Libeskind to design addition to NYC's One Madison Ave (Met Life Tower)

[wyliepoon]

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Have We Found Libeskind's Manhattan Tower at Madison Square Park?
One Madison Ave

Isn't this pretty? Now imagine it with a lot less
blue around it. And a lot more weirdness.Photo: Corbis

Some months ago, Daniel Libeskind told us he was designing his first tower in Manhattan. We asked where it was, and he said he couldn't tell us, yet, but he would as soon as all the official folderol allowed. A few days later, someone who knows Libeskind mumbled something to us about "One Madison," then promptly hushed up. For months, Libeskind's people have said only that Israeli developer Elad Properties is Libeskind's client for a project somewhere in Manhattan. Well, today, an Israeli news service is reporting that Elad is developing a 74-story apartment tower at One Madison Avenue. You know, that pretty landmark with the illuminated clock tower? According to the report, they'll be adding many stories to make the new structure one of the tallest residential towers in the world.

Back in June, Libeskind told us his project would be on a "historic site, one of the iconic sites of New York City." And, he added, "I guarantee you'll see the Statue of Liberty from there." Aha! And hmm. It's got to be hard to change any aspect of that building. Elad's venerable publicist, Lloyd Kaplan, says he doesn't know what to make of the Globes story. And we're not in the business of glomming news from publications we've never seen before. But either way, we're excited for all the heated debate about the effect of skyscraper shadows on the iciness of Shake Shack custard in coming months. —Alec Appelbaum

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Tshuva to build Manhattan’s tallest residential building
Yitzhak Tshuva’s project will top the 72-story Trump World Tower.
Ariel Rosenberg 20 Sep 07 19:00
Yitzhak Tshuva’s private real estate arm Elad Properties is planning to build Manhattan’s tallest residential skyscraper, which will be one of the tallest buildings in the world. He is apparently taking to heart the words of the Leonard Cohen song, “I’ll Take Manhattanâ€.

Elad will invest $450 million in the One Madison Avenue building, fronting Madison Square Park and East 23rd Street, adding floors to the 17-story New York City landmark. The result will be a 74-story skyscraper that will by 900 feet (274 meters) tall. The building will top the 72-story 262 meter Trump World Tower. The 283-meter tall 70-storey Trump Building, an office building on Wall Street, will still be higher than Tshuva’s new development however. Only two residential skyscrapers in Australia - the Q1 Tower in Gold Coast, Queensland, and Melbourne’s Eureka Tower - will top One Madison Avenue.

 

[Hydrogen]

Libeskind is the new "addition" guy.

 

[Pep'rJack]

I'm pretty sure this will probably be built atop the aborted base of the "North Building", a la Hearst, and not actually over the clock tower. Though with Libeskind, who knows - possibly a very tall OCAD-type deal?

from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metropolitan_Life_Insurance_Company_Tower ...

"By the late 1920s, the 1909 Met Life Tower and the 1919 North Annex were becoming too small to house the continuously growing activities of the Metropolitan Life Insurance Company. Looking to expand, the company considered building on a full block site between East 24th and East 25th Streets. Ecole des Beaux Arts-educated architect Harvey Wiley Corbett left his position on the Rockefeller Center design team in order to take up this project in 1928. The final design for the new building was proposed as a 100-story, telescoping tower. However, the onset of the Great Depression in 1929 caused the company to scrap plans for a giant skyscraper and instead built only a portion of the proposed tower. What stands of the North Building today is what was to be the 32-story base for the 100-story tower, built with the structural strength and number of elevator shafts needed for a later completion. There have been proposals to add floors to this 32-floor base and to 'complete' the tower. An Israeli real estate company called Elad Properties has applied for permits to add 75 floors to the annex. The completed building will be 889 feet tall and will be the tallest residential building in New York City."

North Building to immediate left of clock tower:

Ditto:

The original plan:

I used to loaf about in Madison Square Park and dream about a project like this - very cool to see it happening!
.

 

[Edward Skira]

That's what the guys at WNY are thinking as well.

http://wirednewyork.com/forum/showthread.php?t=15198&page=3