11 Times Square (Times Square Plaza)

[New Jack City]

Fox and Fowle being the architects, Bruce Fowle recently in an interview had this to say about the project...

Next door to that, on 8th Avenue and 42nd Street, we've been working on a building called 11 Times Square, which is going to be either an office or a residential tower on a retail base It will form the southern half of the western gateway to Times Square at 42nd Street and 8th Avenue. It will have much of the same razzle-dazzle spirit we've put into our other buildings in Times Square.

Source: http://www.emporis.com/en/cd/iv/fo/

Here's some images...

http://www.eleventimessquare.com/images/home.jpg

http://www.eleventimessquare.com/images/map.jpg

http://www.eleventimessquare.com/images/stacking_plan.gif

http://www.eleventimessquare.com/images/map.jpg

Some info from the official site...

A STAR IS BORN

11 Times Square is the newest addition to the impressive cluster of corporate headquarters in the Times Square District. Located at the gateway to the new "New 42nd Street," the 1,000,000 square foot monolith will rise as a majestic symbol of 21st century modernity and style. This newly constructed, class A office tower, occupying the southeast corner of 42nd Street and 8th Avenue, will capture the imagination and spirit of the renaissance that transformed Manhattan's Midtown West into one of New York's most dynamic business districts.

Designed by Fox & Fowel Architects, PC, New York's Premier office building architect, 11 Times Square will serve as an exciting monument to the future. The 35 story, sculptural office tower will be elegantly sheathed in a state of the art aluminum and glass curtain wall. Perched high above the city, a rooftop atrium and telecommunications tower will crown the shimmering building.

At street level, passersby will be drawn 11 Times Square's expansive entrances, which will feature scaled, all glass walls and brilliant canopies. Once inside, visitors will enjoy 60,000 square feet of the finest ground floor retailers. The lobby, exclusively situated on the second floor, will provide a 24 concierge, a security desk, and a card reader security system. A stone, ornamental metal and wood motif, befitting the finest office towers in the world, will enrich the lobby's sophisticated design.

11 Times Square's outstanding construction and layout will provide tenants the opportunity to modify the space to meet their specific needs. Floors will range from 29,914 to 41,035 square feet and allow for 9' ceilings. High performance glass windows at the perimeter of the building will offer exceptional light and stunning views of the Hudson River and the Times Square area.

State-of-the-art mechanical systems will be integrated in the building to meet tenants' high level and diverse technological requirements.

Official site: http://www.eleventimessquare.com

There's a possiblity the design might change.

[PHLguy]

Looks nice.


Height?

[detroitboy04]

Looks nice.


Height?

Yeah looks nice but I don't think it will be very tall, probably in the 400-500 foot range? THE SPIRE COULD ADD HEIGHT THOUGH!!! :cucumber: :cucumber: :cucumber: :carrot:

What do you think?

[Stern]

Yeah looks nice but I don't think it will be very tall, probably in the 400-500 foot range? THE SPIRE COULD ADD HEIGHT THOUGH!!!

What do you think?

Although the design might have changed the building plans are for a 565 foot building.

[Ellatur]

including the spire?

[Stern]

including the spire?

No.

[RafflesCity]

It does look quite smart and simple. When does construction start?

[New Jack City]

It does look quite smart and simple. When does construction start?

Stern would know more about this, but I think some of the foundation is already there but they haven't proceeded yet since whether or not it'll be an office or residential tower is still undetermined.

[Stern]

I think construction will start before 2005, but who knows?

[7 World Trade]

i think the design's pretty cool the way it is. it looks like a cross between reuters and ernst & young doesn't it? keep the design!

pretty weird how they are calling it 11 times square. i mean, it's like a block away from 1 times square. is there a definite "boundary" within which a building can have "times square" in its street address?

[hella good]

yes, but times square is tecnically sort of a district now. so its a big area from about 41st street to 51st inbetween eighth and americas, that sort of area.

[Patrick Highrise]

some new news on this one :? :? :)

[Gendo]

Don't get me wrong I like the design.

I just think it's funny how NYC has gone from requiring setbacks in skyscrapers throughout most of the 20th century to allowing buildings that almost hang out over the street like this one.

[SJM]

Very nice design!

[Dennis]

what happened tot this one?

[Gulcrapek]

Got redesigned into a curvy, flashy thing with balconies and lower retail.

[LeCom]

Renderings?

And the architect needs to get slapped for the old design cause it sucks if it looks like its about to topple over.

[New Jack City]

The old design looks like Ernest and Young Tower meets the Reuters Building.

[Ellatur]

is it gonna get built?

[Iggmasta]

looks nice thts gonna be apartments or office space?

[Ellatur]

probably office

[New Jack City]

Thanks to Stern for this rendering, here's how the redesign looks:

http://www.jonseagull.com/images/p_11tsq_1.jpg

Rendering by Jon Seagull. Notice the nearby NY Times Tower too.

[hella good]

:cheers: :eek2: :) :nuts: :drunk: :banana: :lol: :rock: :yes:


love it! i liked the old design but this is a beauty. new york needs more curves, its nice and smooth and i like the sky gardens in the top.

it seems to have balconies so it must now be residential or at least mixed.

[Vlad the Great]

Yeah it looks like it'll be residential. Wonder how expensive they'll be w/ the proximity to times square and all.. probably mucho expensive!

As for the tower, it's a beauty. I liked the old one too, but this shall do.
The curves are hot indeed.

Looks like the spire is gone... still looks like this one is 40 something stories though.
This building will be completely dwarfed by NYTT. Any word on height?

[Ellatur]

looks taller than the previous design. i wouldn;t live there.. its too close to port authority

[New Jack City]

The redesign is a residental now.

At first glance, the tower kind of reminded me of the former Enron Building:

http://www.photohome.com/pictures/texas-pictures/houston/enron-center-11a.jpg

http://www.photohome.com/pictures/texas-pictures/houston/enron-center-14a.jpg

[Dennis]

THATS A F*CKING COOL NEW DESIGN! I LOVE IT

[7 World Trade]

haha...it does remind me of enron building too! lol

yep, looks like the building's only gonna have commercial space for the first 15 floors or so, then it's apartments/condos all the way up. i like the variety of the building's design at the base, very conde-nast like...

[AtlanticaC5]

Wow, looks much better now than the first render! Me like! :banana:

[New Jack City]

NY POST

MILSTEIN PLAN HITS A SNAG

By STEVE CUOZZO

February 15, 2005 -- AFTER years of internecine family struggle and false starts, it's back to square one at the Milstein development site at Eighth Avenue and 42nd Street.

Brothers Howard and Edward Milstein, who originally planned a 35-story office tower, have scrapped it in favor of four new alternatives submitted to the Empire State Development Corp.

ESDC Chairman Charles Gargano said the proposals call for either an all-commercial tower; an office-residential combo; a hotel-residential combo; and what Gargano called a "strange one," combining commercial, residential and educational uses. They range from 720,000 to 850,000 square feet.

More than two years ago, the Milsteins held a ceremonial groundbreaking where Gov. Pataki wielded the shovel. But, "They are still seeking a market," said one real-estate industry player.

Sources said the new schemes differ from the original Fox & Fowle design that adorned a sign at the site. It recently was replaced by an ad for Emigrant.com, a service of Milstein-controlled Emigrant Savings Bank.

One source said, "Fox & Fowle has done various iterations of the new proposals, but nothing in a sufficiently developed state that you could even call working drawings."

The Milsteins need the ESDC's sign-off on design because the site falls within the boundaries of the state's 42nd Street Development Project.

It's also across the street from the New York Times headquarters being jointly developed by the Times Co. and Forest City Ratner. In trying to lure office tenants, the Milsteins must compete with space available at the top of the glamorous Times project, now under way.

One broker said, "The Milsteins did some marketing, but not in an organized way. By comparison, the Ratner campaign next door runs like a machine."

Those said to have talked to the Milsteins for office space include the NBA and various financial-services firms. Several operators of public aquariums have considered the entertainment-use space at the tower's base.

There's no question Howard Milstein wants to build, and both ESDC and Milstein insiders say the agency and the developer are cooperating well.

But the corner's barren state has frustrated state officials. The "Deuce" between Seventh and Eighth avenues, now home to office skyscrapers and new theaters, will seem unfinished as long as the corner remains vacant.

The Milstein brothers bought out their family's interest in the land in January 2001 for $77 million of a total site value of $111 million and closed the parking lot on the site.

[Skyscrapercitizen]

I love this one. Can become one of the better towers in NYC IMO... :eek:

[New York Yankee]

cool!!

[michal1982]

how it look now???

[TalB]

It is still a hole.

[sfenn1117]

I really hope they build the new design. It looks like its 45 stories opposed to the old 35 stories and its a better design. This has been a hole in the ground for 3 years and needs to be built already!!! Take advantage of this crazy residential market!

[New Jack City]

Looks like this new design ain't gonna get built either and a new developer coming in...

NY POST

FIXING A HOLE ON 42ND ST.

June 6, 2006 -- IT looks like a different developer will get to fill Howard and Edward Milstein's gaping hole in the-ground at Eighth Avenue and 42nd Street.

A number of power players are said to have their eyes on the Milstein brothers' precious pit, which is not formally for sale but for which sources say CB Richard Ellis is quietly sifting offers.

The intersection's vacant southeast corner is the missing link on the reborn "Deuce" between Seventh and Eighth avenues, which is thriving with new office towers, theaters and shops.

It stands on the avenue between the rising New York Times tower, where law firm Seyfarth Shaw just rented 100,000 square feet for more than $80 a square foot, and the Westin Times Square hotel.

It's been a hole ever since Gov. Pataki presided at a groundbreaking in October 2002. It was a parking lot before that, when the site was owned by members of the Milstein family and partners.

In January 2001, the brothers bought out the others, paying $77.7 million for the share of the L-shaped lot they didn't yet own. At that time, it was valued in total at $111 million - far less than it's worth today.

But although Howard Milstein showed a rendering of a 35-story office tower in June 2002, nothing ever happened.

Now, after several changes of direction, something's afoot. Sources say several major developers are hot for the site, and the Milsteins may well be receptive.

Meanwhile - in a step that sounds contradictory but might not be - Empire State Development Corp. Chairman Charles Gargano said yesterday the agency will complete a "memorandum of understanding" with the Milsteins "within 30 days." Once signed, it will commit them to "start work on the project within 12 months or incur stiff penalties," Gargano said.

Gargano said the Milsteins want the option of building the project as either mixed-use or all-commercial. He said ESDC has agreed to let the Milsteins build 850,000 "rentable" square feet, about 120,000 larger than zoning allows.

Unless the Milsteins have secretly snared an office tenant, the site seems more ripe for an apartment and/or hotel project.

The sudden urgency on the part of the Milsteins combined with word of a possible sale has real estate circles buzzing that the brothers will flip the property to a new owner who would then proceed with the scheme pre-approved by ESDC.

Gargano said he knew nothing of any flip plan. A Milstein spokesman, George Arzt, said the Milsteins "are gratified there have been so many offers" for the corner, "but, the family has held the property since 1976 and to sell would be a major departure from its long-held position."

One name that's come up as a prospective buyer is Joseph Moinian, whose Moinian Group has built a number of major new projects on both Eighth Avenue and 42nd and also owns some prime development sites there.

But sources said late yesterday that he was now a long shot. Through a spokesman, Moinian would neither confirm nor deny talks. In a statement, he said, "The Moinian Group is always interested in potential development opportunities along 42nd Street and the far West Side."

Gargano, who was a driving force behind getting four new office towers built on 42nd Street, has been frustrated waiting for the Eighth Avenue corner to bloom as well. "We're anxious to complete this last corner," he said.

Earlier optimistic forecasts fizzled out. In June 2004, Howard Milstein told The Post he was "looking forward to coming out of the ground by year's end."

In February 2005, the project went back to square one when the Milsteins submitted four new alternatives with various commercial-residential combos. A proposal to include a giant public aquarium sank to the bottom.

Some sources say Howard Milstein now seems more interested in running Emigrant Savings Bank, of which he is chief executive officer. Last year, a billboard at the 42nd Street site touting the new building was taken down and replaced with a sign for Emigrant.

Robert K. Futterman, the project's retail leasing agent, said he's unaware of anything going on. "What's in Howard's mind when he wakes up in the morning - development or the bank? I don't know," Futterman said.

"Retail tenants need a certainty about dates. Without a set plan, you can't really go too far down the road."

But Douglas Durst, developer of mammoth One Bryant Park, a short stroll to the east, said the waiting game "shows how smart Howard is. If he'd done something earlier, it would have gotten less value."

CB Richard Ellis chief Mary Ann Tighe, who's marketing the remaining office space in the Times tower for developer Bruce Ratner, said that site was once considered a "pioneering" location for new offices.

Now, "given that the Times has already pioneered that location, no one coming to the Milstein site is pioneering anything."

steve.cuozzo@nypost.com

[Scruffy88]

This is the number 1 most dynamic, most lucrative empty, available spot left in all of Manhattan. Why are they fucking this up?!

[Scruffy88]

For those of you who aren't familiar with the site, this is what it looks like right now
6/17
http://i25.photobucket.com/albums/c81/Scruffy88/DSC00027.jpg

http://i25.photobucket.com/albums/c81/Scruffy88/DSC00198.jpg

http://i25.photobucket.com/albums/c81/Scruffy88/DSC00199.jpg

[7 World Trade]

it's amazing how quickly vegetation settles in on the site once it's abandoned. never seen something like that happen here in the Bay Area.

[New Jack City]

NY POST

N.J. SURPRISE AT TIMES SQ.

By STEVE CUOZZO

June 20, 2006 -- A dark-horse candidate from New Jersey has emerged as the prospective buyer of the Milstein brothers' famous empty pit at the southeast corner of Eighth Avenue and 42nd Street - Parsippany-based SJP Properties, multiple sources said.

Ever since The Post first reported two weeks ago that Howard and Edward Milstein had decided to sell the precious corner rather than develop it themselves, speculation has been rampant over who would snatch it up.

Although not a household name in city real estate circles, privately held SJP owns or manages 12 million square feet of office space in the metropolitan area - mostly in northern New Jersey and on the Jersey waterfront. Two years ago it also launched a residential division.

Last January, SJP announced plans for a 344,000-square-foot office project in Basking Ridge, N.J., in conjunction with J.P. Morgan Asset Management.

SJP President Steven J. Pozycki, the company's reps at Beckerman Public Relations, CB Richard Ellis Stephen B. Siegel - said to be the sale broker - and Milstein's rep, George Arzt, all declined to comment.

Sources said SJP, which has partnered with Prudential, has signed a "hard" contract to buy the 42nd Street site from the Milsteins, who in early 2001 paid a mere $77.7 million to buy out other Milstein family members for full control of the land, then valued at $111 million.

If all goes well, the deal could close in about three months. Sources speculate that SJP will build a project combining commercial and residential uses.

Terms were not available.

But given the market for similar Midtown properties, the 42nd Street lot - across the street from the New York Times' new headquarters tower - could top the 2001 price tag by three to five times.

"Whoever buys the site will be subject to the same agreement we're drawing up with the Milsteins" regarding the use of the site, said Empire State Development Corp. Chairman Charles Gargano, who has been trying to have the corner developed for years.

That includes "per diem penalties if they don't start work within 12 months," Gargano said.

But he welcomed the prospective sale to a company that would actually follow through on a promise to build. "We're pleased it's finally, finally getting done," Gargano said.

steve.cuozzo@nypost.com

[TalB]

Now, I am not sure if it will ever get built.

[AirJay78]

with all that vegitation, they're going to have to pull out a lawn mower pretty soon :D

[Kev the burninator]

The redesign looks much much nicer. It will fill the area nicely.

[ramvid01]

The redesign looks much much nicer. It will fill the area nicely.

huh? there are redesigns posted...ooo i want to see

[Spooky873]

here you go....http://www.wirednewyork.com/forum/showthread.php?t=3431&page=27

[Indyman]

Oh wow. The redesign is better my leaps and bounds. Hopefully this beaut is built.

[centreoftheuniverse]

Thanks to Stern for this rendering, here's how the redesign looks:
http://www.jonseagull.com/images/p_11tsq_1.jpg
Rendering by Jon Seagull. Notice the nearby NY Times Tower too.That is an old design. Sad to say that it is no longer valid. :cry:

[centreoftheuniverse]

Insider information says that the chosen design will be closer to this one from FX Fowle:

http://www.rkf.com/images/prpimg/7times_full.jpg

[centreoftheuniverse]

Planned Tower Would Cap Off Revitalization of Times Square


http://graphics10.nytimes.com/images/2006/08/15/nyregion/15tower_lg.jpg
Where workers no longer fear to tread: the site of a
planned 40-story office tower at the southeast corner
of 42nd Street and Eighth Avenue.


By CHARLES V. BAGLI
Published: August 15, 2006 (http://www.nytimes.com/2006/08/15/nyregion/15tower.html)


A New Jersey developer plans to build a $1 billion office tower on the last parcel in the 13-acre Times Square redevelopment district, bringing an end to the 26-year effort to clean up an area that was known as the Deuce when it was a motley collection of movie houses, sex shops, T-shirt stores, pimps and drug dealers.

If in the past many people feared strolling down 42nd Street, now the block between Seventh and Eighth Avenues, and Times Square itself, are safe for investment bankers, accountants, MTV fans and tourists alike. The theaters, skyscrapers, theme restaurants and nightclubs that have opened in recent years under pulsating neon signs and giant electronic billboards are often packed.

But the decision by the developer, SJP Properties, to build a 40-story tower at the southeast corner of Eighth Avenue and 42nd Street is remarkable on several fronts. Not only would it complete a major public revitalization project, but urban planners and real estate executives say another first-class tower would also establish Eighth Avenue as a legitimate boulevard for corporate offices.

“This is the last piece of the puzzle,” said Charles A. Gargano, the chairman of the 42nd Street Development Project and the state’s top economic development official.

SJP’s 1 million-square-foot building would join two other major office towers on Eighth Avenue: the Worldwide Plaza tower at 49th Street and The New York Times headquarters under construction at 41st Street. Until now, few companies have been willing to locate west of Seventh Avenue or Broadway.

If the project goes forward as planned, the SJP tower will also be the first major speculative office building — one built without an anchor tenant — in a decade and another sign of a resurgent commercial market in Midtown. Builders have erected apartment houses by the dozens over the past five years, but office developers have bemoaned that rents did not justify the cost of building a new tower.

But commercial rents are now going up quickly, with some tenants paying as much as $150 a square foot per year in prime Midtown buildings, and large blocks of available space are hard to find.

“This is the first time in 25 years that we’ve seen the Midtown market this strong for Class A office space,” said Steven J. Pozycki, SJP’s chairman. “We’re excited about both the opportunity and the timing.”

SJP Properties has been largely known as a developer of suburban office parks in New Jersey and Pennsylvania. But the company has been eager to get into the Manhattan market. It has begun excavation for a 42-story apartment building at 46th Street and Eighth Avenue and plans to build a condominium tower on Park Avenue.

Mr. Pozycki bought the 42nd Street property last month for $305 million from Howard and Edward Milstein. The Milstein family had acquired the property early in the redevelopment project, in 1983, for $5 million. The Milsteins announced in 2002 that they planned to build a 35-story tower there, but never got beyond erecting a blue construction fence.

The 42nd Street Development Project gave tentative approval yesterday to SJP’s plan for a 40-story tower and a deal to buy additional development rights for $23.2 million. Mr. Pozycki, whose firm hired FX Fowle Architects to design the building, said the office tower would sit above two floors of stores at what would be known as 11 Times Square. Construction should begin in about 10 months, he said. Final approval is expected later this year.

“It’s ironic that this site, which we thought might be the first one to be developed, ends up being the last one to complete the Times Square project,” said Carl Weisbrod, who worked on the redevelopment plan as both a state and city official from 1980 to 1995. “It’s turned out to be a highly successful venture, but I don’t think any of us thought it would take 26 years.”

Despite a string of news conferences and much fanfare during the 1980’s, the redevelopment of 42nd Street and Times Square was hobbled by 47 lawsuits, opposition from civic groups and a deep recession in the early 1990’s. A merchandise mart was originally planned for the two blocks between 40th and 42nd Street, where the Times building is now under construction and SJP’s property sits. In 1980, the city had actually passed on an opportunity to buy the SJP property for a couple of million dollars.

Mr. Gargano said there were two crucial breakthroughs, the first in late 1993, when the Walt Disney Company signed a tentative agreement to renovate the landmark New Amsterdam Theater on 42nd Street. Then in 1996, he said, the developer Douglas Durst began building a skyscraper at 4 Times Square, the first of what would eventually be four office towers in the middle of Times Square. As SJP is doing, the Durst family took the relatively rare step of starting construction without an anchor tenant.

Ten years later, Mr. Pozycki says the time is right to build another speculative office tower, this time on Eighth Avenue. Oddly enough, his partner is Prudential, the giant insurer that was selected by the state in the 1980’s to buy 13 acres between Seventh and Eighth Avenues and develop four office towers in Times Square. But Prudential sold the land for the towers during the 1990’s recession.

The market is hot now, Mr. Pozycki said. The average asking rent in Midtown has climbed to $58.26 a square foot, while the vacancy rate dropped to 8.7 percent last month from 13.1 percent in late 2003, according to Newmark Knight Frank, a real estate broker.

And there is little new office space available. Mr. Durst, who is building the Bank of America Tower at 42nd Street and Avenue of the Americas, has signed leases for virtually the entire 2.1 million-square-foot building, including one for $100 a square foot.

At The New York Times Building, across Eighth Avenue from the Port Authority Bus Terminal, the newspaper company plans to occupy half the tower next year, and its partner, Forest City Ratner, has leased much of the rest of the building to three law firms and a financial services company.

Recently, Vornado Realty opened talks with the Port Authority about reviving plans to build an office tower over the bus terminal, across Eighth Avenue from the SJP project.

Mr. Pozycki said his broker, Stephen B. Siegel of CB Richard Ellis, took him to Howard Milstein earlier this year to talk about a deal. He said Mr. Milstein responded, “This is my price, take it or leave it.” Despite the relatively high cost of the land, Mr. Pozycki said it should not be too risky to build without a tenant.

“The market and confirmation of the Eighth Avenue neighborhood itself takes a lot of the ‘spec’ out of speculative,” Mr. Siegel said. “What’s going on in Midtown is fueled by real job growth and a lack of supply.”

Copyright 2006 The New York Times Company

[Spooky873]

i would take this one over the other.

http://www.jonseagull.com/images/p_11tsq_1.jpg

[SaRaJeVo-City]

^^^Yep me too, man they really need to build this building, that corner there looks so empty and kinda ruins the area, and this building would be pefect there, right next to the NYT tower. :)

[Spooky873]

there is a building going up there, but idk what design.

[centreoftheuniverse]

This is will be the one.

http://www.axisd.com/11_times_square.jpg

http://wirednewyork.com/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=2688&d=1161131706

[ZZ-II]

nice design. can't wait to see NY in 40 years.

[The PhantoM]

nice design, but i still prefer the old design over this one. But I can imagine it fits better next to the NYT Building because of the square design

[TalB]

Did anyone notice that there was an add for the Nets near this site?

http://www.wirednewyork.com/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=2646&d=1161049352

[TalB]

http://www.nypost.com/seven/08142007/business/testing_time_at_times_sq__business_steve_cuozzo.htm
TESTING TIME AT TIMES SQ.

NEW TOWER AWAITS TENANTS IN UNCERTAIN LEASING MARKET

August 14, 2007 -- WITH commercial real estate players more nervous than they'll admit over the credit crunch resulting from the subprime-loan crisis, the new development that's drawing all eyes is SJP Properties' 11 Times Square - the 1.1 million square-foot speculative office tower going up at Eighth Avenue and 42nd Street.

Although SJP had its financing in place well before the subprime debacle hit, the New Jersey-based company must lure tenants in a leasing market that could well turn sour before the building is completed in late 2009.

But SJP founder and Chief Executive Steven J. Pozycki is utterly confident - in 11 Times Square's fiscal integrity, its quality and the likelihood of strong demand that he believes will survive a Wall Street turndown, if one occurs.

For starters, SJP and its partner, Prudential Financial, have 35 percent equity in the $1.2 billion project, "much more than most developers," said SJP Chief Financial Officer David Welch.

Moreover, it's insulated from interest-rate fluctuations on debt financing, having previously swapped an adjustable-rate loan for a fixed-rate loan from a seven-bank consortium led by PNC Bank and Bank of America.

As far as demand goes, Pozycki said, "given the tightness of the New York office market, and the lack of product coming on line to fill that void, I've never seen things so tight in 25 years in terms of supply and demand."

He said the Manhattan market is so "strong and deep" that it can easily withstand retrenchment by investment banks, the largest users, if that happens.

Pozycki and his CB Richard Ellis leasing team - led by Mary Ann Tighe and Stephen B. Siegel - are still in the early stages of marketing.

"We think we're a bit early for the market [of late 2009-2010]," CBRE's Pozycki said.

But, "we're presenting the project to a number of interested companies and we are taking RFP's.

"By late fall or early spring, we'll be talking to tenants [in earnest].

"Our foundation will be done by then."

SJP broke ground in the spring on the long-awaited project at the western end of 42nd Street's booming "Deuce," on what had been an empty lot, and construction is ahead of schedule.

Although spec projects are often regarded as rare and risky, there have been a fair number of them in recent years, and all are successful. They include 4 Times Square, the new 7 World Trade Center, 222 E. 41st St., 505 Fifth Ave., and the top half of the New York Times tower, which developer Bruce Ratner owns separately from the New York Times Co.

Pozycki was cagey on the question of asking rents: "To be honest, the market's moving so fast," he said, adding, "It depends on where you are. If you're in the Plaza District and paying from $90 to $180 a square foot, we're probably a bargain."

Midtown rents are averaging around $62 a foot, and Ratner has achieved rents in the $90s on the upper floors of the Times tower next door to 11 Times Square.

"We are very excited about Mr. Ratner's success there," Pozycki chuckled.

Pozycki agrees that 11 Times Square is being viewed as a possible bellwether for other proposed spec projects. "We're the only large spec building under construction," he said.

"I think that with financial uncertainty around and some exuberance waning a bit, you'll see people be a bit more guarded about starting." He did not refer to any specific developers.

Brookfield, Boston Properties, Vornado and Harry Macklowe are among those with sites where they can put up large new office towers.

Pozycki's tower, designed by FX Fowle, shares the same basic contours as one planned for the site by Howard Milstein, who sold the land to SJP last year for $325 million.

But its 40 stories are more than Milstein planned, thanks to additional air rights purchases, and most details - such as floor-to-ceiling windows - are completely new.

[FAILLA1]

this building is so good, i cant wait until it is finished :)

[Skyling]

I really like it!