25 Story luxury apartments for Times Square

[New Jack City]

NY POST

LUXE APTS. ARE B'WAY BOUND

By STEVE CUOZZO

October 19, 2004 -- LOVERS of Broadway's bright lights may soon bed down in the neon and LED glow of the Morgan Stanley triple-zipper and the Hershey chocolate store. A prime, underutilized site in the theater district is poised to be redeveloped as a luxury apartment building.

Sherwood Equities has quietly filed plans with the Buildings Dept. to demolish the gloomy old 10-story brick structure at 1600 Broadway and erect a 25-story project with 136 "residential units" on top of three stories of retail.

The construction plans have yet to be approved, and Sherwood might yet decide to use the valuable site it has owned for 16 years for a hotel instead. But sources said that with the Times Square-area market saturated and demand for luxury apartments strong, Sherwood is more than likely to build apartments.

Times Square Alliance President Tim Tompkins, noting that some 6,500 new apartments have opened in the area in the past few years, said a new residential tower just north of the "Bow-Tie" would be "most welcome."

Where most new neighborhood apartment projects are on Eighth Avenue or in the 50s, Sherwood is set to take the plunge in the heart of the Great White Way — the block bounded by Broadway and Seventh Avenue and 48th and 49th streets, amid Lehman Bros. and the Renaissance and Crown Plaza hotels.

It's also across the street from Lace Gentlemen's Cabaret, one of the few places that still sports a "topless" sign.

Sherwood Chairman Jeffrey Katz declined to comment, other than to say that the apartment tower was "one of the options" under consideration. But workmen are already preparing to take down the old building, and Manhattan-based Shuman Lichtenstein Claman is recorded by the Buildings Dept. as the architect.

No decision has been made yet whether the apartments will be rentals or condominiums.

Sources said the well-regarded firm of Einhorn Yaffee, which worked on Sherwood's 2 Times Square — the Renaissance Hotel with its famous Coca-Cola sign — would also be involved.

The 1600 Broadway building, opened in 1910, was once a Studebaker auto factory. Since then it has housed offices, sound studios and movie post-production facilties.

Sherwood emptied the upper-floor tenants in 2002, leaving only a few fast-food joints. Those, too, have closed, leaving only giant liquor billboards as a reminder of the past.

[Patrick Highrise]

I wonder how it will look!

Something instead of this:
http://www.leftybass.com/raetsel2.jpg

Its just a little to see of it on the left of this pic I made..
http://www.skyscrapers.nl/nyc1/xtra_22.jpg

Its about in the middle of the leftside buildings in this pic (at the texas texas sign (red and yellow):
http://www.skyscrapers.nl/nyc1/xtra_21.jpg

[LeCom]

That place, and residential? Those must be some expensive units

[New Jack City]

Official site:

http://www.1600broadway.com/

Rendering:

http://www.pbase.com/image/42375953.jpg

[Ellatur]

what a quiet humble abode :)

[Jay]

living there would be really fun

[giergel]

I think the old building is very nice, sad they want to replace it with that modern building.

[New York Yankee]

Official site:

http://www.1600broadway.com/

Rendering:

http://www.pbase.com/image/42375953.jpg

what's that on the right side of the building?

[New Jack City]

what's that on the right side of the building?

It looks like advertising billboard space. Here's construction updates courtesy of the official website...

http://www.pbase.com/archit_kderek2k3/image/44154355.jpg

http://www.pbase.com/archit_kderek2k3/image/44154218.jpg

Thanks to Derek2k3 for the caps.

[TalB]

I don't like the fact that the Studebaker Bldg had to be demolished when it could have been preserved. :(

http://graphics7.nytimes.com/images/2004/11/08/nyregion/studebaker.span.jpg

[7 World Trade]

i totally agree. while the building's sorta gloomy-looking, it has its own charm.

they should've at least preserved its facade and build the apartment tower in a similar fashion to how they built hearst magazine tower...

[hella good]

methinks a little hearst-type project was required here...

[New Jack City]

NY POST

LULLA-BUY OF B'WAY

http://www.nypost.com/photos/recomm06222005036.jpg
BRIGHT LIGHTS: The remodeled 1600 Broadway will add a residential building to Times Square.

By LOIS WEISS

June 22, 2005 -- ATTENTION Broadway theater lovers and New Year's Eve revelers: You can soon own a piece of the Times Square Bow Tie — and it will come complete with bathroom, kitchen and bedroom, as well as a private balcony on which to ring in many years to come.

The project was first reported by Post colleague Steve Cuozzo back in October 2004, and now Times Square developer Jeffrey Katz of Sherwood Equities is building his new residential and retail tower: 1600 Broadway on the Square.

"It's a very exciting building," Katz said. "It will be unique, as there are few sites in the area."

The Great White Way project will have two floors of high-ceiling retail, topped by 24 floors containing 137 residential condo units. There will also be a "club" floor for amenities, inclding outdoor terraces, a health club and a roof deck.

Jorge Szendiuch of Einhorn Yafee Prescot is the design architect, while Peter Claman of Schuman Lichtenstein Claman Efron handled unit layouts.

"In New York, when you talk about a room with a view, no one ever thought about this," Katz noted. "The irony is that the lower you are, the better the view."

John Cetra of Cetra/Ruddy designed the interiors of the studios through three bedrooms and other elements. The Marketing Directors will open a sales office right after Labor Day. The firm's Jackie Urgo said the units will be priced around $1,000 a foot.

Because elaborate signage and a great mix of retailers give Times Square its street life, the building is also poised to take advantage of both.

"This is by far the most visible retail branding opportunity in all of Times Square," said Kim Mogull of Mogull Realty, who is representing the 30,000-foot retail space, which includes three signs and an outdoor terrace.

"We look at it that we're charging for the real estate and not the signage," added Mogull, who has already received offers in excess of $400 on the ground and $200 for the second floor with mezzanine.

Mogull is a big booster of the northern Bow Tie area and has just signed a sweet deal a block north.

Here, in an example of higher-end retailers discovering the area's corporate connections, Godiva leased 1,000 feet on the 50th Street corner of the new Lehman Bros. Building at 745 Seventh Ave. at western Rock Center.

Mogull represented Godiva while Newmark's Neil Goldmacher, Jeffrey Roseman and Ken HochHauser worked on the deal for Lehman.

[hella good]

it looks nice on there. I dont see whats wrong with it.

[The PhantoM]

yeah it's nice, i wouldn't mind living there :laugh:

[TalB]

There is now a crane on the site.

Originally posted by Edward from Wired NY.
http://www.wirednewyork.com/real_estate/1600broadway/1600broadway_48th.jpg

[sfenn1117]

All your posts are stolen from WNY. I don't care if you give credit, I just don't get why you do it.

[michal1982]

WHY THEY DESTROy this nice facade????

[AJphx]

I just don't get why you do it.

huh? ... well obviously to give us photo updates here on the construction.

Considering that we hardly or never get photos or updates from any of you other forumers on smaller towers like this, WiredNewYork is the only place to find some to post here.... not to mention there would be almost no discussion in this forum without these posts.

[sfenn1117]

Then how bout you check out WiredNY, it's a much better site if you're interested in what's going on in NY.

[GVNY]

This building is very pretty! I don't mind this building going down as it has a suitable replacement. Very pretty building.

[TalB]

It's a lot bigger than the last time it was shown.

Originally posted on Wired NY by skd
http://www.wirednewyork.com/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=1084
http://www.wirednewyork.com/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=1085

[TalB]

Just recently, the glass has started to attach on it.

Originally posted on Wired NY by Zippy the Chimp
http://www.wirednewyork.com/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=1161
http://www.wirednewyork.com/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=1162

[TalB]

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/09/18/realestate/18post1.html
Postings

A Few Soft Wedge Shots by the Zipper

NADINE BROZAN
Published: September 18, 2005

http://graphics8.nytimes.com/images/2005/09/18/realestate/18post.jpg
Graham Hanson Design
A rendering of 1600 Broadway on the Square.

YEARNING to play golf in Times Square, bask on a lawn there, take an outdoor shower? Luxury housing is now being built in the city's frenetic vortex.

Construction is well under way on 1600 Broadway on the Square, a glass-encased, 27-story tower between 48th and 49th Streets where the Studebaker showroom once stood. It will have two floors of retail space and 137 condos.

The developer, Jeffrey Katz, whose firm Sherwood Equities acquired the site in 1986, agreed that putting residences there at that time, when the area was seedy, would have been folly. Now, "we are bowled over by demand," said Mr. Katz, whose firm also owns 2 Times Square and a minority interest in 1 Times Square. In fact, 40 percent of the units are under contract.

In his view, the building represents a rare opportunity. "There has been a lot of investment in the area and a lot of high-class office buildings and four-diamond hotels are going up here, but the missing ingredient has been residential space for sales," he said.

Prices start at $720,000 for studios, $820,000 for one-bedrooms, $965,000 for one-bedrooms with a home office, $1.25 million for two-bedrooms, $1.95 million for three-bedrooms and $2.5 million for penthouses.

In other parts of the city, park or river views are considered most desirable, but at 1600 Broadway it is the eye-popping signs and pulsating screens that attract.

For the interiors, the idea was to create a cocoon of sorts, with typically luxurious touches. But it is the communal amenities that set the building apart. Besides the requisite gym and party room, it will also have a putting green on a fourth-floor terrace and virtual golf inside.

Rick Parisi, the landscape architect for the project and principal in MPFP/M. Paul Friedberg & Partners, was determined to surprise people with the outdoor space. "We asked, 'What would be the most unexpected way to use a terrace in Times Square?' " The answer: rolling lawns planted with trees on the fourth-floor terrace and the roof.

"I know New Yorkers are thrilled by things like lawns in the city," Mr. Katz said. "You can lie out under a tree with a glass of wine and a friend and watch the Morgan Stanley zipper." NADINE BROZAN

[Ellatur]

wow it looks awesome!

[Patrick Highrise]

looks good and the pieces of glass facade reflects things good imo :)

[TalB]

http://www.cityrealty.com/new_developments/
80 percent of the 137 condos at 1600 Broadway sold in 90 days

03-JAN-06

http://www.cityrealty.com/graphics/uploads/1136320727_bway1600b.gif

The 27-story condominium apartment building at 1600 Broadway at 48th Street has sold 80 percent of its 137 units in its first 90 days on the market.

“We have been overwhelmed with interest since day one,” says Jeffrey Katz, chief executive officer of Sherwood Equities, the developer. “Buyers are amazed that they can purchase luxury homes with an incredible amenities package right in the heart of Times Square,” he continued, adding that “International buyers and those from other parts of the country in particular have been extremely taken with the location, and are eager to buy their own piece of New York real estate.”

Apartments have 9-1/2 foot high ceilings, floor-to-ceiling windows, and washers and dryers and the kitchens have Golden Leaf granite countertops, full height sandblasted mirrored backsplashes, and contemporary Italian rift cut oak cabinetry, as well as premium Subzero, Miele, LG and Bosch stainless steel appliances.

The building will also have “Club on the Square," a fitness center, entertainment lounge with television, bar and billiards, a virtual golf amenity and a business center. It will also have a landscaped terrace on the fourth floor with trees, a putting green and rolling lawns and a rooftop “observatory” as well as a 24-hour attended lobby and private storage facilities.

The building is expected to be ready for occupancy this spring and prices for the remaining units range from $1,055,000 to $2,950,000 for a penthouse.

The 290-foot-high building has nine-story-high advertising signs that project like wings from the middle of the tower’s south façade between Broadway and Seventh Avenue. The building has a tower setback over a two-story-high base and the top five floors of the tower are angled outwards and the middle part of the east and west facades are also flare outwards. Some of the top floor balconies on the west façade are curved.

Sherwood Equities acquired the site in 1986, and it built the black-glass Renaissance Hotel that occupies much of the small block just to the south, at the north end of Times Square. Sherwood also owns a minority interest in 1 Times Square.

Jorge Szendiuch of Einhorn Yafee Prescot is the design architect and Cetra Ruddy and SLCE Architects are also involved and M. Paul Friedberg and Partners is the landscape architect.

The building replaced the former 10-story, Studebaker Brothers building that was erected in 1902 and designed by James Brown Lord, the architect of the Appellate Division of the State of New York building on Madison Square Park.

In a November 8, 2004 article in The New York Times, David Dunlap wrote that the handsome building was “one of New York’s most familiar unknown buildings” as it was adorned with large advertising signs for Maxwell House, Chevrolet, Braniff and Sony.

“Columbia Pictures may be said to have been born there,” Mr. Dunlap continued, “since it was in an office at 1600 Broadway that Harry Cohn, Joseph Brandt and Jack Cohn formed the C.B.C. Film Sales Company in 1920. Four years later, tired of the nickname ‘Corned Beef and Cabbage,’ they renamed the company Columbia. In the 1930s Joseph Hilton & Sons, a clothier, operated in the building and in 1939 the building, which had a large cornice, chamfered corners and large, arched windows on its 9th floor, was home to the Ripley Believe It or Not! Odditorium in 1939 and soon thereafter to Howard Clothes.

[lovecharlie]

To be honest I dont see what is so nice about this building, it looks like something from the 70`s or early 80`s except with more glass. I think they could have tried a little harder with the design. Ive got some lego somewhere let me go and build a replica.

[A42251]

They should have gone twice as tall on a site this prominent.