The Related Companies has entered an agreement with the Signature Theater Company to provide it theater spaces in its 55-story development of the block bounded by 42nd and 41st Streets, Dwyer and Tenth Avenues.
The Signature spaces will include a 299-seat theater and two 199-seat theaters. The theater currently has a 160-seat theater at 555 West 42nd Street. The new theater facilities will also include two rehearsal studios, a cafe, a bookstore and offices, all of which will be designed by Frank O. Gehry, the architect of the sail-like I.A.C. building in Chelsea.
Arquitectonica and Ismael Leyva are the architects for the residential tower that will rise above the theaters and contain 623 rental apartments beneath 151 condominium apartments. Abut 163 of the rental apartments will be "below market rate."
Foundation work on the project is nearly completed and the building is expected to open in 2011. According to an article in today's edition of Curbed.com, "financing for the $900 million project was locked up before capitalism collapsed" and "Related is giving Signature $16.5 million in below-market-rate loans to help out, and selling the theater space to Signature at a low cost."
At one point, Related hoped to get Cirque de Soleil, the popular acrobatic troupe involved in the project, but community activists opposed its involvement on the grounds that it was too "commercial." Signature at one point was being considered for inclusion in a cultural facility at Ground Zero.
The involvement of an entertainment and/or cultural organization in the development entitles it to a substantial zoning bonus.
Several years ago, this project was a joint venture between Twining Properties, MacFarlane Properties and The Related Companies, a co-developer of the Time Warner Center at Columbus Circle. Twining Properties, founded by Alex Twining, formerly with Morgan Stanley and AvalonBay Communities, has offices in Boston and New York.
Arquitectonica, the Miami-based architecture firm that is famous for designing bold and brightly colored towers such as The Palace and the Atlantis in Miami and geometrically very interesting projects such as a bank in Lima, Peru, is the architect for the project. Its first major high-rise development in the city was the Westin Hotel on the northeast corner of Eighth Avenue and 42nd Street that has a tall tower with an incised curved light that runs up its full height. The angled tower sits on a multli-angled box and the facades utilize several colors.
Recent plans on file with the Department of Buildings indicated that the 42nd Street building would have 350 parking spaces, and that the first floor would have retail "amusement uses" as well as residential lobbies and an "easement granted for subway mechanical easements and subway station improvements." The city is planning an extension of the 7 line to run from Times Square to close to the entrance to the Javits Convention Center, but has recently indicated that it had no funding for a second "station" on 42nd Street, which has been the site of considerable new construction in recent years.
The second floor, a mezzanine level and the third and fourth floors in the development are devoted to retail, according to the plans on file with the city. Floors five through 22 would have 17 apartments and floors 23 and 24 would have 6 apartments each, and floors 25 through 34 would have 16 apartments each and floors 35 to 43 would have 15 apartments each and apartments 44 and 45 would have eight apartments each. The 46th floor would have 12 apartments and the 47th floor would have 11 apartments. Floors 48 through 53 would have 13 apartments each and floors 54 though 57 would have 12 apartments each.
According to a Department of Buildings permit issued June 11, 2008, the building would have 55 floors and be 617 feet high.
The Signature spaces will include a 299-seat theater and two 199-seat theaters. The theater currently has a 160-seat theater at 555 West 42nd Street. The new theater facilities will also include two rehearsal studios, a cafe, a bookstore and offices, all of which will be designed by Frank O. Gehry, the architect of the sail-like I.A.C. building in Chelsea.
Arquitectonica and Ismael Leyva are the architects for the residential tower that will rise above the theaters and contain 623 rental apartments beneath 151 condominium apartments. Abut 163 of the rental apartments will be "below market rate."
Foundation work on the project is nearly completed and the building is expected to open in 2011. According to an article in today's edition of Curbed.com, "financing for the $900 million project was locked up before capitalism collapsed" and "Related is giving Signature $16.5 million in below-market-rate loans to help out, and selling the theater space to Signature at a low cost."
At one point, Related hoped to get Cirque de Soleil, the popular acrobatic troupe involved in the project, but community activists opposed its involvement on the grounds that it was too "commercial." Signature at one point was being considered for inclusion in a cultural facility at Ground Zero.
The involvement of an entertainment and/or cultural organization in the development entitles it to a substantial zoning bonus.
Several years ago, this project was a joint venture between Twining Properties, MacFarlane Properties and The Related Companies, a co-developer of the Time Warner Center at Columbus Circle. Twining Properties, founded by Alex Twining, formerly with Morgan Stanley and AvalonBay Communities, has offices in Boston and New York.
Arquitectonica, the Miami-based architecture firm that is famous for designing bold and brightly colored towers such as The Palace and the Atlantis in Miami and geometrically very interesting projects such as a bank in Lima, Peru, is the architect for the project. Its first major high-rise development in the city was the Westin Hotel on the northeast corner of Eighth Avenue and 42nd Street that has a tall tower with an incised curved light that runs up its full height. The angled tower sits on a multli-angled box and the facades utilize several colors.
Recent plans on file with the Department of Buildings indicated that the 42nd Street building would have 350 parking spaces, and that the first floor would have retail "amusement uses" as well as residential lobbies and an "easement granted for subway mechanical easements and subway station improvements." The city is planning an extension of the 7 line to run from Times Square to close to the entrance to the Javits Convention Center, but has recently indicated that it had no funding for a second "station" on 42nd Street, which has been the site of considerable new construction in recent years.
The second floor, a mezzanine level and the third and fourth floors in the development are devoted to retail, according to the plans on file with the city. Floors five through 22 would have 17 apartments and floors 23 and 24 would have 6 apartments each, and floors 25 through 34 would have 16 apartments each and floors 35 to 43 would have 15 apartments each and apartments 44 and 45 would have eight apartments each. The 46th floor would have 12 apartments and the 47th floor would have 11 apartments. Floors 48 through 53 would have 13 apartments each and floors 54 though 57 would have 12 apartments each.
According to a Department of Buildings permit issued June 11, 2008, the building would have 55 floors and be 617 feet high.
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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