Build It! : Controversy around the Tower Verre

From the Chrysler building to the Empire State building, hundreds of multistory office and real estate towers reign over Midtown Manhattan. Here, office buildings rise into the clouds while retail stores line the streets. Midtown is an area that has been built up again and again, continually reinventing and developing itself. The City is known for its skyscrapers but, few outsiders know that they are mainly in Midtown. So, when a developer decides to construct a skyscraper, what is the preferred location? Midtown seems to be a perfect fit, but some people disagree. Regardless of the height or aesthetics of these buildings, some residents refuse to allow another high-rise to take over their neighborhood.

In 2007 Hines Development bought the 17,000 sq. ft. “S” shaped lot at 53 53rd Street for $125 million. French architect, Jean Nouvel, was chosen to design for the oddly shaped property that spans 53rd and 54th Streets. Calling his creation the Tower Verre, the design is an imaginative swirl of glass and metal that tapers elegantly toward the sky.. The tower would house a hotel, condos, and 60,000 square feet of dedicated MoMA space. In order to achieve the planned height of 1,250 feet (100ft higher than the Chrysler building), Hines Development must buy air rights from adjacent buildings, St. Thomas Church, University Club and MoMA. The Landmarks Preservation Commission and the City Council then must approve this transfer.

Fifty-third Street is a cultural artery in the heart of Midtown. St. Thomas Church and the University Club have landmark status. Others, including Pellii’s CBS building (nicknamed “Black Rock”) and MoMA’s sculpture garden, are studied for their urban significance. Notable architects who have designed structures within this block include Phillip Goodwin, Edward Durell Stone, Philip Johnson, César Pellii, and Yoshio Taniguchi. Nouvel’s stature and vision make him an excellent choice to join this distinguished company. He recently received the Pritzker Prize for his work on over 200 projects around the world. In New York City, he completed 40 Mercer, a condo building, as well as a proposed high-rise condominium located on 11th Avenue and 19th street, next to Frank Gehry’s IAC building

The 75-story tower itself is divided into four parts: the luxury condos, the hotel, MoMA galleries, and a public space (including a restaurant and lounge.) Although the condos will occupy a majority of the building, three floors have been devoted to the MoMA gallery expansion and will no doubt be a financial plus to the traffic and business in the tower.

The exceptional tower height requires more square feet of air rights than most existing lots allow. The space that Tower Verre hopes to occupy comes with only 210,000 sq. ft. of air rights. Because 1,250 ft translates to 786, 562 sq. ft. of air rights, Hines Development needs to gain an additional 576, 562 sq. ft. of air rights from adjacent buildings. That’s where St. Thomas Church and University Club come in. Although they agreed to the transfer in exchange for maintenance preservation and a façade update, community members who oppose the project are attempting to block the transfer as a means to stopping it. They argue that the transfer is not in the best interest of the area and that the buildings involved do not need the money to maintain their landmarked status.

Community members and Landmark councils oppose the Tower Verre on the grounds that it will be too tall in context with the immediate 53rd /54th street block, and will not fit harmoniously into its surroundings. They also believe that the building will impede on its neighbors in architectural aesthetics and will over-shadow the lower buildings. Community Board 5 voted 12 to 1 against the transfer of air rights from the church and the Club to the new site. Liz Kruger, State Senator, said that the residents of the tower will also add to congestion of the local infrastructure, namely, the subways, schools and hospitals.

Local New York City architects, Skidmore, Owings and Merrell, support the Tower Verre based on its grand architecture. Critics Nicolai Ouroussoff, of The New York Times, and Justin Davidson, of New York Magazine, have both praised it. Ouroussoff stated that the Tower Verre would be “one of the most exciting additions to New York's skyline in a generation.” Since the tower will be constructed in Midtown amongst other skyscrapers, it will not be out of context for the Midtown area at large. Although it will be able to accommodate 300 residential units, only 120 units are projected in the proposal. But even if the maximum number of condos becomes a reality, there will not be enough full time residents for the city to mandate that the developer do a socioeconomic and infrastructural survey of the area. This would seem to negate Senator Kruger’s objections.

If the Nouvel designed tower fails to gain approval, there is another tower waiting in the wings. And, that one has already been approved. The unnamed tower would stand under the height of the current museum tower, but an expansion rendering shows that this tower may also be enlarged in coming years. The preapproved tower is not by any means an architectural breakthrough. It’s a glass box like so many other New York buildings. Although it would not interfere with sunlight initially, the potential expansion of the tower to the same height as the Tower Verre eliminates any functional advantage that design might have. And, given it’s lack of aesthetic appeal, it pales in comparison to the Nouvel tower.

Despite strong opposition from community members, landmark and historical councils, the Tower Verre should be built. Although opponents narrowly define the neighborhood, the tower is in context with its extended midtown Manhattan locale, as well as other buildings in the immediate area. The presence of the Nouvel design on the street will compliment the adjacent architectural neighbors, and the tower will undoubtedly be an instant landmark. MoMA is a cultural institution on a street of culture and arts. Nothing but a significant piece of architecture should be considered. But architecture aside, MoMA will receive 60,000 sq. ft. of space in the tower to expand their galleries and storage space. This alone is a significant cultural benefit to the area, and is a generous allowance, especially from a real-estate developer. The infrastructure concerns that the tower evokes from community members are ill founded. The tower will house too few residential units to cause the city to mandate a preconstruction analysis from the developer. This affluent area presently contains many residential units and would be a suitable location for luxury condominiums. Building the tower on this block will not significantly impact the existing density of residential units, and may, in fact, prove to be financially advantageous for all concerned. And, it is for this reason that a developer interested in building affordable housing would be unlikely to choose this design for another part of the city.

The 53rd St. lot will eventually be developed regardless of design Why not make it one that excites the imagination? In New York City, where undeveloped space is virtually nonexistent, it is rare to see a project that the architect can start from the ground up. This empty space adjacent to a world-renowned museum dedicated to modern art should be valued, not wasted. Nouvel’s design should be embraced as the grand opportunity it is.