Looking Up
There is never a dull moment in New York, and the city that never sleeps also has the skyline that never sleeps. While Hudson Yards is considered the new development hotspot right now (officially opening on March 15th), 2019 is going to see a lot of construction throughout the City, as well as big blueprint plans that are sure to bring exciting new views to the NYC boroughs in coming years.
In downtown Manhattan, The Perelman Center, part of the World Trade Center campus, will finally begin construction and the frame is set to be up relatively soon. There are several other large construction projects scattered throughout the island, including One Manhattan West (995 ft tall, 67 floors, set to be completed this year), 45 Broad Street, (1,200 feet tall, 68 floors, completion in 2021), One Vanderbilt (1,401 feet tall, 58 floors, completion in 2021), 111 West 57th Street (1,428 feet tall, 82 floors, set to be completed this year), and Central Park Tower (1,550 feet tall, 95 floors, completion in 2020).
After Hudson Yards, the most talked about project is Amazon HQ2’s arrival in Long Island City which is expected to change the neighborhood drastically. The tech company, which plans to employ 25,000 people in their new location, has already committed to constructing between four and eight million SqFt of office space, as well as providing more than 500,000 SqFt of public space to be used for community purposes. Intensive planning will be going on throughout the year and construction may begin as early as next year.
Other developments in Long Island City include plans for a massive Sunnyside Yards. Amtrak and MTA are partnering with Practice for Architecture and Urbanism to deck over 180 acres of rail yard between LIC and Sunnyside to create space for 24,000 homes, 19 schools, and 52 acres of public park. This massive project — 6.5X the size of Hudson Yards — is slated to have official plans for Sunnyside Yards completed late this year.
Downtown Brooklyn continues to sprout skyward with 9 DeKalb Avenue, a 1,066-foot tower being built at the site of the former Dime Savings Bank Building, which will open its doors to 500 rental apartments come 2020. With the sales of the Watchtower properties, there are cranes on practically every block in Dumbo. Several controversial towers are coming to the diminutive Cobble Hill: Sales for two 15-story (1 and 5 River Park) residential buildings are launching this Spring. Within the 22-acre Pacific Park is 18 Sixth Avenue, a 500-foot rental tower that will continue construction this year — the tower was originally planned as an office building, but switched to a residential space last year.
While these projects are the “next big thing” happening for city planning, it’s only a matter of time before these high-rise buildings are dwarfed by emerging skyscrapers and campuses that continue to push the limit of construction height, luxury accommodations, and how much New York City can handle.
