350 Park Avenue, rendering from Vornado / Rudin Management

BY: Michael Young  8:00 AM ON APRIL 17, 2020

Perhaps the most exciting skyscraper project proposed for New York last year is 350 Park Avenue, a nearly 1,500-foot-tall skyscraper from Vornado Realty Trust and Rudin Management. After YIMBY broke the news on Vornado’s expected 2027 completion date for the tower back in February, we stopped by the site to check on the status of its current occupant. Located between East 51st and East 52nd Streets, a total of two edifices would need to be demolished to make way for the development.

350 Park Avenue. Photo by Tectonic

Vornado has stated that demolition cannot begin until the current leases expire at the end of 2023. Rudin Management owns the adjacent 23-story building to the immediate west at 40 East 52nd Street. This would also have to be demolished to make room for the expansive superstructure. As of now, an architect for the future supertall hasn’t been formally announced, but YIMBY will keep an eye out for any information.

Though the main rendering may not reflect the finished design, it nonetheless reveals the project’s height and design language, characterized by a dramatic wedge-shaped design culminating in twin architectural spires. Composed of four glass-clad sections that successively step back from the sidewalk, the building is a gentle, elegant homage to the classic New York setback pattern. Regardless of the final iteration, any building massing would likely feature wide eastern and western elevations and much slimmer northern and southern profiles.

Park Avenue and Midtown East as a whole are poised for a dramatic transformation over the next decade. Topped-out projects like One Vanderbilt and 425 Park Avenue have already made an impression on the Manhattan skyline and will both complete construction in the near future. In addition, JP Morgan Chase’s upcoming headquarters at 270 Park Avenue is underway and will bring another commercial office supertall to the fold.

350 Park Avenue is reported to be completed around 2027.

9 DeKalb Avenue. Rendering by SHoP Architects/JDS Development

BY: MICHAEL YOUNG 8:00 AM ON APRIL 6, 2020

Construction is finally about to go vertical at 9 DeKalb Avenue, the first supertall skyscraper in the outer boroughs. Designed by SHoP Architects and developed by JDS, the Downtown Brooklyn residential tower will stand 1,066 feet above the neighborhood.

Recent photos shot through the construction fence shows construction above street level. Workers were observed placing steel rebar in preparation for the concrete pours that will form the ground-floor columns and core walls of the 73-story skyscraper. The yellow construction crane was constantly in motion delivering materials to the site as crews put up the temporary metal formwork to support the ground-floor ceiling.

9 DeKalb Avenue. Photo by Michael Young

9 DeKalb Avenue. Photo by Michael Young

9 DeKalb Avenue. Photo by Michael Young

9 DeKalb Avenue. Photo by Michael Young

9 DeKalb Avenue. Photo by Michael Young

9 DeKalb Avenue. Photo by Michael Young

9 DeKalb Avenue. Photo by Michael Young

9 DeKalb Avenue. Photo by Michael Young

9 DeKalb Avenue. Photo by Michael Young

Meanwhile, the 160-year-old landmarked Dime Savings Bank of Brooklyn stands awaiting its complete restoration and integration into the 9 DeKalb Avenue project.

Looking at the front of the Dime Savings Bank of Brooklyn. Photo by Michael Young

Looking at the front of the Dime Savings Bank of Brooklyn. Photo by Michael Young

9 DeKalb Avenue will yield a total of 425 rental apartments and 150 condominiums, along with amenities including an outdoor terrace and a rooftop pool on top of the Dime Savings Bank. The domed edifice will serve as an entrance to the development’s 120,000 square feet of retail space along Flatbush Avenue, greeting visitors with its beautifully ornamented and richly colored former bank interiors. The southern corner of the parcel will retain the famous Junior’s Restaurant and Bakery, which is operating within a two-story structure. This is the only section of the land that was left untouched.

The closest subway trains are the B, Q, and R trains to the north at the DeKalb Avenue station; the the 2, 3, 4, and 5 trains to the south at the Nevins Street station; and the A, C, and G trains to the west at the Hoyt-Schermerhorn Streets station.

9 DeKalb Avenue is anticipated to be finished around 2022.

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