LOCAL STREETSCAPES: 555 Greenwich St. at King St.

555 Greenwich St. at King St.

This view of construction progress, from the northwest at King Street, shows the beginning of a 260,000-square-foot, 19-story building between King and Charleton Streets, with a matching overall height and aligned floor levels of its ‘sister’ neighbor, allowing for continuous office floors between the two buildings, except for the second floor above retail at the ground floor. This entire site had been a surface parking lot and small one-story taxpayer. The new Google quarters are just around the corner to the west, and Disney’s NY headquarters are being built just two blocks east on Hudson Street. Developers seem to love nice even numbers, or repetitive numbers, so this address has changed from 561 Greenwich St. to 555 Greenwich St. recently.

This rendering of 555 Greenwich Street, viewed from the southwest at King Street, depicts a design that complements the look of its industrial neighbor to the east, 345 Hudson Street, one of 12 sites owned by Hudson Square Properties/owner/majority partner Trinity Church Wall Street. The light-colored streetwall features numerous setbacks with outdoor terraces.

Architect Rick Cook of COOKFOX noted, “The powerful masonry buildings of Hudson Square gave us a palette of materials and tools that helped us craft a building that feels authentic to the neighborhood and expresses a high-performance modern workplace with a connection to community and nature.”

Working in conjunction with the city’s goal of carbon neutrality by 2050, the project team selected low-carbon-emissive mechanical, electrical, and plumbing systems, and below-grade geothermal piles. The building is expected to achieve LEED Platinum-certification and will also be the first office building to utilize its concrete superstructure for thermal energy storage.

Owner/Developer: Hines and Trinity Church Wall Street and Norges Bank Real Estate Management.

Architect: Rick Cook of COOKFOX Architects

Rendering Courtesy of COOKFOX.

14th St. & 6th Ave.

This new 13-story mixed-use structure at 101 West 14th Street at the northwest corner of 6th Avenue was anticipated to complete in Fall 2020, but now has most of the exterior complete, while working on interior finishes. It had topped off its structure and had begun installing some of its façade when it was shut down for the pandemic. On 4/8/20 the city authorized the developer to proceed with limited construction work.

Architecturally, the bold design works within the strict zoning building envelope, yet manages to manipulate the window grid with projecting and receeding facade planes, combining elements of several apartment windows, or tall slender two-story windows; about half of the residences will highlight two-story living rooms. The grid framing and setbacks create deep shadow lines, making the façade seem to dance around the corner. It is an unusual design for the downtown streetscape, holding itself out from its mundane neighbors.

The ground floor provides retail space for two tenants in 5,830 square feet. The 44 condominium units will start at $1.35 million for one-bedroom units. Residential amenities occupy 10,000 square feet for a fitness center, round-the-clock concierge services, a communal lounge with a terrace and a full-service bar, and a landscaped roof deck. Move-ins are expected later this Spring.

Owner/Developer: 531-539 Sixth Av., LLC, Gemini Rosemont

Architect: Eran Chen of ODA Architecture, New York, and Whitehall Interiors

Speaking of neighbors, this shows the northeast corner of 6th Avenue and 14th Street with another new mixed-use structure, called FÖRENA, which started construction after 531-539 Sixth Avenue, but progressed rapidly and is competing with it. Regrettably, both of these large projects working on opposite corners has created quite a lot of restrictions and turmoil for the neighborhood.

The 540 Sixth Avenue design has light grey brickwork between windows, in a manner that blends with its neighbor to the east, except for the sharp stepping back starting on the eighth floor, creating private terraces with shrubbery and plants. Above the setbacks, facades are covered with metal cladding.

The 80,000-square-foot building will yield 50 units in one-to three-bedroom layouts, expecting to be occupied later in 2022.

Owner/Developer: LS-14 AVE LLC, Landsea Homes and DNA Development

Architect: Morris Adjmi Architects

 

Photos and text by Brian J. Pape, AIA

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