262 Fifth Avenue (Renderings by DBOX)
Since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine last week, there have been calls to seize properties of wealthy Russian homeowners all over the world and in New York City. British cabinet member Michael Gove is drawing up plans to seize United Kingdom properties owned by Russian oligarchs linked to Russian President Vladimir Putin, as well as freezing their assets and barring them from travel to Britain. On this side of the pond, Manhattan Borough President Mark Levine has said, “For years Manhattan has been one of the most popular safe harbors for Russian oligarchs to park their cash, especially via ultra-high-end apartments. It’s time to start seizing their properties. #SupportUkraine.”
The misguided prospect of seizing someone's property based on their country of origin or nationality sets a dangerous precedent and is likely unconstitutional. However, there is the argument that many of Russia's super-wealthy conspire closely with Putin's kleptocratic regime. His widely-condemned actions against Ukraine have been deemed by American leaders as an assault on democracy. To that end, is it justifiable to bar those who abetted in human rights violations, and specifically those who've aided in the invasion of Ukraine, from doing business and owning property in the United States? The jury is still out.
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Being the international city New York is, we have builders, buyers, and sellers from all stripes and origins. Though many high-end condo owners have shielded their identities behind limited liability corporations (LLCs), a new bill would require LLCs to disclose the names and addresses of their beneficial owners to the New York Department of State. In the meantime, one still need not look very far to find trails of Russian money: The New York Post recently did an expose of such owners.
Moreso, Russian-linked developers are behind two of the most grandiose apartment schemes ever undertaken on Fifth Avenue: Aman New York Residences, where its five-floor penthouse is reportedly in contract for $180 million, and a 1,000-foot tall condo development at 262 Fifth Avenue that will be the tallest apartment building between Midtown and Downtown, while effectively obscuring views of the Empire State Building from many parts of lower Manhattan.
Moreso, Russian-linked developers are behind two of the most grandiose apartment schemes ever undertaken on Fifth Avenue: Aman New York Residences, where its five-floor penthouse is reportedly in contract for $180 million, and a 1,000-foot tall condo development at 262 Fifth Avenue that will be the tallest apartment building between Midtown and Downtown, while effectively obscuring views of the Empire State Building from many parts of lower Manhattan.
Foundation work at 262 Fifth Avenue as of March 1, 2022
The invasion has already begun.
While the tower will be just 76 feet wide, it will obscure some views of the Empire State Building from south, especially from Fifth Avenue and Broadway.
A visit to the corner site at Fifth Avenue and 29th Street this week shows that construction is pressing ahead, as the foundation walls are being poured and the rumble of pile-driving and bedrock fracturing echoes across its NoMad neighborhood. The project's developer is Five Points Development, led by Boris Kuzinez, an Israeli-Russian billionaire credited for the transformation of Moscow's Ostozhenka district into their version of Billionaires' Row. In 2006, Kuzinez explained to The New York Times that "it's hard for oligarchs to live in a regular building." and that his clientele, simply described as "businessmen, bankers, in oil and metals," need the right milieu of security, homogeneity, and privacy.
262 Fifth is being designed by Moscow-based Meganom, working with the local New York practice of SLCE Architects. According to public filings, the building will soar 54 stories, 1,001 feet tall. The austere metal and glass tower will host 41 full-floor and duplex apartments, all with front-and-center views of the Empire State Building to the north, and far-reaching vistas across downtown to the south.
As a departure from the central cores typically found in high-rise buildings, 262 Fifth's elevators, stairs, and vertical mechanical elements are shifted to the western perimeter; a move that will provide open, column-free layouts that are highly customizable and does not impede on views. The eastern elevation will have a structural sheer wall and an assortment of porthole-shaped windows and aluminum cladding will articulate its facade. The building will be crowned by a common observation deck framed by an arched metal canopy. Like 111 West 57th Street, a super-slender supertall on Billionaire's Row, this building will be fused with an adjacent pre-war building - this one being the 12-floor limestone loft building at 260 Fifth Avenue.
As a departure from the central cores typically found in high-rise buildings, 262 Fifth's elevators, stairs, and vertical mechanical elements are shifted to the western perimeter; a move that will provide open, column-free layouts that are highly customizable and does not impede on views. The eastern elevation will have a structural sheer wall and an assortment of porthole-shaped windows and aluminum cladding will articulate its facade. The building will be crowned by a common observation deck framed by an arched metal canopy. Like 111 West 57th Street, a super-slender supertall on Billionaire's Row, this building will be fused with an adjacent pre-war building - this one being the 12-floor limestone loft building at 260 Fifth Avenue.
The project's base will be integrated with 260 Fifth Avenue next door.
If the project moves forward apace, the structure will be out of the ground by year's end. Upon completion, locals will have very visible views of the tower due to its prominent location at the center of Manhattan, and its great height which would rank among the 20 tallest skyscrapers in the city upon completion. Below is a sequence of images showing the outsized effect the tower will have on the skyline, and how it will affect several iconic view corridors of the Empire State Building.
↓ Situated four blocks south of the Empire State Building and across from Marble Collegiate Church, 262 Fifth Avenue will be approximately 18th tallest building in New York City upon completion, and the city's fifth-highest tower with residences.
↓ 262 Fifth Avenue's impact on the Empire State Building will be most pronounced from Madison Square Park, southern Fifth Avenue, and Broadway south of 23rd Street.
↓ The new tower will obscure views of the Empire State from swaths of Flatiron and from Union Square Park.
↓ The famous postcard view of the Empire State from Washington Park's fountain through the Washington Square arch will also be detrimentally altered.
↓ A classic view of the Empire State from Little Italy's Mulberry Street will also be obscured.
↓ A number of lower Manhattan buildings such as New York by Gehry will also receive an eyeful of the new tower.
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