Here's photos of the approved NY Times Tower:

http://www.nytco.com/images/NYT_Image2_LG.jpg


http://www.nytco.com/images/NYT_Image3_LG.jpg


http://www.designarchitecture.com/Images/03k_NYT_11_WestElevModel.jpg


http://www.designarchitecture.com/Images/07k_NYT_77_StrLevel.jpg


http://www.designarchitecture.com/Images/06k_NYT_88_TopDetail.jpg


http://www.thecityreview.com/timesre4.gif


http://www.thecityreview.com/timesre5.gif

Night view of the garden in the base


http://hellskitchen.net/develop/nytimes/nyt-bldg.jpg

huge structure, nice architecture, interesthing style!:)

That spire is obscene and impressive at the same time...this is not your usual box!

Very attractive design (sort of plain-retro, tall and thin, which I like), and for once the spire adds to the impressive effect, probably because it's jutting out in a unique fashion from a flat roof rather than a tapered one.

The building would be even more pleasing if it were just a tad (100-200 ft.) higher with the same footprint.

Square!

really cool design - I like it - but it's not the real "NY-style", is it? But it would look great between art deco towers!
Sky | Kai

this is a good looking structure, love its top, but does the spire have to be That long??

I like it, but I sure wish that the actualt building was about 150ft taller, with the spire still ending at the same hieght.

I like the spire how it is. Freaking amazing building.

Nice model. Well designed and like it's roof. Also believe that it should of been a bit taller. The spire itself is too tall and should be reduced.

it will fit very nicely into Times Square's ultra modern skyline. Mr. Piano has given NYC a gift.

I love it. Beautiful design. Good for Piano and New York!!

this is very kewl!!!




:guns1:

<table cellpadding=4 cellspacing=0 width=98% class="quoteBox">
<td align=left valign=center> <smallfont> <b>Quote</B> <I>originally posted by Monkey </i></b> </smallfont> </td>
<tr><td align=left valign=top>I love it. Beautiful design. Good for Piano and New York!!</td></tr>
</table>
Renzo Piano is it architect of this tower:?

Why does that surprise you ?
The LBT, another recent design by Piano, has a similar style.
Of course, the Centre Pompidou is very different, but much older, too.

Another great addition to the skyline!:)

nice building but i think the spire doesn't suit it

who likes this spire design better?

http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid52/p82df4d733c82b12acb9a6c371db0e924/fc9a15ff.jpg

Great!

I like the design!

Eh, I don't think it's anything special. Why must they go about building a new building? Is there something wrong with the current existing space in the city now?

<table cellpadding=4 cellspacing=0 width=98% class="quoteBox">
<td align=left valign=center> <smallfont> <b>Quote</B> <I>originally posted by UrbanLandscape </i></b> </smallfont> </td>
<tr><td align=left valign=top>Eh, I don't think it's anything special. Why must they go about building a new building? Is there something wrong with the current existing space in the city now?</td></tr>
</table>

You sound like a NIMBY! :rant: That is a very stupid comment.

Anyway, This tower is awsome and adds a great additon. I stopped giving a fuck about the spire stuff along time ago, so it really doesnt matter to me. :)
The top of the building and the spire actually take away its title of being a complete box. :D

I like it! :banana:

Totally agree.
If we end up being used to that spire, many others might look surprisingly short.

well, i know that it's only a model, but are they going to build it - in real - wiht colour of plastic!? as colourless it looks awful, looks like dead bloodless body :rant:

I just think that if they do that, they should do a better design job. Color is one thing, as seen above. I also have a bias against the Knee Jerk Times, so that could have something to do with it, but overall, I'm really not that impressed. Just being honest!

It's nice, but the Gehry proposal was much more innovative looking. That would have immediately been my favorite skyscraper in NY.

Of course, the Piano one isn't exactly coming along too quickly, either. There's budget problems going on, and obviously Piano doesn't want to cut corners.

The end result could end up looking very compromised.

Of course, it's hard to really tell from models and computer graphics, but it doesn't look that bad for a box - the indentations along the corners and the lattice work quality of the facade would make it more interesting, and I also appreciate the fact that they'd go beyond the flat roof. I still say that spire could use a few small setbacks building up to it, though...

A lot will depend, of course, on just what materials and colors are used in the facade...

There is no such thing as a New York Style! New York City is every style!

Here's another rendering I found:

http://www.emporis.co.uk/files/transfer/6/2002/12/173295.jpg

As for the status of the building, the small businesses are being evacuated and demolition to clear up the site should happen soon.

Also here's the design that lost to the current design in a competition. This one was designed by Frank Gehry:

http://www.guggenheim.org/exhibitions/past_exhibitions/gehry/images/projects/projects_images/ny_times13_lg.jpg

I think I like the Gehry design better than Piano's.

Update:

GlobeSt.com RealShare EXCLUSIVE: NYT Building Gets the Go Ahead
By Barbara Jarvie
Last updated: Sep 17, 2003 08:05AM

NEW YORK CITY-"It's now time to begin," CBRE's Mary Ann Tighe, CEO, New York Metro Region, told the crowd at RealShare New York, when she revealed that she had just received word that morning from New York State officials that the condemnation was complete for the Eighth Avenue site proposed to be the new home of the New York Times.

Tighe was speaking about deals that were meaningful to her and mentioned that the process for this endeavor began in 1995. "I like transformation deals--deals that change the landscape," she said.

Tighe and Gregory Tosko of Insignia/ESG with Timothy Dempsey won the Real Estate Board’s Henry Hart Rice Most Ingenious Deal of the Year Award for the development of The New York Times’ proposed 52-story headquarters.

When the New York Times moved its presses to Queens in the mid-1990s, the company’s leaders began to consider transferring the newspaper’s editorial and administrative offices from its current headquarters on 43rd Street to a new facility that would require less maintenance and offer a more efficient workplace.

The Rice award winners designed a transaction that will produce a distinctive building that satisfies the Times’ objectives. The brokers also structured a partnership with developer Forest City Ratner that will give the Times opportunities to expand within its new, partially speculative building.

looks good - great design

Oh, heavens - Gehry's design is absloutely hideous! :rant:

It reminds me of crumpled kleenex...or else the whole heap has started to melt down :bleep:

That hulk would have been an abomination! I am SO glad it wasn't chosen! I think Mr. Gehry has really lost it....

There were also entries into the competition by Foster and Pelli.

Foster's looked a bit like the new Deutsche Bank tower in Sydney except the slant went all the way to ground level. So, it looks like a big triangle.

Pelli's looked nothing like the usual things Pelli does. It was an all glass tower with no vertical walls. Everything was sliced off corners and sharply angled walls.

Another pictures...

http://194.185.232.3/works/064/pictures/25big.jpghttp://194.185.232.3/works/064/pictures/26big.jpg
http://194.185.232.3/works/064/pictures/27big.jpghttp://194.185.232.3/works/064/pictures/28big.jpg
http://194.185.232.3/works/064/pictures/29big.jpghttp://194.185.232.3/works/064/pictures/30big.jpg
http://194.185.232.3/works/064/pictures/31big.jpghttp://194.185.232.3/works/064/pictures/33big.jpg

Cheating spire for a cheating paper....

Looking at that comparision of it with the ESB and Chrysler, looks like it would mess up the skyline.

But.... I must be in a bad mood. It is a beautiful building! Very elegant, if the design stays intact it will look awesome at night. I'd like it better if the Times had been more honorable about their fictional WTC "glut."

But still, that roof is wonderful...

it is a gorgeous tower...stop whining about the spire...

Originally posted by Izeklah

Cheating spire for a cheating paper....

Looking at that comparision of it with the ESB and Chrysler, looks like it would mess up the skyline.

But.... I must be in a bad mood. It is a beautiful building! Very elegant, if the design stays intact it will look awesome at night. I'd like it better if the Times had been more honorable about their fictional WTC "glut."

But still, that roof is wonderful...

Sometimes it is just about design, not height. Its not a competition and you can't cheat when you're not competing.

After seeing Conde Nast with that tall antenna, I'm pretty sure the spire won't look as bad as some think.

I think it will look great at Times Square! :okay:

It's even more intriguing now that i realize the lattice work of the outer part of the tower is completely transparent, and the service core is the only "solid" part of the structure - that should do very interesting things in the light, though I hope, for the sake of all the folks working there, the glass will be heavily tinted!

does anyone know when the tower will be completed? Will NY Times be the only user of this building?

Originally posted by Reaching Skies

does anyone know when the tower will be completed? Will NY Times be the only user of this building?

The tower I think will be completed in 2005/2006. It hasn't even started construction yet. The NY Times won't be the only users but will take up most of the space in it.

:rant:


I hate what I see in the midst of everything..A rectangular box..there is almost nothing new conceptually and no sign of new ideas infiltrated into the design. It seemed to me the only difference from the contemporaries or the ones built within the last decade would be a couple new materials or items.

If times square is going to be surrounded by these huge boxes, the only thing it will have is a skyline that you can enjoy looking at if you are living in Weehawken or West New York.

Come on guys ..wake up...One of you says this stupid thing is beautiful and the rest follows..:bleep: :rant: :guns1:

This is how the NY Times Tower will look in the skyline:

http://www.skyscrapercity.com/photopost/data/500/8ny_times_tower_skyline_rendering.jpg

wow, this is great, will the new times square plaza be buildt near this one? (i heard in front of the port a bus terminal @ west 42nd)

The wait keeps getting longer and longer...

New York Times Co. delays occupancy for HQ

by Wendy Blake

The New York Times Co. has pushed back the occupancy date for its new headquarters building, because the project’s developer has had delays in getting financing for the project.

The Times Co. said in its earnings release today that it expects to occupy the building in 2006 or 2007, citing delays on the part of developer Forest City Ratner in securing backing. It had previously targeted 2006 as the occupancy date. Forest City has been seeking authorization from the city for $400 million in tax-exempt Liberty Bonds to help pay for the 52-story, Times Square-area skyscraper, but the city has balked at disbursing that much.

Forest City could not immediately be reached for comment.

Copyright 2003, Crain Communications, Inc

Originally posted by savethewtc

The wait keeps getting longer and longer...

New York Times Co. delays occupancy for HQ

by Wendy Blake

The New York Times Co. has pushed back the occupancy date for its new headquarters building, because the project’s developer has had delays in getting financing for the project.

The Times Co. said in its earnings release today that it expects to occupy the building in 2006 or 2007, citing delays on the part of developer Forest City Ratner in securing backing. It had previously targeted 2006 as the occupancy date. Forest City has been seeking authorization from the city for $400 million in tax-exempt Liberty Bonds to help pay for the 52-story, Times Square-area skyscraper, but the city has balked at disbursing that much.

Forest City could not immediately be reached for comment.

Copyright 2003, Crain Communications, Inc


... If this whole development is riding on city backed funding ... good luck... The city will be hard pressed to help support this when there are so many other projects in need of money.

Too bad. Would have made a nice addition to the NYC skyline. One of the better buildings I've seen proposed in the past few years.

Another article...

NY TIMES

October 17, 2003

Times Tower Is Delayed as Partner Awaits Loan

By CHARLES V. BAGLI

The New York Times Company said yesterday that it would delay construction of a new headquarters on Eighth Avenue until its development partner obtains financing for the 52-story project.

The Times said its partner, Forest City Ratner, had had difficulty obtaining a construction loan in the current economy for the portion of the tower that Ratner will own. The tower will be on Eighth Avenue between 40th and 41st Streets.

Russell T. Lewis, chief executive of the Times Company, said in a conference call yesterday with stock analysts that he did not anticipate moving into the new building until late 2006 or early 2007, about two years later than the company had originally anticipated.

Last month, the partners took possession of the property across the street from the Port Authority Bus Terminal where the skyscraper will be built. The 55 businesses on the site have all been relocated. But Forest City has been unable to land an anchor tenant for its space. Its negotiations with city officials for special tax-free financing known as Liberty Bonds are also at a standstill.

"Obviously it's a difficult climate for large commercial projects of that nature," Mr. Lewis said. "As long as there's no financing, the project will not go forward. We certainly expect that the market will improve in the future and then we would be prepared to move forward. Projecting exactly what will happen is not something I want to do."

But later in the day, Michael Golden, vice chairman and senior vice president of the Times Company, said he expected that Forest City would be able to get financing within the next year.

More than two years ago, the Times Company and Forest City reached a deal with the state's 42nd Street Development Project to build a new headquarters. The Times will own the 2nd through 27th floors, about 875,000 square feet, while Forest City will own the upper floors, about 725,000 square feet.

The partners are required to pay the acquisition costs of the land, but are liable only for $85.6 million. Anything above that will be refunded with interest over time. They are also required to demolish the existing structures and begin construction within a year after taking over the property.

But with rents falling and vacancy rates at relatively high levels, Forest City has not found a prime tenant.

In recent months, Forest City began negotiating with city officials for $400 million in Liberty Bonds, which were designated for rebuilding New York after the attack on the trade center. Forest City ultimately applied for $150 million in bonds, but has been unable to get city approval.

Forest City declined to comment yesterday.

Some good government groups, urban planners and executives involved in downtown rebuilding have criticized plans to use Liberty Bonds they say were meant for Lower Manhattan. Regulations may allow it, they say, but Forest City should be forced to live by the deal it struck more than two years ago.

Demolition has "officially" begun on the site of the tower!

Looks nice. They should lose the spire and build the roof to where the top of the spire would have been. New York needs more 1000 foot plus skyscrapers. New York needs to beat Hong Kong in this skyscraper war. Shanghai is getting up there too.

^No need to worry about shanghai...they are banning skyscrapers due to sinking...

but still i am sad about that...SWFC was a very beautiful tower

I love that building, it has spirit

But Forest City has been unable to land an anchor tenant for its space.

I'm confused. Isn't the NY Times the anchor tenant?

Me too.

Demolition and the clearing of the site has begun!

Pics by NYguy:

http://www.pbase.com/image/26607847/large.jpg

http://www.pbase.com/image/26607854/large.jpg

http://www.pbase.com/image/26607879/large.jpg

YEY soon it will rise!! :P wonder how they will take down the houses??

piece by piece. A big blast wouldn't be appreciated in that area I guess...

NY Post

MCKINSEY MULLS MOVE TO RATNER SKYSCRAPER

By STEVE CUOZZO

March 9, 2004 -- AT long last, Bruce Ratner appears to have a potential tenant interested in his top half of the planned New York Times headquarters tower: worldwide consulting firm McKinsey & Co., whose lease for 330,000 square feet at 55 E. 52nd St. is up for renewal.

Ratner urgently needs a commitment for at least some of his 750,000 square feet, which constitute the upper portion of the new tower on Eighth Avenue and 40th Street; the Times will own its own offices, below.

The partners took possession of the site last fall, but Ratner has yet to start building, grumbling that without a tenant he can't get a construction loan.

No one involved would comment on the McKinsey talks. One dealmaker not involved termed them "bull - - -t" - a ploy to strengthen McKinsey's negotiating hand with the Fisher Brothers," the firm's current landlord.

Maybe - but if McKinsey wants a better deal with the Fishers, it could look at available space cheaper than the Times tower, where Ratner is asking upwards of $70 per square foot. Asking rents at 55 E. 52nd St. are in the high $50s.

A deal for even half of Ratner's space would likely get the Renzo Piano-designed skyscraper out of the ground.

Found some renderings that weren't posted at Piano's website...

Sketch:

http://194.185.232.3/works/064/pictures/16big.jpg

First floor plan:

http://194.185.232.3/works/064/pictures/35big.jpg

Cross section through podium garden:

http://194.185.232.3/works/064/pictures/18big.jpg

Facade detail:

http://194.185.232.3/works/064/pictures/24big.jpg

Cafeteria dining: Wall core elevation:

http://194.185.232.3/works/064/pictures/36big.jpg

Cafeteria section:

http://194.185.232.3/works/064/pictures/22big.jpg

Detail storefront, podium:

http://194.185.232.3/works/064/pictures/23big.jpg

Recessed corner elevation with convenience stair:

http://194.185.232.3/works/064/pictures/37big.jpg

http://194.185.232.3/works/064/pictures/32big.jpg

Development design, mockup protoype:

http://194.185.232.3/works/064/pictures/34big.jpg

Looks great. This one will be nice.

knows anywhone where they will build this tower , can anyone show me the exactly location , of this projekt , i have heard it will gets build on 8th avenue , but where at 8th ave. :? i mean its a loong street

Nice Building i find :)

on 42nd street. It's right next to the AMC theaters

yeah, i think this building's great, not as abstract as reuters and times square tower. but i think the building looks better with an antenna than a spire. also, i don't like how it's far away from the rest of the nyc skyline. i think this thing should be built on the site of 1 bryant park. i think this building is 10x better looking than that abstract and confusing durst design.

yeah, it will be built next to the pa bus terminal

reminds me of toronto's tallest...

yeah, i think this building's great, not as abstract as reuters and times square tower. but i think the building looks better with an antenna than a spire. also, i don't like how it's far away from the rest of the nyc skyline. i think this thing should be built on the site of 1 bryant park. i think this building is 10x better looking than that abstract and confusing durst design.

yeah, it will be built next to the pa bus terminal

reminds me of toronto's tallest...
Yeah, I was thinking that. More of a fancy one, with a much better facade.

Pictures by NYguy.

How the demolition is going...

Last month:

http://cakeru.image.pbase.com/image/26607854/large.jpg

Couple of weeks ago:

http://www.pbase.com/image/27834347/large.jpg

Yesterday:

http://www.pbase.com/image/28249160/large.jpg

Wow, the building is gone! That's awesome :D

This project is by far becoming my favorite in all of NY right now. I like the look of the building, and after seeing in this thread of what it's basically gonna look like in the big picture, it added even more anticipation. To me, it's almost as if it adds it's own little layer of silver into things; and more than 1,100 feet tall, that's quite impressive. In my opinion, I think it would make a nice addition to the skyline.

Here's a picture of how the demolition is going, taken on 4/30. Notice how much progress happened in a week!

http://www.skyscrapercity.com/photopost/data/500/24042004_0430Image0032.JPG

NY POST

RATNER WILL BUILD TIMES TOWER WITHOUT LIBERTY $$

By STEVE CUOZZO

May 11, 2004 -- BRUCE Ratner has dropped his quest for low-interest Liberty Bonds to help finance the $850 million New York Times headquarters tower, and has begun building it with the expectation of a conventional, but pricey, construction loan.

Ratner told The Post, "We struggled for a year to get financing" for the architecturally distinguished tower, which will rise on Eighth Avenue between 40th and 41st streets, a block once full of porno shops.

"It delayed us 6 months, but we have pretty much completed it," he added. "We've started demolition and digging."

Ratner said "no" when asked if Liberty Bonds would be part of the financing. "It's totally privately financed," he said. "We'll make an announcement in a few weeks."

Last fall, Ratner had sought $400 million in Liberty Bonds - a request later scaled down to $150 million - because, he said, his lack of a tenant for the top half of the Times tower made it impossible to get a construction loan.

But the building's progress is now irreversible, given that the Times-Ratner lease with the state requires that the job be finished within 36 months of the start of construction.

Ratner had sought the bonds to help offset the considerably higher cost of borrowing he will face for his portion of the tower, for which no tenants have yet been signed.

But the state rebuffed Ratner's request for the funding. At the time, he was also seeking Albany's help to build his Atlantic Yards project in Brooklyn, anchored by a Frank Gehry-designed Nets arena; negotiations over the project are ongoing.

The Times Co. will own the bottom half of the Eighth Avenue tower, but Ratner will own roughly 700,000 square feet in the top half of the 52-story skyscraper, which will be defined by a shimmering curtain wall of transparent glass enveloped in louvered screens.

With construction under way, Ratner's leasing campaign - led by CB Richard Ellis's Mary Ann Tighe - is expected to go into high gear.

The tower, designed by Renzo Piano with Fox & Fowle, joins with Sir Norman Foster's glass-bubble tower for Hearst (now rising at 56th Street) to establish Eighth Avenue as an unlikely corridor for great contemporary architecture.

IOL

The New York Times goes transparent

http://www.iol.co.za/data/picdb//newspic40a22af57ec2e
The New York Times' new home is designed for energy efficiency.

May 12 2004

Soon the venerable New York Times will have a new home in the heart of Manhattan – its first new headquarters office building since the current one was completed in 1913. The transparent glass tower, 52 storeys high, will overlook the Times Square Redevelopment area on Eighth Avenue between 40th and 41st Streets.

Early in 2003, a group of visitors from the New York Times Company and its design and engineering contractors paid a visit to Berkeley Lab’s Environmental Energy Technologies Division (EETD) to talk about making the building an energy-efficient, comfortable and productive place to work.

They’ve since launched a co-operative research project to test new technologies aimed at increasing the energy-efficiency of the new building and improving the indoor environment.
Their research focuses on integrated technologies to reduce electric lighting energy use through daylighting while controlling glare and cooling loads in the extensively glazed building.

Alternative hardware and control solutions are being tested in a newly constructed, 418 m2 mockup of a portion of the building.

Pushing the daylighting envelope

“We’ve known since the 1970s that daylighting can reduce lighting energy use,” says Building Technologies Department Head Stephen Selkowitz. “But the mere use of large glass areas is not in itself a guarantee that energy savings or comfort will be achieved, because there are so many trade-offs involved.

“It’s been difficult to make as much progress in the use of daylighting as we have in other areas of lighting and glazing technology for a variety of reasons. For one, daylighting requires a high level of system integration. Designers have to design the building from the start to incorporate daylight into office spaces, there has to be a flexible and responsive control strategy to lower or turn off electric lights when daylight is available, and visual and thermal comfort must be maintained at all times.”

Adds Selkowitz: “The cost of components for successful daylighting – such as dimmable electronic ballasts, which control fluorescent lights – can be high. The systems, with their sensors and controls, also require careful calibration after they are installed – something that is not done very often in buildings today.”

Berkeley Lab research suggests that proper daylighting can reduce perimeter-zone lighting energy consumption by as much as 60 to 70 per cent annually. Overall building energy use can be re-duced by 10 to 30 per cent compared with a similar non-daylit building, depending on such factors as the fraction of total building area that can be effectively daylit.

Additional savings come from reducing building air-conditioning and heating loads through the selection of efficient glazings and automatic shading.

A contribution to civic life

When the Times decided to erect a new building, the creation of a comfortable working environment for its employees was one of its top priorities, together with energy-efficiency.

The transparency imperative was two-pronged: it had to bring in the daylight, and it had to to serve as a reminder of the mission of the newspaper – providing information “transparency” about the civic life of the nation and the world’s most exciting city.

To help create a connection to the community, the building will have an auditorium at the ground floor for civic and cultural events; the newsroom will occupy floors two to seven.

An unusual feature of the building, one more common in Europe than in the US, will be its fully glazed curtain wall. Thin horizontal ceramic tubes placed on a steel framework in front of the glass will screen the double-glazed, spectrally selective, low-emissivity, full-height glass wall around the building, thereby reducing its cooling loads. (Low-emissivity glass is an energy-efficient material that helps reduce heating and cooling use.)

The ceramic tubes provide an aesthetic bonus, taking on the changing colour of the sky during the course of the day as light diffuses through them from different angles. Towards the top of the building, the screen of tubes becomes less dense, and its lace-like appearance will permit a view of roof garden foliage.

The building was designed by architect Renzo Piano, well-known for his design of the Centre Georges Pompidou in Paris, Osaka’s Kansai International Airport, and Berlin’s Potsdamer Platz, in collaboration with Fox & Fowle Architects. Construction will start later this year and the building is expected to be completed by mid-2006.

It will unite most of the 2 500 Manhattan-based employees of the Times Company, which currently has offices at seven locations in New York City.

“This building is designed from the ground up to reinforce the values of the New York Times Company,” says vice-chairperson Michael Golden.

The paper is 153 years old. It’s time.

More renderings/diagrams...

The base:

http://www.skyscrapercity.com/photopost/data/500/2404nytimesbase.jpg

Inside:

http://www.skyscrapercity.com/photopost/data/500/2404nytimesinside.jpg

Green features:

http://63.135.104.246/greenimages/comm_NYT_green.jpg

Wow, lookin to be real good. I didn't even know that this tower will unite employee's from seven different locations, and the architect is the same one who did Kansai International. I guess you learn something new everyday.

That lobby looks nice, and it seems there's going to be a lot of natural light coming into that thing and coming off of it. Not only will it save on energy costs as described, but it will look quite nice from the outside and from a distance. Thanks for the updates savethewtc! :D

This building is going to be SO MUCH MORE than a box! Its incredible! I'm salivating thinking of that translucent curtain wall :cheers:

Construction starts late June word is!

NY Times

Construction of Times Building Is Scheduled to Start in Summer

By CHARLES V. BAGLI
Published: May 13, 2004

The New York Times Company and its partner plan to begin construction this summer of a long-awaited 52-story skyscraper at Eighth Avenue and 40th Street, where workers are now dismantling the vacant buildings on a two-acre site.

The Times and its partner, Forest City Ratner Companies, have tentatively scheduled a groundbreaking ceremony for late June on what will be an $850 million tower, the newspaper's third home in the Times Square neighborhood over the last century.

Forest City also expects to agree in the next month on about $300 million in financing for the tower from the GMAC Commercial Mortgage Corporation, according to real estate executives and government officials.

"They expect to close within the next 30 days on financing," one executive said. "Then the project will take off."

Under the partnership, The Times has a 58 percent stake in the project and will occupy 825,000 square feet of the 1.5 million-square-foot tower. Forest City and its partner, ING Financial, have the remaining 42 percent. The Times expects to occupy the building early in 2007, more than two years later than planned.

Forest City's pending deal with GMAC ends a degree of uncertainty that arose in October, when The Times announced that it would delay construction until its partner could obtain financing. Last year, Forest City asked the Bloomberg administration for $400 million in tax-exempt Liberty Bonds, which were designated for rebuilding New York after the attack on the World Trade Center.

City officials balked, not wanting to reopen a deal that was struck in 2000. Under the terms of its land lease with the city and the state, The Times and Forest City were required to begin construction by September 2004. Forest City subsequently pared its request to $150 million, but made little progress on the bonds. The developer then turned to GMAC.

The partners took possession of the site, between 40th and 41st Streets, across Eighth Avenue from the Port Authority Bus Terminal, in September 2003, after the 55 businesses there had moved out. Several months ago, demolition began. Only four buildings, all shrouded in black safety netting, remain on the site.

The Times and Forest City posted a $134 million letter of credit covering acquisition of the site, but they are liable for only $85.6 million. Anything above that will be refunded over time as a credit against the land rent paid to the state. Under the deal with the state, The Times also got $26.1 million in tax breaks.

Another rendering:

http://www.skyscrapercity.com/photopost/data/500/2404nytimestower.jpg

Wow, that's great news! Late June is right around the corner. What would be even cooler is if they schedule the groundbreaking for maybe a little earlier, it would be pretty nice if I was around when it happens, maybe show up to take some pics. It would have to be before June 14th though. Oh well, this is still exciting news, since this project is my favorite so far in New York. Here's to the soon-to-be NY Times Tower! :cheers:

NYC is booming.:)

Brilliant! Go NEW YORK!!!!

An idea how the windows will look from the architect, Renzo Piano's website...

http://194.185.232.3/works/064/pictures/39big.jpg

http://194.185.232.3/works/064/pictures/40big.jpg

I just got sort of SHOCKED, I checked on skyscrapers.com and it says the new NYTTower will be 1,046 feet!!! O NO, I wanted the city's second tallest, third tallest after Freedom Tower!!

Can Anyone HELP ME???

I just got sort of SHOCKED, I checked on skyscrapers.com and it says the new NYTTower will be 1,046 feet!!! O NO, I wanted the city's second tallest, third tallest after Freedom Tower!!

Can Anyone HELP ME???

I don't know how or why they have that figure, their stats aren't accurate at times.

I'm going by Renzo Piano's (architect) website and it says:

On all other floors, work conditions have guided our design: transparency, flexibility, ease of movement between floors, while privileging the sense of community and guaranteeing privacy. The tower would reach a height of 748 feet, and a mast on the roof would bring it up to 1,140 feet.

From: http://194.185.232.3/works/064/descr.asp

I don't know how or why they have that figure, their stats aren't accurate at times.

I'm going by Renzo Piano's (architect) website and it says:



From: http://194.185.232.3/works/064/descr.asp
It's good to know the actual architect knows what the final HEIGHT will be!! :)

Construction starts end of this month?!

Jack you got to be there snapping away!

Is this still gonna be 1,142 feet, I don't want anything less!!!!!!!!!!

Bruce Fowle from a s.com interview on the NY Times Tower...

Well, of course, we're working with Renzo Piano Building Workshop S.r.l. on the New York Times Tower. This has been a wonderful collaboration where we were able to apply our high-rise experience and expertise to Renzo's vision. The project is now under construction. It promises to be one of the great buildings in New York.

What is your role in the design of the New York Times Headquarters?

That was true design collaboration. As I said earlier, it was Renzo's vision. He came up with the overall concept when he entered the design competition, but it's been a very exciting collaboration between the two offices to ensure that the building meets the functional criteria I mentioned earlier, is efficient, is buildable, and serves the clients' needs. Since there are two owners, the Times and the developer Forest City Ratner, a major challenge was to design the building to suit the Times' program (located in the lower half) and meet market requirements for marketable tenant space in the upper half. Gensler has been designing the interior space for the Times, so it's really been a three-way collaboration.

Is that building going to have terra-cotta on the exterior?

It's not technically terra-cotta. It's an aluminum silicate, which is an extremely dense and high-quality ceramic. It will be glazed with the same type of material that you'd see on terra-cotta to reflect light and ensure it's resistance to weather. Terra-cotta proved to be too soft a material. The silicate is a much more precise material that's used for special manufacturing purposes. We looked at everything from clay pipe to traditional terra-cotta and all sorts of exotic ceramics from around the world, but this proved to be both the strongest and most cost-effective. We were very concerned about durability, and chose ceramic primarily for that reason, as opposed to something like Kynar-finished aluminum which would start to chalk and fade over time. Ceramic will have a natural handmade look to it, which you will see especially from the inside looking out. The glaze will provide a reflection of the sky in different climatic conditions, so the color of the building will be constantly changing, which is all very much a part of Renzo's idea.

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

Commercial Property News

GMAC Lends Forest City $320M for Times Tower

June 30, 2004
By Therese Fitzgerald, Editor/Ancillary Products

GMAC Commercial Mortgage closed on a $320 million loan for the construction of a 1.67 million-square-foot tower in Midtown Manhattan that will be the new home of the New York Times Co.

The 52-story building designed by Renzo Piano, will be located on Eighth Avenue, between 40st and 41st streets. It is being developed by Forest City Ratner Cos. and ING Real Estate in partnership with the New York Times. Construction is expected to begin this summer.

"We think Forest City Enterprises is really a top-tier developer and Forest City Ratner, in particular, in the New York marketplace is really well positioned to exe cute on this project," said Vacys Garbonkus, the GMAC executive vice president who negotiated the deal along with vice president Christopher Blechschmidt.

This is the GMAC's 10th loan to Forest City Enterprises and most of the loans have been construction loans to Forest City Ratner, the Forest City subsidiary that develops and operates properties in the New York region. GMAC, for example, financed Atlantic Terminal, a retail and office complex in Brooklyn, and a building at the MetroTech office complex, also in Brooklyn.

Upon completion, the building will be two condominiums with the roughly 900,000-square-foot lower portion owned and occupied by The New York Times. Forest City and ING will own and operate the upper floors.

To secure their location, the partners signed a ground lease with the New York State Urban Development Corp. for "8 South," the last remaining parcel in the 42nd Street Development Project.

Reuters

New York Times Sees Summer Start for New Building

Wed Jun 30, 2004 06:00 PM ET

NEW YORK (Reuters) - The New York Times Co. and its developer on Wednesday said they plan to break ground this summer on the paper's new 52-story headquarters.

The builder, Forest City Ratner Companies, in a statement said it had gotten a $320 million loan for the project, explaining this meant "the final piece is in place for construction."

The Times, now located on West 43rd Street, for several years has been planning a new building on Eighth Avenue between 40th and 41st streets.

But the developer had wanted to cut financing costs by paying for its part of the 1.67 million square foot building with triple tax-free Liberty Bonds.

The federal government approved $8 billion of Liberty Bonds for New York City and New York State to help the city rebuild after the Sept. 11, 2001, air attacks on Lower Manhattan.

But politicians disagreed over whether the bonds should be used outside Lower Manhattan. In the end, Forest City Ratner opted to borrow from GMAC Commercial Mortgage Corporation .

Once the new tower opens in 2007, all of the paper's New York employees for the first time will be under one roof, according to Catherine Mathis, a Times spokeswoman.

The total price tag for the new headquarters is $500 million to $550 million, and the Times will pay for its share with cash and debt, she said.

The Times, whose current headquarters was built in 1913, will occupy the bottom part of the new building, while Forest City Ratner and its partner, ING Real Estate, will own and lease the top floors to corporations.

this is going to be an exciting summer to be in the city with so many new buildings breaking ground and in the process of construction. 1987 it ain't - but it least the stagnancy of the recent past is ending.

thanks so much for the update buddyboy

This is a nice building but it aint gonna be over 1000 ft only the stupid aerial will sore that high, the aerials should not count on building heights..... me thinks ;)

Hmmm I'm not too sure.
The tower looks alright but it's far from being anything special imho, its design is bland and over-used :(
If only they would use 2 spires instead of 1, that would help a lot (i.e the 21st century John Hancock Center)

No, I disagree with you both. The single spire does it justice and the design is rarely, if ever used in the city. It is a very original building.

A couple of renderings I saw posted at SSP by Stern, some are the same as previous ones, others you might not have seen yet...

http://www.fcrc.com/images%5Cprojects%5Cmainnytimesb.jpg

http://www.fcrc.com/images%5Cprojects%5Cgaltypicalfloorb.jpg

http://www.fcrc.com/images%5Cprojects%5Cgalwestentrancelobbyb.jpg

http://www.fcrc.com/images%5Cprojects%5Cgalskylinepurpleb.jpg

Again, same angle, slightly different rendering:

http://www.amdrendering.com/new/projects/renzo/nytimesb.jpg

they are working on the site itself right now (well a few days ago); the plot next door (bt 41 and 42)is also ready for construction I think. :)

It looks so good, I love it!

pic of the 2 sites I mentioned (NTT an 11Times Square behind it). Can't wait to see both of them going up! :)
http://www.skyscrapers.nl/nyc/ntt_11ts.jpg

Nice pic Patrick.

I passed by the site a couple of times this and last week, there is alot of activity going on. Too bad I didn't have the cam with me, but foundation work and digging seems to be underway.

YEAH,great building :eek2: will be a great addition to the skyline! :banana:

I'm sold on this tower also, tho again 10 more floors would not hurt it. the reason i say in most of my NYC posts, "10 more floors" is becouse thru out midtown, the general height is about 500' to 750'. it would be cool to see a few towers with there upper most floors at about 950' to 1'050' i know one bryant tops out at 948' but its last floor is at least 60' below that, just think, it would be neat to look out of this tower and see the roofs of EVERYTHING in times square. don't you think!!!!.................by the way, single antenna on this one,(or better yet, one like the one on the cancelled 7 south dearborn tower in chicago). i.e. trimasted lattice.

yeah, i really like this building a lot more than 1 bryant park. it's got a nice futuristic touch to an international style facade. and the glass fins should be quite interesting. the building really new yorkish, and that's definitely a good thing.

but i don't like how they are building it at the edge of the midtown skyline. i want it to be built on the 1 bryant park site, with many other international style skyscrapers to keep it company, while 1 bryant park is built over the park avenue atrium building.

u know, i'll feel really sorry for conde nast once this building and 1 bryant park is finished. cuz then it'll be stuck in the middle between these two, and that'd really suck if u try to get a east-west view of conde nast.

yeah, i really like this building a lot more than 1 bryant park. it's got a nice futuristic touch to an international style facade. and the glass fins should be quite interesting. the building really new yorkish, and that's definitely a good thing.

but i don't like how they are building it at the edge of the midtown skyline. i want it to be built on the 1 bryant park site, with many other international style skyscrapers to keep it company, while 1 bryant park is built over the park avenue atrium building.

u know, i'll feel really sorry for conde nast once this building and 1 bryant park is finished. cuz then it'll be stuck in the middle between these two, and that'd really suck if u try to get a east-west view of conde nast.

Unfortunately even now at the moment, Conde Nast doesn't get the attention it deserves.

What I'm trying to figure out on this tower is that if the spire's beginning will be thicker than the very end of the tip? Or will it be the same width and uniform throughout?

Some renderings show it will be, others don't.

It would look cool if it got skinnier and thinner as it rises, it would give a good fade effect.

Conde Nast is one of these three tall Times Sq towers with a spire/antenna on top, the only one completed. Even though it's gonna be the shortest to roof height, it's gonna be the craziest nevertheless. I mean just look as its design! Crazzy.
And I got a bad feeling about 11 Times Square...

It's a beautiful tower. The whole tower will be used for the NY times?

no they will only occupy a percentage of the tower. i forget how much.

similiar to the new symphony tower going up in atlanta

Here's a view looking into the NY Times Tower site on November 13. Lots of digging going on:

http://www.skyscrapercity.com/photopost/data/3196/24042004_1113Image0008.JPG

Model shot:

http://archrecord.construction.com/innovation/2_Features/images/0411green1.jpg

Here's a view looking into the NY Times Tower site on November 13. Lots of digging going on:

http://www.skyscrapercity.com/photopost/data/3196/24042004_1113Image0008.JPG
Aha, there's the actual construction! See the metal rods at the far end of the site?

Check out interior shots of the NYT building in a a mockup they've built at their printing plant.

http://www.nytco.com/timestalk/200403_TimesTalk.pdf

Globe St.

Construction Financing Lines Up for NYT Tower

http://www.globest.com/newspics/manhattan_timesbldg.jpg

By Barbara Jarvie
Last updated: January 3, 2005 07:38am

NEW YORK CITY-Total construction loan financing in the amount of $322.5 million has been put in place for the development of the 1.7-million-sf New York Times Co. building at 620 Eighth Ave. Just before the year end, Hypo Real Estate Capital Corp., the New York-based subsidiary of Hypo Real Estate Bank International, closed on a $52.5-million participation loan for the project, which is a joint venture of the New York Times Co., Forest City Ratner Cos. and ING Real Estate.

Forest City president and CEO Bruce Ratner previously said he expects there will be a 35-month construction process. In a deal valued at $175 million, a Tishman Speyer Properties-led limited partnership acquired the Times’ current home, the 750.000-sf building at 229 West 43rd St. The Times Co. will stay in that site until its new headquarters is ready for occupancy in early 2007. Ratner estimates that total cost is expected to be between $830 and $850 million with $100 million for the New York Times portion.

Once completed, FCRC will have 700,000 sf of rentable space on floors 29 through 50. The New York Times will occupy floors two through 28 and there will be approximately 20,000 sf of retail space. Italian architect Renzo Piano Building Workshop designed the class A building which will be located in the Times Square submarket.

FCRC has participated in other Times Square-area development projects including the 42nd Street hotel, entertainment and retail development, a 335,000-sf complex that features a 25-screen AMC Cineplex and Madame Tussaud’s Wax Museum, topped with a 25-story, 455-room Hilton Hotel with sky-lobby restaurant. Other FCRC projects include MetroTech Center, a $1-billion, 6.4-million-sf complex in Downtown Brooklyn.

Heres a render of what it and the BOA tower may look from across the river.

http://www.graffitibiz.com/boa_times.jpg (http://www.graffitibiz.com/nyc_full.jpg)
(click on the image for the full panorama)

i hope some more developement goes on south of ESB

aural iNK that's sick. Wow, I've got to say excellent work! NYC's skyline is going to look SO much different! :)

that is very well done! :applause:
though I would like to see the NYTT much 'whiter', more illuminated in a very bright white, I wonder how they will illuminate it :?
I guess it's a wait and see

how does the site look like now?

Don't think this rendering was posted here:

http://www.arch.columbia.edu/Studio/Spring2002/Marble/justinmoore/discourse/images/times1.jpg

when is the construction suppose to start on this one?

it already began, they're still excavating though

Wow amazing, just 6 pages about this tower in 2 years! If such a tower was proposed in Rotterdam we would have 6 pages within one day. :lol:

Any news?

Sorry for the poor quality, but it was tough getting these shots around the site. Dated 4/11/05

http://www.skyscrapercity.com/photopost/data/3220/24042005_0411Image0057.JPG

http://www.skyscrapercity.com/photopost/data/3220/24042005_0411Image0058.JPG

well, they're working alright (unlike somewhere downtown cough cough)

Wow amazing, just 6 pages about this tower in 2 years! If such a tower was proposed in Rotterdam we would have 6 pages within one day. :lol:

Any news?
well, rotterdam Is the capital city and headquarter of SSC (imo)

wow, i like the design. Manhattan is becoming "glassy" with all those new skyscrapers like the TWC, Freedom tower project and NYTT. But I still like the old buildings on manhattan with that stone look.

Manhattan looks nice with some of those glassy buildings, but too many would ruine the New York atmosphere IMO.

Pictures posted by NYguy at SSP, showing off some great progress. Should start rising now...

APRIL 23, 2005

We now summon forth the New York Times tower. Rise up, and take your rightful place on the skyline.


http://www.pbase.com/nyguy/image/42480527/large.jpg


http://www.pbase.com/nyguy/image/42480532/large.jpg


http://www.pbase.com/nyguy/image/42480534/large.jpg


http://www.pbase.com/nyguy/image/42480537/large.jpg


http://www.pbase.com/nyguy/image/42480546/large.jpg


http://www.pbase.com/nyguy/image/42480562/large.jpg

Not a very deep hole. Any reason for this?

i think that the concrete has been poured quite deep. i was wondering that myself but that must be it. either that or they have driven piles down, which i havent seen so its just a guess.

I'm sure foundations go deeper but no parking or other underground uses?

well it's on two blocks, so maybe the parking might be on the other spot.
isn't it?

http://www.pbase.com/nyguy/image/42480534/large.jpg
So that's how skyscraper cranes that rise out of the core start out... do those cranes go down the elevator shafts? That would make sense.

They cranes don't go through the elevator shafts. They close off the hole as the crane rises. The elevator shafts are slowly constructed as the building rises.

OK, not that this is the case here, but a crash course in the use of construction crane's. first, the type of crane(s) to be used is determined by (A) method/type, of construction,(i.e. steel/concrete/or, composite). (B) site constraint's,(i.e. adjacent buildings, building footprint or, building envelope to sidewalk, etc.) There are three types of cranes used to construct highrise buildings (1) the tower crane, stands on tower, with fixed horizontal boom, (most common, but has least lifting capacity) (2) the luffing crane, also stands on tower, but has horizontal/vertical swing boom.(used where swing area is limited) and (3) the derrick crane, this type is mounted to the building frame,(usually near the center or core area) and is a guyed mast with h/v swing boom attached to the base of the mast, (this type is used almost exclusively in steel/iron erection and has highest lift capacity) also jumping the derrick up each 2 floor tier to set the next tier, is a labor intensive, time consuming prossess.

The tower/luffing type cranes can be both ground mounted, or building mounted. the ground mounted tower, in almost all cases is placed outside the building envelope, and as it rises, is sometimes attached to the structure every 3 to 6 floors with a type of outrigger/brace, or are freestanding. the building mounted tower, is placed where swing is best utilized, (usually in elevator core or stair wells). the tower section penitrates into the building 6 to 10 floors and uses the building frame to jack itself up every couple of tier's and is reattached,(bolted) to the building frame, another option is the telescoping tower,(usually 1 or 2 tier's in length) which reduces the amount of jumping operations. in almost all cases, all of these cranes are dismantled by hand and lightweight derrick type cranes and lowered to the street, after which the LW derrick itself is dissasembled and taken down in the elevator.

Interesting lesson there TICONLA1, thanks for that.

Here's an overview of the site courtesy of Renzo Piano's site:

http://194.185.232.3/works/064/pictures/41big.jpg

They places the cranes last days, update made yesterday at 6 pm after work:

http://home.hetnet.nl/~tdb150881/nytimesupdates/up1.jpg


http://home.hetnet.nl/~tdb150881/nytimesupdates/up2.jpg


http://home.hetnet.nl/~tdb150881/nytimesupdates/up3.jpg


http://home.hetnet.nl/~tdb150881/nytimesupdates/up4.jpg


http://home.hetnet.nl/~tdb150881/nytimesupdates/up5.jpg

I saw the green roundshaped building (forgot the name) will be directely besides this building, can become an amazing area! The Orion is just around the corner!

Thanks, savethewtc and aedificium erectum, for the Great shots. It looks like this bad boy is going to rise pretty damn quick. is the Renzo Piano site shot a webcam or not? In a few more days, (as soon as more iron is set) I can tell you if the cranes are self jumpers or not, though surely they must be!. The large base of the crane tower seen in the photo's will be removed by hand, after about 6 to 8 tier's of iron are set (about 12 to 16 floors) starting from tier being set or the uppermost down, this tier is being set (connected). the next below is being plumbed. (pulled to level with comealongs or cables, and the rest of the bolts inserted/tightened) the tier below it is being welded at certain connections, and corrugated decking is being spread, (also sheer pins are welded to horizontal beams at certain areas, and decking tackwelded down). and finally, the tier below this one, is being prepared for floor concrete pouring, (other trades, i.e. plumbers, electrictions, and HVAC, come in and install sleeves, conduit, or cut out decking for piping, and wiremesh is layed down, only on, or below this tier the crane tower can be secured to the building.

looking good :)

Yes this one will rise soon. Unfortunately I'll be gone here when the real rise will start. :(

From world forums...

Update taken today. The cranes are in place and steel is rising...

http://skyscraperpage.com/gallery/data/532/4978ny_times_tower_site_1.jpg

latest look.....photos taken by me, today mothers day 05/08/05

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v109/nyctowers/DSC00016.jpg

pretty soon in less than 3 years, we all be able to walk thru this lobby!!! can't wait!!!

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v109/nyctowers/DSC00017.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v109/nyctowers/DSC00018copy.jpg

They cranes don't go through the elevator shafts. They close off the hole as the crane rises. The elevator shafts are slowly constructed as the building rises.

G'day from Down Under. Both of the tower cranes you have pictures of here are Aussie Cranes. They are Favco's and Ed007toronto, they can be mounted anywhere they need to be. We can mount them in the dirt, in liftshafts, on portal frames over streets/roads, on the roof of existing buildings, mounted to the side of a building site hole with no contact with the ground, absolutely anywhere.

There are some nice pictures here of the NY Times cranes.

We have a thread on the Australian forums that specializes in Crane action, mainly Favco's but certainly not limited. http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showthread.php?p=4076308#post4076308 :cheers:

it looks like the design of the 7 wtc tower, i hope with the same glass...

Update...

:yes:

CONSTRUCTION UPDATE!

THIS SITE IS JUST GOING AT A SUPERFAST PACE!!

all photos taken today 05/19/2005

first story, visible from street level!

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v109/nyctowers/fd6fd258.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v109/nyctowers/d92bbe9b.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v109/nyctowers/05033bbf.jpg

MMMM, WORKER SLEEPING ON THE JOB!!!! HOW DARE HE!!!.....or maybe he is dead?

:cheers:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v109/nyctowers/f54204f0.jpg

:hilarious:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v109/nyctowers/b9cba222.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v109/nyctowers/7d38d280.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v109/nyctowers/671725e5.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v109/nyctowers/5cc5a5ab.jpg

:)

From Renzo Piano's website...

http://194.185.232.3/works/064/pictures/45big.jpg

http://194.185.232.3/works/064/pictures/46big.jpg

at least this project is going well!

I passed it yesterday project is going fast now!

An update from TowersNYC:

LATEST UPDATE!!!


MAY 27, 2005

WARM SUNNY DAY IN MANHATTAN!!! :)


8th avenue!!! future giant!


http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v109/nyctowers/ntt05273.jpg



http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v109/nyctowers/ntt05274.jpg


http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v109/nyctowers/ntt05276.jpg


Lobby

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v109/nyctowers/ntt05275.jpg

rear of tower...

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v109/nyctowers/ntt0527.jpg


iron workers....


http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v109/nyctowers/ntt05271.jpg


http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v109/nyctowers/ntt05272.jpg


future inner courtyard....park

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v109/nyctowers/ntt05278.jpg


Break time...time to sunbathe!! :)

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v109/nyctowers/ntt05277.jpg :hug:

All photos by me !!! :hilarious

Another update...

THE LUCK OF THE IRISH :) IRON WORKERS

JUNE 13 2005, yet another 90 degree day!!!!

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v109/nyctowers/4420d5e9.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v109/nyctowers/2c7ac603.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v109/nyctowers/3ea5cae8.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v109/nyctowers/081a4b80.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v109/nyctowers/7145a2ed.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v109/nyctowers/fd10ce69.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v109/nyctowers/8d49caa5.jpg

MAN AT WORK!! :)

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v109/nyctowers/65e30d2b.jpg

:hug:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v109/nyctowers/36c2db2c.jpg

In place :)

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v109/nyctowers/ef8e0ad6.jpg

I wondered why of the Irish until I saw the crane :)
great update from Carlos, I wonder why don't we see him anymore around here

Here is an updated pic that I found.

Originally posted by gripja on SSP.
http://skyscraperpage.com/gallery/data/532/5440ny_times_tower_6-17-05.jpg

Holy Shit! :eek:

that is going fast!

June 22nd from Film Center Building roof.

http://home.hetnet.nl/~tdb150881/nytimesupdates/NYtimes.jpg

Can anyone get some close up photos of the cranes please????

Check out http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showthread.php?p=4554890#post4554890 for more crane stuff.

Thanks.

its a very good construction method, thats what makes progress so fast. Building two floors at a time because the columns are two storeys high.

Nice shot Tim!

Here's more from the world forums...

latest Look: june 23 2005

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v109/nyctowers/15ad9568.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v109/nyctowers/7ee2acdd.jpg

From Renzo Piano's website...

http://194.185.232.3/works/064/pictures/47big.jpg

http://194.185.232.3/works/064/pictures/49big.jpg

http://194.185.232.3/works/064/pictures/48big.jpg

This is rising really fast.

An updated shot of the NY Times Tower from yesterday.

Originally posted by pianoman11686 from Wired NY.
http://images.snapfish.com/343%3C89%3A723232%7Ffp63%3Dot%3E234%3A%3D937%3D37%3B%3DXROQDF%3E23238%3C8%3B89269ot1lsi

Another update of the NY Times Tower.

Originally posted by NYguy on SSP.
http://www.pbase.com/nyguy/image/45368988/large.jpg

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/07/12/nyregion/12strike.html
Big Projects Are Slowed by Disputes With Labor

By CHARLES V. BAGLI

Published: July 12, 2005

A series of contract disputes and strikes in the last week has hobbled work at some of the city's most high-profile construction projects, from the Bank of America headquarters on 42nd Street to residential towers on the Upper East Side and the headquarters for The New York Times on Eighth Avenue.

Last week, unionized concrete delivery workers went on strike, but they agreed to go back to work on Friday. Almost immediately afterward, about 1,500 iron workers who labor atop the steel beams of the city's skyscrapers walked off the job, after their contact expired earlier this month. The giant cranes at a number of sites stand motionless, instead of slinging I-beams across the skyline as a tower rises floor by floor.

"It's definitely affected our project," said Michele DeMilly, a spokeswoman for Forest City Ratner, a developer and partner in the 51-story Times building between 40th and 41st Streets, across Eighth Avenue from the Port Authority Bus Terminal.

Contractors are scheduled to meet with Locals 40 and 361 of the Iron Workers union to try to resolve their differences. According to people who have been briefed on the dispute, the iron workers' union, whose contract expired June 30, wants a 16 percent wage increase over the next three years, while contractors are looking for significant changes in work rules and staffing requirements.

Edward Walsh, business manager for the District Council of Iron Workers, declined comment.

"The iron workers took us by surprise," said Ray McGuire, managing director of the Contractors Association of Greater New York, which is not directly involved in the talks.

It was less surprising when Teamsters Local 282, representing the concrete delivery drivers, stopped working last week after its contract expired. Concrete is the lifeblood for any project requiring a heavy foundation and for residential towers, which are built with reinforced concrete rather than steel beams.

Work stopped for a week at an apartment building designed by Frank Gehry for the InterActive Corporation on the West Side Highway, between 18th and 19th Streets, as well as two residential towers under construction near 57th Street and Third Avenue and an additional apartment house at 88 Leonard Street.

Go for gold brothers, a struggle together is a struggle eased.

We have a saying, "Touch One, Touch All."

There is no point doing it all on your own.

Any more close up photo's of the cranes??

Close up photo's of the writing on the cranes, anyone have details or photo's of any technical info painted onto these machines.

Update thanks to TowersNYC:

LATEST LOOK JULY 27 2005

Another schorching HOT :soapbox: humid day in Gotham!!!

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v109/nyctowers/734be2ab.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v109/nyctowers/307aa5cb.jpg

Interesting concept, I like it...

NY POST

THE BIG PICTURE

http://www.nypost.com/photos/biz07312005033.jpg
Annie Liebovitz, known for her iconic celebrity photos shot for countless magazines, is documenting the construction of the new New York Times headquarters.

By STEVE CUOZZO

July 31, 2005 -- Celebrity portrait photographer Annie Leibovitz's most famous single image is surely the 1991 shot of nude and pregnant Demi Moore that graced the cover of Vanity Fair.

This week, she began chronicling a different order of embryonic life: the slow coming-forth of the $850 million New York Times headquarters tower on Eighth Avenue, now a six-story jungle gym of steel rising to an eventual 52 stories and opening late next year.

Leibovitz was hired by developer Bruce Ratner to record the ascent of the tower, a shimmering steeple of transparent glass laced by a network of ceramic rods designed by Italy's Renzo Piano with New York's Fox + Fowle.

How much Ratner is paying her is, like all her fees, "a closely guarded secret," Ratner executive VP MaryAnne Gilmartin chuckled.

What's no secret is why Ratner hired her: to help lure tenants for the tower's top half, where Ratner has 700,000 square feet of space up for grabs at over $70 a square foot — in effect, an entire speculative office building to fill in a soft leasing market.

It's a risk that drove Ratner to plead unsuccessfully for low-interest Liberty Bond financing.

Leibovitz's Hollywood touch might — or might not — take the edge off the fact that Ratner's pricey floors overlook the Port Authority Bus Terminal on an avenue where porn emporiums stubbornly hold out amidst glamorous newcomers including the Hearst tower and the Arquitectonica-designed Westin Hotel.

An inspired publicity stunt, Leibovitz's involvement sure beats the banner Donald Trump once hung on his Columbus Circle condo tower mocking the views from Time Warner Center.

Leibovitz will shoot the Times building and construction workers at least once every three months, with additional sessions to record "milestones" such as the first application of the curtain-wall glass. Her images will festoon the sidewalk-bridge along Eighth Avenue and the side streets.

Ratner's pricey floors overlook the Port Authority Bus Terminal on an avenue where porn emporiums stubbornly hold out amidst glamorous newcomers including the Hearst tower and the Arquitectonica-designed Westin Hotel.

Hmm, I'd think that might actually be a selling point.

You know, long day of work, feeling tired, so ya head off to the porn emporium. :crazy:

Here's a more recent pic of the NY Times Tower.

Originally posted by Gulcrapek on Wired NY
http://img320.imageshack.us/img320/5224/nyt8bs.jpg

http://www.villagevoice.com/news/0533,moses,66887,5.html
The Fine Print
'Times' to Commoners: Go Elsewhere
Don't soil our publicly subsidized new HQ with your riff-raff

by Paul Moses
August 16th, 2005 10:29 AM

http://images.villagevoice.com/issues/0533/moses1.jpg
A public viewing of a very private building
photo: Lauren Braun

http://images.villagevoice.com/issues/0533/moses2.jpg
There goes the neighborhood: Street scenes outside the Times castle
photo: Kate Englund

http://images.villagevoice.com/issues/0533/moses3.jpg
photo: Kate Englund

http://images.villagevoice.com/issues/0533/moses5.jpg
photo: Kate Englund

When The New York Times and Forest City Ratner Companies open their grand new office building on Eighth Avenue, it won't have a Taco Bell, McDonald's, Wendy's, or Nathan's, because they are specifically forbidden under terms of a land deal with the state. But a Starbucks or Cosi would be just fine.
The lease, which is on file with the Securities and Exchange Commission, also bars renting space in the 52-story building for "a school or classroom or juvenile or adult day care or drop-in center." It forbids "medical uses, including without limitation, hospital, medical, or dental offices, agencies, or clinics." It gives the New York Times Company "the sole and absolute discretion" to reject United Nations or foreign-government offices, including any "considered controversial" or that are potentially the focus of demonstrations. It bans any "employment agency (other than executive-search firms) or job training center" and auction houses, "provided, however, the foregoing shall not apply to high-end auction houses specializing in art and historical artifacts." Discount stores are forbidden. And the deal bars "a welfare or social-services office, homeless shelter or homeless assistance center, court or court-related facility."

In fact, any government office is excluded from the building if it would attract people who arrive "without appointment."

Lease restrictions that exclude the public may not be unusual in luxury office buildings, but there is an irony in this case. The Pataki administration, acting on behalf of the New York Times Company, condemned the property for a so-called "public purpose." This is the standard the Fifth Amendment sets for the state to invoke the immense power of eminent domain.

At one time, "public purpose" usually meant a highway, bridge, or utility service—something the public was actually allowed to use. But now it's routine for the courts to declare it a "public purpose" for the state to seize privately owned land so that another private owner can erect a very private office building where the public can't even buy an inexpensive taco. In this case, the services many New Yorkers most need—health, education, job placement—are officially locked out of a building that will be heavily subsidized by city taxpayers. And, it should be noted, this is a site with unique public access, located across the street from the Port Authority Bus Terminal and upstairs from the city's subway crossroads.

"Our new building will be an attractive and welcome addition to Times Square for all New Yorkers to enjoy," Times spokesperson Toby Usnik said in an e-mail interview after the company was asked if it had any comment on these provisions in its deal with Forest City and the Empire State Development Corporation. "We have worked with our partner, Forest City Ratner Companies, to define general categories of tenants that will complement our new building, including food and retail establishments with broad appeal. These are common types of establishments that New Yorkers and visitors alike now expect to find when visiting the new Times Square."

Such notions of a "public purpose" could well change as a result of outrage across the political spectrum over the U.S. Supreme Court's 5-4 ruling on June 23 that allowed the city of New London, Connecticut, to seize homes for private development. While the court ruled in favor of condemnation (and in 2003, also declined to hear a case against the Times project), the majority was troubled enough by the apparent unfairness to note that states can restrict the power of eminent domain, and that many have done so.

This has spurred a move across party lines in Albany and other statehouses to limit government's ability to coerce land deals for private developers. Assemblyman Richard Brodsky, a Westchester Democrat, proposed a bill, for example, to make condemnations more costly for the private developer and create a commission to review the "public purpose" standard. The bill would provide for displaced renters to be paid one and a half times their annual rent; property owners also would be compensated at one and a half times the market value of their property, according to Jim Malatras, legislative director for Brodsky, who chairs the Assembly's Committee on Corporations, Authorities and Commissions.

It comes too late to help the owners of the 16-story office building, student dormitory, business school, hat shop, and fabric store bulldozed to make way for the Times headquarters. And the Brodsky bill doesn't quite come to grips with the key issue: Exactly what "public purpose" should allow government the right to take your home or the place where you work? But it's a start.

One yardstick for deciding this tricky question can be found in a concurring opinion Justice Anthony Kennedy issued when he cast the swing vote in favor of the bulldozers in the New London case. He wrote that deals "intended to confer benefits on particular, favored private entities, and with only incidental or pretextual public benefits," should be forbidden.

Condemnation of private property for private development in New York City is often done as part of a no-bid deal that favors politically powerful businesses—companies that are major campaign contributors, hire politically connected lobbyists, or in the case of the Times, are media companies with enormous clout.

David Reiss, a professor at Brooklyn Law School and expert on eminent domain, said some condemnations in New York City might have failed the test Kennedy set in the New London case. "The Kennedy concurrence implies that sweetheart deals made in back rooms might not pass constitutional muster," Reiss said, "and as many development deals in New York are conducted in back rooms, it raises concerns that they would not be constitutional under Kennedy's view."

If Kennedy is to be taken at his word, it follows that special steps should be taken to avoid favoring the politically connected when the state's power is used to condemn land for a private developer. That could mean requiring competitive bidding, timely release of all records, and City Council approval for any condemnation and related tax breaks. That would replace the no-bid deals, secrecy, and "three men in a room" approval process marking such projects as the Times building (which was quietly approved by the Public Authorities Control Board).

In the Times deal, the city and state made a no-bid pact despite prior plans to seek competitive bids for the choice midtown site the newspaper company wanted. The Times also got tens of millions of dollars in city subsidies based on what it said were the high costs of keeping 750 workers based in the city instead of New Jersey—costs that, it was clear at the time, were vastly overestimated by Times executives, as the Voice has reported ("The Paper of Wreckage," June 17, 2002). The Times got these subsidies even though, as previously reported, another developer, Gary Barnett, said he would build a 50-story office tower without heavy tax breaks. Barnett—who made headlines recently by competing with Forest City Ratner Companies to build in downtown Brooklyn—even owned part of the site.

The question remains: Would the Times deal with a favored developer have passed Kennedy's test?

"The Supreme Court was in fact asked to take cert [hear an appeal] in our case and refused," said Usnik, the Times spokesperson.

"Presumably that was because the justices did not see a constitutional problem in the condemnation."

Further, he said in an e-mail, New York courts found that the Times building benefited the public by replacing urban blight in Times Square. These are not the minor or "pretextual" benefits that Kennedy was concerned about, Usnik said. (You weren't aware that booming Times Square is still blighted?)

But is that enough of a "public use" for the state to seize one privately owned office building to replace it with a more exclusive one that someone else owns? Reiss, the Brooklyn Law professor, suggested that the standard should be "substantial use by the general public." It would be interesting to see that applied to an office building that bars all employment offices except for executive-search firms.

But any change in New York's eminent-domain law will have to overcome strong opposition. The Bloomberg administration made New York the only city to come to New London's aid with an amicus brief, arguing that jobs can be created if city officials are free to determine what a "public use" is. What it means is that unless your household employs more people than, say, a basketball arena, you're unprotected.

See you in Starbucks.

Another update of this project.

Originally posted on Wired NY by NYguy
http://www.pbase.com/nyguy/image/48327541/large.jpg
http://www.pbase.com/nyguy/image/48327559/large.jpg

Here's another rendering I found:

http://www.emporis.co.uk/files/transfer/6/2002/12/173295.jpg

As for the status of the building, the small businesses are being evacuated and demolition to clear up the site should happen soon.

Also here's the design that lost to the current design in a competition. This one was designed by Frank Gehry:

http://www.guggenheim.org/exhibitions/past_exhibitions/gehry/images/projects/projects_images/ny_times13_lg.jpg

I think I like the Gehry design better than Piano's.
It is 100 times better, i can't understand why they didn'tpick gehry's either, shame really. But that is the NY times for you.

yes it would've been better. btw, gehry's design looks shorter. is it?

Oh that's horrible. Besides, Gehry is designing a 75 story tower downtown. I wouldn'y doubt if it looked very similar, all his crap looks the same.

Here's an update, though this one is from three days ago.

Originally posted on Wired NY by NYguy
http://www.pbase.com/nyguy/image/48764874/large.jpg

http://newyorktimesbuilding.com/

This is rising way too fast.

Originally posted by TowersNYC in the Construction Updates Forum
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v109/nyctowers/uno/DSC00647.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v109/nyctowers/uno/DSC00652.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v109/nyctowers/uno/DSC00653.jpg

Whoa, looks like they're getting some progress done! :runaway:

You can already see that the scafolding will forsee another two floors.

Originally posted by TowersNYC in Construction Updates
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v109/nyctowers/uno/DSC00726.jpg

dang! this one's rising reeeeally fast! i had absolutely no idea that construction's going this fast! amazing...looking forward to see this one being completed also.

i like the current design better than gehry's. it may look like a futurist interpretation of the relatively bland first canadian place, but hey, at least it does not look like it's being imploded, unlike that gehry proposal.

besides, i think ny times don't want the image of the collapsing twin towers to be the first thing that comes into the heads of people when they see the company's headquarters. to me, that gehry design just suggest 9/11 too much. it may be very interesting, but it just doesn't belong there.

Now those floors are up.

Originally posted by TowersNYC in Construction Updates
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v109/nyctowers/uno/DSC00776.jpg

http://www.ohny.org/ohny_website/weekend.html
95 New York Times Building and Design Gallery
230 West 41st Street, 18th Floor, Times Square
Sat:10am-5pm
opendialogue: talk by architect, Serge Drouin, time TBD, max 15 at a time
architect: Renzo Piano Building Workshop & Fox and Fowle Architects, opening 2007
services: access for wheelchairs
The future 52-story home for The New York Times, as well as other premiere office tenants now under construction, will feature an innovative ceramic sunscreen which will reflect light, changing color throughout the day. A street-level garden will integrate building and nature, providing a green oasis. View construction progress, models and drawings from the Design Gallery adjacent to the site. Tour organized by the developer, Forest City Ratner Companies, in cooperation with openhousenewyork.
subway: A, C, E, 1, 2, 3, N, R, Q to 42nd St.

http://www.ohny.org/b_images/NYT%20rendering.jpg

dang! this one's rising reeeeally fast! i had absolutely no idea that construction's going this fast! amazing...looking forward to see this one being completed also.


agree...one of my favourite designs now u/c

Again with a backdrop.

Originally posted by NYCTowers in Construction Updates
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v109/nyctowers/uno/DSC00806.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v109/nyctowers/uno/DSC00803.jpg

As New HQ Rises, Old Owners Cause Trouble Underfoot

By Matthew Schuerman

The skeleton of the new New York Times building is now about 400 feet high, but the fight over the land beneath it is still not over. In some ways, it hasn’t even begun.

Over three years ago, the state condemned the 11 parcels on the site to make way for the new 52-story building, and at the time paid out $86 million to the former owners.

Now 10 of the landlords who feel they have been ripped off are calling for their day in court—and a bigger check. (The 11th took the money and ran.)

But in a twist that should make even the staunchest rooter for the underdog blanch, every dollar more that these small-time parking-garage magnates win in court will come not from the ledgers of the mammoth corporations, but from the treasuries of the city and state.

That’s because, according to the development agreement that paved the way for the condemnations, the Times Company and Forest City Ratner get to divert every dollar beyond that initial $86 million from the substitute tax payments that they’re making. And the landlords claim that they are owed two or three or even five times what they’ve received so far. In essence, city and state taxpayers—who are already chipping in several millions dollars’ worth of subsidies—will also be helping out if the court appeals are successful.

The Empire State Development Corporation, the state economic-development agency, defends the agreement because the Times Company and Forest City needed to know what their maximum outlay for the buying property would be before agreeing to the deal.

“It’s already paying more property tax by multiples than the previous properties were paying,” said an agency official who requested anonymity, speaking to The Observer. (The state has not, however, done an analysis comparing before-and-after tax revenues.)

The official said that the Empire State Development Corporation was also eagerly awaiting a court date so it could argue its own case. But only one judge hears eminent-domain cases, Martin Schoenfeld, and he has other duties as well, which means that a hearing may be many months away.

Property-rights advocates argue that government regularly undervalues property—it’s what makes eminent domain so attractive to private developers, they say.

“It might put an end to the taking of property, if they had to pay market value,” said Joe Wright, an advisor to community groups fighting eminent domain and a member of the national property-rights group the Castle Coalition. “They wouldn’t have to go through with eminent domain then, because they would get no economic benefit.”

Catherine Mathis, spokeswoman for The New York Times, said that the agreement on acquisition costs was part of a larger deal that would provide amenities to the public.

“The Times and Forest City Ratner Companies entered into a complex arrangement with the city and state to develop this property,” she said in a statement. “There are many components involved in the arrangement, including subway amenities, a publicly accessible auditorium, guarantees to build within set timeframes and make a payment in lieu of taxes.”

Lawsuits over condemning the land for the Times building delayed the construction of the tower by about six months, according to a state official, but they were unsuccessful. (The building itself is more than a year behind schedule and will open sometime in 2007.) Now there’s no stopping the building, but the current appeals demonstrate that while the Constitution permits the government to seize private property for “just compensation,” there’s no easy way to find out what “just” means.

“They gave us 20 cents on the dollar for what the property was worth,” said Sidney Orbach, whose partnership, Three O Realty, owned a 16-story office building on 40th Street. “Their initial offering was $7.2 million, and then they were required to reassess and ended up offering about $8 million. The appraisal we had done was for $35 million, and that’s on the lower side because of the way appraisals are done.”

The state’s appraisal comes to about $83 per square foot of space in his old building. The real-estate services firm Cushman & Wakefield—which isn’t working for either Mr. Orbach or the state on the Eighth Avenue appraisals—told The Observer that a square foot might have gone for between $250 and $300 three years ago.

The sleek, new-fangled New York Times skyscraper, designed by Renzo Piano and Bruce Fowle, is also replacing a student dormitory for nearby colleges, parking garages, a couple of porn stores, a business school—a hodgepodge of low- and middlebrow businesses, largely locally owned, often unattractive and not terribly valuable from a tax point of view. Needless to say, they don’t fit in with the new Times Square.

For a sense of what does fit, read the legal papers—first reported by The Village Voice this August—that established the partnership between the Times Company and Forest City Ratner. The developers—who would not comment for this article—are prohibited from leasing to “a ‘fast food’ restaurant at which food is prepared on-premises … such as, by way of example only, McDonald’s, Nathan’s, Wendy’s, Taco Bell.” But they can rent street-level space to “a specialty eat-in or take out ‘quick food’ establishment that offers higher quality food such as, by way of example only, Cosi, Starbucks and other similar facilities.” Yes to scones; no to Egg McMuffins.

Mr. Orbach thought he was pretty upscale himself, however: Donna Karan rented space from him. In fact, Mr. Orbach’s office building was so prosperous that the Empire State Development Corporation is saying that his rents were above market rate and therefore not a reliable way to calculate the true value of the property. A representative from the state agency wouldn’t elaborate because litigation is pending. Hmmm … if New York real estate isn’t worth whatever you can get for it, then why do we have this thing called capitalism anyway?

Oh, it’s not called capitalism; it’s called economic development. Sometimes the market needs to be nudged along, or else it will be mugged along.

Lawsuits

Mr. Orbach, by contrast, says that those rents, if anything, were forced down in 2001 and 2002 by the threat of condemnation—although he doesn’t deny that his building was prosperous.

“It was very desirable, and there was tremendous competition for space,” said Mr. Orbach. “As soon as the notices came out and word got around that it was going to be condemned, any potential tenants dried out. Some of the brokers went around to the existing tenants and said the building was going to be torn down, ‘Do you want me to find some place other for you?’”

Mr. Orbach tried to take his case to the U.S. Supreme Court, but failed. The court did hear a similar case, Kelo v. New London, however, and in a 5-4 decision this summer came out in favor of government’s right to take private property and turn it over to another private entity, rather than merely for public works. However, property-rights advocates note that the Kelo case differs from the New York Times situation because in New London, a redevelopment agency seized the property first and then sought the best bid from any developer who wanted in.

Also, much of Times Square was redeveloped through an open bidding process. But the Eighth Avenue site was acquired by the state exclusively for use by The Times, which had said it was considering moving 750 jobs to New Jersey in order to save money. The newspaper company worked out a deal with the state: It would retain 3,300 employees and hire 1,148 more in exchange for access to the property and $18.7 million worth of sales tax and energy benefits, according to an analysis by the nonprofit watchdog organization Good Jobs New York. The newspaper will occupy about half of the building; Forest City is seeking tenants for the top half. Maybe Donna Karan can be lured back.

copyright © 2005 the new york observer, L.P.

come on, bring us updates!

hi guys, ive added this to my world tallest uc diagram. which i will update 1st of every month.
i was wondering if the 245m height is to top of glass and 319m to spire?
renzo piano is a legend.
cheers

I passed through Times Square tonight, the NYTT has gone pretty tall, a good 30 stories IMO.
As for the Boat, I could count at least 1 floor up.
too bad I didn't have my camera, it's not everyday I go there among those weird tourists :P
Otherwise a lot of people around the place, I guess people are checking out their location for tomorrow night for the new year

Any cladding?

^none, or if there is, I didn't notice it.
I'm still confused as to what is going to get built on the 42nd street block right next to the tower. First that's where I believed the tower was going to be, but now my best guess is parking or retail :dunno:

^none, or if there is, I didn't notice it.
I'm still confused as to what is going to get built on the 42nd street block right next to the tower. First that's where I believed the tower was going to be, but now my best guess is parking or retail :dunno:

i think vornado was going to build a residential skyyscrapre with retail at the bottom, but it's been scrapped (should be somewhere on this forum).

is this the one near the bus temrinal in times square?

Yes it is next to the PA Bus Terminal.

it's being going pretty nice there. i never knew what they were building there untill now. lol

Can you see the NY Times Tower in this ariel, b/c I can?

http://static.flickr.com/37/91542918_d25f8b0621_b.jpg

^^ yes, blends in well with everything though

man, i would so much rather have this thing being built at where 1 bryant park is today instead of almost off the beaten path southwest of times square.

btw, that's the best midtown aerial ive seen in a long time.

holy christ. that aerial is awesome. Here are some NY Times from June 1rst
http://i25.photobucket.com/albums/c81/Scruffy88/nyt23.jpg

http://i25.photobucket.com/albums/c81/Scruffy88/nyt25.jpg

http://i25.photobucket.com/albums/c81/Scruffy88/nyt18.jpg

http://i25.photobucket.com/albums/c81/Scruffy88/nyt17.jpg

http://i25.photobucket.com/albums/c81/Scruffy88/nyt16.jpg

http://i25.photobucket.com/albums/c81/Scruffy88/nyt15.jpg

http://i25.photobucket.com/albums/c81/Scruffy88/nyt14.jpg

http://i25.photobucket.com/albums/c81/Scruffy88/nyt11.jpg

http://i25.photobucket.com/albums/c81/Scruffy88/nyt10.jpg

http://i25.photobucket.com/albums/c81/Scruffy88/nnyt4.jpg

http://i25.photobucket.com/albums/c81/Scruffy88/nnyt2.jpg

Don't know what to think about the facade yet...unique to say the least.

to me, the facade is a good rendition of what happens if you cross the facade of Toronto's First Canadian place with Norman Foster-style postmodernist architecture.

using thin, closely-space metal rods to simulate masonry's pretty cool i must say. from far away, it looks like normal masonry to me.

Wow, that thing is going up real fast! I like the facade.

Wow, I can't believe it. I haven't taken a bus to Jersey in a long time I suppose, because I always used to pay attention to this going up, and it's progressed so freaking much.

http://www.nypost.com/realestate/comm/times_tower_filling_up_comm_lois_weiss.htm
TIMES TOWER FILLING UP

BIG LAW FIRM IS LATEST PROSPECT, EYES 20-YEAR LEASE

http://www.nypost.com/photos/comm061406036.jpg
LEGAL EAGLES: A second high-profile law firm is close to inking a lease for several floors in the Renzo Piano-designed New York Times tower.

June 14, 2006 -- THE New York Times Building at 620 Eighth Ave. is on a roll and close to landing another big name law firm to its roster.

Covington & Burling is reviewing a lease for about 160,000 feet on floors 39 through 43.

Sources said the 20-year pact will include options for floors 44 and 45.

Studley Chairman Mitch Steir, with David Goldstein, is leading a gaggle of brokers representing Covington & Burling, which would relocate from 1330 Sixth Ave.

A CB Richard Ellis team lead by Tri-State CEO Mary Ann Tighe and Howard Fiddle are representing developer Forest City Ratner.

None of the players would comment on the deal.

Last week, Forest City said it would buy out its partner, ING, for the 700,000 feet above the Times headquarters.

Forest City will then control floors 29 through 52 and the 24,000 feet of ground floor retail.

The law firm Seyfarth Shaw has already grabbed 100,000 feet on floors 31, 32 and 33 for the next 17 years.

19th July:

http://img86.imageshack.us/img86/2393/nytimesty3.jpg

Something went wrong with the quality settings of this pano up here, if anyone really desperately wants a sharper one, I'll redo the pano.

Does anyone know of any development plans for the site just north of the NYT tower? Is the city holding out for a high-profile project?

^^ Looks pretty sweet!

alright, I went the other day to the esb with a visiting friend, so I didn't take any pics for ssc.
I plan on going back once I get a good camera, so you people will suffer two more threads of esb and 30rock pics :D
meanwhile, here's the NYTT, from above:
http://img218.imageshack.us/img218/5756/nytt260806zw7.jpg

9/4
http://i73.photobucket.com/albums/i210/Scruffy69/DSC01802.jpg

http://i73.photobucket.com/albums/i210/Scruffy69/DSC01803.jpg

http://i73.photobucket.com/albums/i210/Scruffy69/DSC01776.jpg

http://i73.photobucket.com/albums/i210/Scruffy69/DSC01774.jpg

http://i73.photobucket.com/albums/i210/Scruffy69/DSC01760.jpg

http://i73.photobucket.com/albums/i210/Scruffy69/DSC01759.jpg

http://i73.photobucket.com/albums/i210/Scruffy69/DSC01754.jpg

http://i73.photobucket.com/albums/i210/Scruffy69/DSC01753.jpg

http://i73.photobucket.com/albums/i210/Scruffy69/DSC01752.jpg

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Nice progress pics! :cheers:
It's so interesting and different to see a steel-framed tower being built. Down in New Zealand/Australia pretty much all our towers are reinforced concrete-framed structures.

A very recent pic I found on flickr.com...

http://static.flickr.com/107/303135939_86690b578d_b.jpg

the best construction pic I've ever seen of this tower!!

^^ cosign

Took this 2 days ago at the Top of the Rock Observatory:

http://i145.photobucket.com/albums/r233/radley_paul/DSCN2975.jpg

can anybody tell me what part of manhantan this building is on. or the street. thanks. ide apreaciate it

8th avenue, between 40th and 41st street.

Hey i appreciate it.

It's a really nice tower.. sad though that the spire is the one going to 1000 ft, not the floor.. Is it true that ESB is the only New York building that has a floor height of above 1000 ft.?

thats true... soon there will be some with floors over 1000 ft.

^^ thanks... by the way, if the tower finally gets finished, in what position would it be as one of the tallest buildings? It's a little over 1000 ft. so I guess around the 50-60?

It´s actually #25 in the world (with the spire) - http://www.emporis.com/en/bu/sk/st/tp/wo/.

It´s actually #25 in the world (with the spire) - http://www.emporis.com/en/bu/sk/st/tp/wo/.

:banana: thanks... so New York now has 3 skyscrapers in the top 30... can't wait for the others to be finished...

I saw this tower when I visited NYC a few days ago and I must say that I was very disappointed. I'm generally a fan of exoskeletons, but I found the facade of this building quite drab. Does anyone else share this view?

nice...it looks quite cool on the skyline! Hope it could be lighted up at night

This is the greatest skyscraper built since Foster's HSBC in Hong Kong.

Sublime

Nice tower, but the facade seems a bit gray in some of the skyline shots. I think it will look great in the skyline and its part of town though.

Is there already a thread for this building in the World's Tallest????!?!?!?!?:ohno:

nice pic ! :)

http://i145.photobucket.com/albums/r233/radley_paul/DSCN2975.jpg

Can't wait until it's topped out and ready for completion.

it has topped out already ;)

Personally I can't wait to see its facade all lit up

^^Hey thats a great shot there!

I think it looks quite nice.

These flickr shots show the interior of the NY Times Tower.

http://farm1.static.flickr.com/219/446092346_0b6c136edb_b.jpg
http://farm1.static.flickr.com/248/446097729_7ff09364cf_b.jpg
http://farm1.static.flickr.com/249/446092450_4363b47490_b.jpg
http://farm1.static.flickr.com/205/446097759_98ab6b57e1_b.jpg
http://farm1.static.flickr.com/222/446097789_ec5d842fc8_b.jpg
http://farm1.static.flickr.com/224/446092506_f906814c04_b.jpg
http://farm1.static.flickr.com/199/446097349_6fb1bb86db_b.jpg
http://farm1.static.flickr.com/191/446097507_f81776b914_b.jpg
http://farm1.static.flickr.com/167/446097859_f760ad0b95_b.jpg
http://farm1.static.flickr.com/235/446092582_098414ef6a_b.jpg
http://farm1.static.flickr.com/251/446092596_804b6bf44f_b.jpg
http://farm1.static.flickr.com/181/446092328_073564573c_b.jpg
http://farm1.static.flickr.com/236/446091990_d3ad116596_b.jpg
http://farm1.static.flickr.com/237/446097483_f275bcc2f2_b.jpg
http://farm1.static.flickr.com/187/446092616_a8ce57f931_b.jpg
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http://farm1.static.flickr.com/253/446098419_a79fb9032b_b.jpg

Wow, I'm really surprised at how cheap the carpet and the furnishings look. :ohno:

think there's no need for the most expensive chairs, tables etc....^^

There isn't much to expect when it come to the interiors of office buildings.

Wow, I'm really surprised at how cheap the carpet and the furnishings look. :ohno:

If you want to help them afford better furniture, you can go to your local kiosk and buy a whole stack of the Times :D

Some more interior shots found, but again there is nothing special about it.

http://www.apartmenttherapy.com/photos/042007nytimes/images/Picture%20255_small.jpg
http://www.apartmenttherapy.com/photos/042007nytimes/images/Picture%20267_small.jpg
http://www.apartmenttherapy.com/photos/042007nytimes/images/Picture%20272_small.jpg
http://www.apartmenttherapy.com/photos/042007nytimes/images/Picture%20280_small.jpg
http://www.apartmenttherapy.com/photos/042007nytimes/images/Picture%20279_small.jpg
http://www.apartmenttherapy.com/photos/042007nytimes/images/Picture%20290_small.jpg
http://www.apartmenttherapy.com/photos/042007nytimes/images/Picture%20291_small.jpg
http://www.apartmenttherapy.com/photos/042007nytimes/images/Picture%20258_small.jpg
http://www.apartmenttherapy.com/photos/042007nytimes/images/Picture%20261_small.jpg
http://www.apartmenttherapy.com/photos/042007nytimes/images/Picture%20274_small.jpg

If you want to help them afford better furniture, you can go to your local kiosk and buy a whole stack of the Times :D


:lol: thats true

Really bland, and cheap interiors.... Did yall hear they sold the old Times building? (the ORIGINAL) for something like 525 Million dollars.

I like this building though... just a shame about the interiors... should have done something like the IAC, have you seen THOSE interiors? THOSE are nice... nice building on the outside too.

I agree about the furniture and carpeting looking pretty cheap but thats just a few floors out of many. Who knows whose supposed to work there.

Im sure the big wigs will have the nice furnishings

In this shot by Edward over at Wired NY, you can see that crown is being done.

http://farm1.static.flickr.com/208/489380191_8bab15821c_o.jpg

great shot

^^^ Dirty windows. no good.

5/25
http://i195.photobucket.com/albums/z70/Scruffy66/DSC05554.jpg

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http://i195.photobucket.com/albums/z70/Scruffy66/DSC05694.jpg

Definitely a unique one...the spire doesn't look half bad, it's kind of like the Conde Nast building....you can't picture the tower without it.

Here's another shot from Ira Morenberg at pbase...

http://www.pbase.com/ira_morenberg/image/78429340/original.jpg

wow..I like its simple and dignified appearance.

Does it have any lighting feature at night?

scruffy88, what is the highrise building which is rising next to the Times tower in the 2nd pic?

I like it, the spire looks cool.

This flickr shot shows that the inside is occupied.

http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1055/819119536_3220d5498c_o.jpg

Other than the bars on the windows (which look good as a facade from the outside), it must be a pleasure to work in this place. Efficient, green, clean, modern, great location.