Sir Norman Foster has designed a highly reflective, residential tower whose plan is two interlocked ellipses at 980 Madison Avenue across the avenue from the Art Deco-style Carlyle Hotel, the most prominent skyline landmark above 61st Street on the Upper East Side west of Third Avenue.
The new tower would be about 30 stories tall, or several stories shorter than the Carlyle, and it would be positioned on the northern end of its site, preserving many vistas of Central Park and Midtown West from the Carlyle Hotel.
The planned new tower would retain the bottom four floors of the existing five-story building at 980 Madison Avenue and rise above a landscaped new roof at the northern end of the site.
The new light-blue-glass tower would be elevated a couple of stories above the roof of the base structure and the southern "ellipse" would then rise for about 20 stories and the northern "ellipse" would rise about 24 stories. The residential entrance would be on 77th Street.
The proposed design must be approved by the Landmarks Preservation Commission which will hold a hearing on it October 24.
The limestone-clad building at 980 Madison Avenue between 76th and 77th Streets for many years housed the auction galleries of Parke-Bernet, which was subsequently absorbed into Sotheby's and while there it was the premier auction house in America.
The building at 980 Madison Avenue is known now as the Carlyle Galleries Building and its tenants include the Gagosian Gallery and the East Side office of Prudential Douglas Elliman, the real estate firm. For many years, French & Co., one of the city's most prestigious art dealers, also had quarters in the building.
It was built in 1950 and designed by Walker & Poor and is notable for a large, protruding sculpture over the entrance by Wheeler Williams. The building, which is in the Upper East Side Historic District, was expanded with the addition of one floor in 1987.
In an October 28, 2001 article in The New York Times, Christopher Gray noted that the 40-story Carlyle Hotel on 76th Street and adjoining 14-story apartment building on 77th Street comprised "the signature project of Moses Ginsberg," who had built the impressive apartment building at 133 East 80th Street in 1929. The following year he began construction of the hotel to designs by Sylvan Bien and Harry M. Prince.
Mr. Ginsberg subsequently lost the Madison Avenue blockfront in the early days of the Depression and it was acquired by Robert Dowling who, Mr. Gray wrote, "put up the old Parke-Bernet building across the street...to protect the Carlyle's west light."
980 Madison Avenue was acquired in 2004 for about $120 million from the Peter Sharp Foundation by RFR Holdings Inc., of which Aby J. Rosen is a principal. The Peter Sharp Foundation sold the Carlyle last year to Maritz, Wolff & Company, an investment group that owns a major interest in Rosewood Hotels and Resorts, which operates the hotel, for about $130 million.
Lord Foster is also designing a mixed-use tower for Mr. Rosen at 610 Lexington Avenue immediately behind the Seagram Building, which Mr. Rosen owns. Lord Foster designed the recently completed Hearst Building on the southwest corner of 57th Street and Eighth Avenue and is known for his high-tech designs.
Lord Foster's design for Tower 2 at Ground Zero for Silverstein Properties was recently unveiled.
The planned new tower would not only obstruct many views to the northwest from the Carlyle Hotel from Central Park, but also many views to the south from the Mark Hotel, directly across 77th Street from 980 Madison Avenue. The Alexico Group, a residential developer, recently acquired the Mark Hotel.
The new tower would be about 30 stories tall, or several stories shorter than the Carlyle, and it would be positioned on the northern end of its site, preserving many vistas of Central Park and Midtown West from the Carlyle Hotel.
The planned new tower would retain the bottom four floors of the existing five-story building at 980 Madison Avenue and rise above a landscaped new roof at the northern end of the site.
The new light-blue-glass tower would be elevated a couple of stories above the roof of the base structure and the southern "ellipse" would then rise for about 20 stories and the northern "ellipse" would rise about 24 stories. The residential entrance would be on 77th Street.
The proposed design must be approved by the Landmarks Preservation Commission which will hold a hearing on it October 24.
The limestone-clad building at 980 Madison Avenue between 76th and 77th Streets for many years housed the auction galleries of Parke-Bernet, which was subsequently absorbed into Sotheby's and while there it was the premier auction house in America.
The building at 980 Madison Avenue is known now as the Carlyle Galleries Building and its tenants include the Gagosian Gallery and the East Side office of Prudential Douglas Elliman, the real estate firm. For many years, French & Co., one of the city's most prestigious art dealers, also had quarters in the building.
It was built in 1950 and designed by Walker & Poor and is notable for a large, protruding sculpture over the entrance by Wheeler Williams. The building, which is in the Upper East Side Historic District, was expanded with the addition of one floor in 1987.
In an October 28, 2001 article in The New York Times, Christopher Gray noted that the 40-story Carlyle Hotel on 76th Street and adjoining 14-story apartment building on 77th Street comprised "the signature project of Moses Ginsberg," who had built the impressive apartment building at 133 East 80th Street in 1929. The following year he began construction of the hotel to designs by Sylvan Bien and Harry M. Prince.
Mr. Ginsberg subsequently lost the Madison Avenue blockfront in the early days of the Depression and it was acquired by Robert Dowling who, Mr. Gray wrote, "put up the old Parke-Bernet building across the street...to protect the Carlyle's west light."
980 Madison Avenue was acquired in 2004 for about $120 million from the Peter Sharp Foundation by RFR Holdings Inc., of which Aby J. Rosen is a principal. The Peter Sharp Foundation sold the Carlyle last year to Maritz, Wolff & Company, an investment group that owns a major interest in Rosewood Hotels and Resorts, which operates the hotel, for about $130 million.
Lord Foster is also designing a mixed-use tower for Mr. Rosen at 610 Lexington Avenue immediately behind the Seagram Building, which Mr. Rosen owns. Lord Foster designed the recently completed Hearst Building on the southwest corner of 57th Street and Eighth Avenue and is known for his high-tech designs.
Lord Foster's design for Tower 2 at Ground Zero for Silverstein Properties was recently unveiled.
The planned new tower would not only obstruct many views to the northwest from the Carlyle Hotel from Central Park, but also many views to the south from the Mark Hotel, directly across 77th Street from 980 Madison Avenue. The Alexico Group, a residential developer, recently acquired the Mark Hotel.
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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