NEW YORK | 432 Park Ave | 426m | 1398ft | 89 fl | U/C

[HK999]

HK and NY should create a special partnership!

on topic: as i see it many stale proposals are back on track (still waiting for 99 church street to take off! ), as the economy recovers.

[RobertWalpole]

I agree.

With respect to projects moving forward, I predict that Torre Verre will be the next one!

[Munwon]

Originally Posted by RobertWalpole

NY, London and HK have some commonalities as the world's top three financial capitals.

All 3 cities have some real good skyscrapers going up or built already, but Shanghai will dwarf them all in 20 years or so....

[TheTrueLord]

Originally Posted by Munwon

All 3 cities have some real good skyscrapers going up or built already, but Shanghai will dwarf them all in 20 years or so....

i would no be so sure about that shanghai has huge problems and u should not forget that hk is still and will ever be the financial place of china -.

[RobertWalpole]

PREPARE TO BE DAZZLED!!!

[HK999]

Originally Posted by RobertWalpole

PREPARE TO BE DAZZLED!!!

do you know something (about the design) we don't? if you do, please share with us!

[aquablue]

I trust he knows something we don't. Otherwise, he must be off his rocker to foster such high expectations.

[RobertWalpole]

All I can say is that I have a friend at CIM, which owns the site, and I know that everyone will be AMAZED!!!!

[Eric Offereins]

I can hardly wait.

http://ny.curbed.com/tags/440-park-avenue

[RobertWalpole]

Torre Verre, which likely will start before the end of 2011, will have some competition!

[HK999]

i'll be waiting!

Originally Posted by Eric Offereins

I can hardly wait.

http://ny.curbed.com/tags/440-park-avenue

nice find, this sound serious:

[...] but the Drake site is still, as one expert puts it, "inarguably the best development site in the country and possibly the world,” [...]

[RobertWalpole]

That's a pretty old link from when the former developer, Macklowe, sought to build an office tower.

[TheTrueLord]

Originally Posted by RobertWalpole

Torre Verre, which likely will start before the end of 2011, will have some competition!

what are u meaning? im so eager to see tower verre rise

- so this tower will be awesome too? ?

[RobertWalpole]

Originally Posted by TheTrueLord

what are u meaning? im so eager to see tower verre rise

- so this tower will be awesome too? ?

Yes!

[RobertWalpole]

http://www.observer.com/2011/real-es...ake-hotel-site

Holy Viñoly! Macklowe Hires Architect for Drake Hotel Site

By Laura Kusisto
May 2, 2011


Quote:
A few weeks ago, The Observer took a stroll around the Drake Hotel site and noticed an orange crane poised in the northwest corner. That was just the first in a series of signs that the developers are moving ahead on one of North America's most valuable development sites.

Insiders told The Observer a few weeks ago that Mr. Macklowe and his money-partner, the CIM Group, planned a 70-story residential development, with a three story retail component on the ground-floor, and possibly a hotel in between. The Wall Street Journal confirms those plans today and says the developers have hired architect Rafael Viñoly to design the tower. The Uruguayan-born architect has designed a number of competent institutional buildings, including the Brooklyn Children's Museum, Bronx Housing Court and the odd police precinct. He also designed the Jazz at Lincoln Center building.

Mr. Viñoly is arguably a disappointing choice to design a soaring tower at the inflection point of one of the city's best retail, office and residential areas. But it's worth remembering that for all of the hubub about Mr. Macklowe's glass cube on Fifth or the Club Med of office towers, 510 Madison, neither were designed by world-renowned architects.

A couple of weeks ago, we wrote that Mr. Macklowe plans to make a comeback, with the 440 Park Avenue site as his stage. Apparently pretty thrilled to be back in the game, he's showing the model to guests in his office in the GM Building, according to The Journal. Ah, to be a fly on that wall.

[RobertWalpole]

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB1000...TSecondStories

Tower Dreams

Developer Seeks Park Avenue Comeback.Article Stock Quotes Comments more in NewYork-Real Estate ».BY CRAIG KARMIN AND ELIOT BROWN
A venture of CIM Group and Harry Macklowe has hired architect Rafael Viñoly to design a slender, soaring tower on Park Avenue as Mr. Macklowe attempts to pull off his second major comeback.

The 73-year-old, who rebounded the first time after losing properties in the commercial-real-estate collapse of the early 1990s, was one of the hardest-hit developers in the recent downturn. Facing numerous defaults, he had to give up his most valuable holdings, including the General Motors building.

But now he's jumped back into the Manhattan real-estate scrum. His deals this year have included buying the debt on a stalled ...

[RobertWalpole]

I believe that 1,000 foot tower shortchanges this project.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB1000...FTThirdStories

Will Park Avenue's Drake Hotel Site Get Its Own Glass Cube?
It looks like Harry Macklowe's comeback at the Drake Hotel site on Park Avenue might come in the form of a big glass cube similar to that perched atop the Apple Store nearby on Fifth Avenue. The Wall Street Journal reports that the CIM group, which bought Macklowe's debt after he defaulted on his loans in 1997 for $518 million, is planning to build 10,000 square feet of commercial space along with the Rafael Vinoly-designed residential or possible hotel tower at the Drake site. Macklowe's still involved with the project, and he recently showed off a plan involving a 1,000 foot tower at the site. If all the obstacles are overcome—they still don't own all the property on the site, financing is still an issue, and there are already plenty of hotels opening—we're looking forward to a five-story glass cube with a skyscraper jutting out behind it, according to the plan. The Macklowe train keeps chugging along.
· Park Avenue Project Takes Shine to Glass [WSJ]

[desertpunk]

For those who don't have access to the wsj paywall:

WSJ

NY REAL ESTATE COMMERCIAL
MAY 10, 2011
New Site Takes Shine to Glass
Macklowe Hopes for Repeat Success Luring Retailers to Park Avenue Project.

By CRAIG KARMIN

Harry Macklowe, the real-estate developer who built the widely praised Apple Inc. store under a glass cube on Fifth Avenue, is hoping that unique design will work a second time.

A venture of CIM Group and Mr. Macklowe plans to include a similar glass structure as part of the skyscraper they are designing for a prime Park Avenue site, according to a person familiar with the matter. The tower, which will mostly house apartments and possibly a hotel or restaurants, also will include about 100,000 square feet of retail and commercial space, the person said.

The location, at Park and 56th Street, which used to be the home of the Drake Hotel, is being closely followed because it's considered to be one of the nation's top development sites. Mr. Macklowe assembled most of it during the boom years but his plans were upended by the downturn, which also wiped out much of his real-estate empire. When developers finally break ground on the site, it will be an important sign that the city's real-estate industry has rebounded.

Mr. Macklowe introduced a 32-foot-tall glass cube on the plaza of the General Motors building in 2006 to help attract foot traffic to the subterranean Apple store at the corner of Fifth Avenue and 59th Street. Apple's flagship Manhattan store, open 24 hours, is the top-grossing retail store in the city.

The plans for the new skyscraper include a five-story glass box on Park at 56th St. The venture plans to market it to luxury retail brands and other potential tenants such as financial firms, automobile dealers and art auction houses, people said. The developers have retained CB Richard Ellis as a retail broker and adviser on the site.

The plans for the site suggest that Los Angeles-based CIM and Mr. Macklowe are beginning to move more quickly on the site. Demolition and other site work has started in recent weeks although full plans haven't yet been filed with the Buildings Department.

CIM last year took control of the site as part of Mr. Macklowe's restructuring process but Mr. Macklowe remains actively involved in the design and planning. Some real-estate executives say Mr. Macklowe has shown off a model for the site that depicts a slender tower rising nearly 1,000 feet. A number of challenges remain. The developers still don't own two properties on the site, which could make it difficult to connect the project to 57th Street. New construction financing remains difficult to obtain, and Manhattan has seen hotels with thousands of new rooms opening recently or expected to open this year.

Still, Faith Hope Consolo, chairman of retail leasing for Prudential Douglas Elliman, says the site's prime location should attract many top global luxury brands. "There are many retailers that have wanted to be on East 57th Street but the space was never available," she says. While many of the top brands already have a presence in the city, she added, the developers may be able to lure some to relocate to the site, in part because a high-end hotel will attract affluent foreign tourists.

Mr. Macklowe bought the Drake Hotel in 2006 for $418 million, then demolished it. He defaulted on his loans in 2007 and CIM bought the debt with a face value of $510 million, agreeing to keep him involved with the project

[DinoVabec]

This sounds like Carnegie 57 story..Love it..

[RobertWalpole]

A CIM insider informed me that it has a deal to get the property in the middle that it needs. T&A will be moving, and they don't need Jakob's site. Also, this tower is over 1,000 feet tall.

With respect to the point re: hotels, this will be a small, ultra, high-end hotel for which there is enormous demand in Manhattan. It won't be competing with the hotels that were built in recent years.