Yitzchak Tessler has commissioned Eran Chen of the Office of Design & Architecture to add six floors to the 16-story building at 1107 Broadway on the northwest corner at 24th Street that was formerly part of the two-building complex known as the International Toy Center to residential use.
According to a Department of Buildings permit issued August 14, the building will contain 123 residential condominiums.
The new floors are set back on the roof of the existing 16-story building and are stacked in seemingly random fashion and have floor-to-ceiling windows. The building, which overlooks Madison Square Park, is connected to the 15-story commercial building at 200 Fifth Avenue on the northwest corner at 23rd Street, the other building in the former International Toy Center complex, by a skysbridge that was constructed in 1968.
Mr. Tessler acquired 1107 Broadway last October from The Chetrit Group for about $235 million. The Chetrit Group had acquired the toy center in 2005 for about $355 million from a partnership headed by Peter Malkin. The Chetrit Group's had planned to convert the two-building complex, which it called Madison Park West to about 460 residential condominium apartments, about two-thirds of which will be in the 200 Fifth Avenue building. At one point, the Chetrit Group, contemplated creating a 1,300-room hotel and several hundred small rental apartments in the two buildings and there was considerable controversy over the fate of the toy industry in the city.
The 670,592-square-foot building at 200 Fifth Avenue was built in 1909 and designed by Maynicke & Franke. It replaced the Fifth Avenue Hotel that was opened in 1859 by Amos F. Eno and was initially known as "Eno's Folly" because the area was considered too far uptown.
The 16-story, 337,000-square-foot building at 1107 Broadway was erected in 1915 and was designed by H. Craig Severance and W. Van Alen. It replaced the Albemare Hotel and it was joined to 200 Fifth Avenue by a skybridge in 1968.
In April, however, the Chetrit Group sold the 200 Fifth Avenue building to L&L Holding Company LLC for about $480 million. L&L Holding announced it planned to convert that building to Class A office space.
1107 is one of several new residential developments around the park. The former Gift Building at 225 Fifth Avenue has been converted to the Grand Madison residential condominiums and Africa Israel Investments last year acquired the former clocktower on the Metropolitan Life Insurance Company on the southeast corner of Madison Avenue and 24th Street for conversion to residential condominiums.
Meanwhile a new condo tower known as One Madison Park, designed by Cetra-Ruddy has been recently topped out at the foot of Madison Avenue at 23rd Street and plans were recently published for a 22-story annex to it at 23 East 22nd Street designed by Rem Koolhaas.
Mr. Chen, who recently was with the architectural firm of Perkins Eastman, has been involved in several projects in the Flatiron and Ladies' Mile districts including Jade at 16 West 19th Street, the Grand Madison, 650 Sixth Avenue and 15 Union Square West. The latter project, which is under construction also has added floors of shifted boxes, a concept also applied at the recently completed New Museum of Contemporary Art on the Bowery.
According to a Department of Buildings permit issued August 14, the building will contain 123 residential condominiums.
The new floors are set back on the roof of the existing 16-story building and are stacked in seemingly random fashion and have floor-to-ceiling windows. The building, which overlooks Madison Square Park, is connected to the 15-story commercial building at 200 Fifth Avenue on the northwest corner at 23rd Street, the other building in the former International Toy Center complex, by a skysbridge that was constructed in 1968.
Mr. Tessler acquired 1107 Broadway last October from The Chetrit Group for about $235 million. The Chetrit Group had acquired the toy center in 2005 for about $355 million from a partnership headed by Peter Malkin. The Chetrit Group's had planned to convert the two-building complex, which it called Madison Park West to about 460 residential condominium apartments, about two-thirds of which will be in the 200 Fifth Avenue building. At one point, the Chetrit Group, contemplated creating a 1,300-room hotel and several hundred small rental apartments in the two buildings and there was considerable controversy over the fate of the toy industry in the city.
The 670,592-square-foot building at 200 Fifth Avenue was built in 1909 and designed by Maynicke & Franke. It replaced the Fifth Avenue Hotel that was opened in 1859 by Amos F. Eno and was initially known as "Eno's Folly" because the area was considered too far uptown.
The 16-story, 337,000-square-foot building at 1107 Broadway was erected in 1915 and was designed by H. Craig Severance and W. Van Alen. It replaced the Albemare Hotel and it was joined to 200 Fifth Avenue by a skybridge in 1968.
In April, however, the Chetrit Group sold the 200 Fifth Avenue building to L&L Holding Company LLC for about $480 million. L&L Holding announced it planned to convert that building to Class A office space.
1107 is one of several new residential developments around the park. The former Gift Building at 225 Fifth Avenue has been converted to the Grand Madison residential condominiums and Africa Israel Investments last year acquired the former clocktower on the Metropolitan Life Insurance Company on the southeast corner of Madison Avenue and 24th Street for conversion to residential condominiums.
Meanwhile a new condo tower known as One Madison Park, designed by Cetra-Ruddy has been recently topped out at the foot of Madison Avenue at 23rd Street and plans were recently published for a 22-story annex to it at 23 East 22nd Street designed by Rem Koolhaas.
Mr. Chen, who recently was with the architectural firm of Perkins Eastman, has been involved in several projects in the Flatiron and Ladies' Mile districts including Jade at 16 West 19th Street, the Grand Madison, 650 Sixth Avenue and 15 Union Square West. The latter project, which is under construction also has added floors of shifted boxes, a concept also applied at the recently completed New Museum of Contemporary Art on the Bowery.
Architecture Critic
Carter Horsley
Since 1997, Carter B. Horsley has been the editorial director of CityRealty. He began his journalistic career at The New York Times in 1961 where he spent 26 years as a reporter specializing in real estate & architectural news. In 1987, he became the architecture critic and real estate editor of The New York Post.
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