlier paid a little over $17.25 million to the Bernstein brothers, who originally bought it for around $5,000 from the cousin of the original developer of Heron Tower.

Meanwhile, Farley says qualified brokers who show the RFR-owned Seagram Building office spaces - where rents are running from $80 to $105 a foot - can take the prospective tenant to lunch on him at the Brasserie. Farley says he will also pick up the bill for dinner at the Four Seasons when they sign the lease. Both restaurants are located within the historical Seagram Building at 375 Park Avenue.

[Gulcrapek]

It looks like the final is the best.

[Edward]

Park Avenue Place (60 East 55th Street) under construction. 7 March 04.

[TLOZ Link5]

Looks like a nice facade. It woulda looked nicer if it were sunny out that day, though.

[Gulcrapek]

From the back, early August.

[Derek2k3]

a bit blah but better than most

http://www.parkavenueplace.com/

[NewYorkYankee]

I really like this one too

[billyblancoNYC]

Originally Posted by ILUVNYC

I really like this one too

I agree. I think if this looks anywhere near as good as the rendering, it will be beautiful. Very nice design.

[jeffpark]

It’s a shame, that it’s not a hotel

[lofter1]

this building and it's tall neighbor to the east seem to be screaming out for another tall one on the nearby corner ...

[jeffpark]

which corner?.

[pianoman11686]

I never understood why there was so little interest in this tower on the forum. I happen to think it's pretty good: kind of like a cross between 505 Fifth and the taller Ariel tower. Anyway, it doesn't look as if construction has been completed yet. Here it is, with the AT&T/Sony Building in the background:

[ablarc]

AT&T/Sony: Johnson, the architect of one liners. Never developed, just full-grown. Like a six-foot embryo.