Revealed: 217 West 57th Street, Official Renderings for World’s Future Tallest Residential Building

By: Nikolai Fedak 8:00 am on April 20, 2015

Last July, YIMBY obtained construction documents for the future Nordstrom Tower at 217 West 57th Street, and we translated the diagrams into renderings. And now, we have official renderings created by the architect, depicting Midtown (and potentially, the Western Hemisphere’s) future tallest tower.

Extell is the developer, and Adrian Smith + Gordon Gill are designing. Permits for the tower have continued to shift slightly in recent months, but the documents YIMBY previously obtained indicated the building would have a roof height of 1,479 feet and a pinnacle height of 1,775 feet, which would make it the tallest residential tower on the planet. Final figures are likely to be within a hair of both numbers.

Compared to the world’s tallest buildings, 217 West 57th Street would rank fifth if it were built today, standing almost 1,000 feet shorter than the Burj Khalifa in Dubai, and by 2018 it may not crack the global top ten. But its roof will be substantially taller than both One World Trade Center and Willis Tower. The most recent figures put 217 West 57th’s Spire one foot below the WTC’s 1,776-foot pinnacle.

217 West 57th Street, facade close-up

Despite this, the slight elevation of Midtown compared to the Financial District (a net gain of approximately 70 feet) will mean that 217 West 57th Street’s spire will actually rise approximately 1,850 feet above sea level. While the WTC may retain the title of NYC’s tallest by spire height, 217 West 57th’s relative prominence to most New Yorkers will actually be somewhat greater. This serves as a reminder that New York is not Philadelphia, and any type of gentlemen’s agreement regarding One World Trade Center would undermine the spirit of the city where developers had previously been eager to vie for the title of tallest.

432 Park Avenue passed the WTC’s roof last year, and One Vanderbilt will likely do so in about 2017. 432 Park is currently regarded as somewhat tall relative to its surrounds, but the appearance of new buildings like 217 West 57th and 111 West 57th will quickly even out the disparities in the skyline, as will the rezoning of Midtown East, which may result in Manhattan’s tallest towers yet.

Nordstrom facade

Encouraging mixed-use development is essential for supertalls, and despite common criticisms, most of the new buildings along 57th Street are actually helping the streetscape. One57 is an exception to the bunch, and people seem to forget that even 432 Park Avenue will include two substantial components, one fronting Park Avenue and the other 57th Street, likely opening this year or next.

217 West 57th Street will host a 200,000-square-foot Nordstrom department store, along with offices, a hotel, and condominiums, with a gross total of 1,210,993 square feet.

Penthouse interior/view, 217 West 57th Street/Extell

The exteriors are accompanied by the first penthouse interior, as well as the floorplan for a two-story duplex, which may or may not be the uppermost residence. It will apparently include outdoor terraces, which may very well become the highest outdoor spaces in New York City.

Penthouse floor-plan and spire close-up

A photo by tipster ILNY shows the crane installation now beginning, and the supertall will soon begin rising above street level. 432 Park Avenue was at a similar stage as of October 2012, and layer after of layer of steel and concrete will soon cover the sub-levels of the future Nordstrom Tower, with completion expected by 2018.

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