With new projects such as 51 Astor Place and the Hyatt Union Square, Fourth Avenue is being reincarnated as a high-end neighborhood, the Wall Street Journal reported. The Hyatt Union Square, which is yet to announce an opening date, will offer 178 upscale rooms and suites starting at $319 a night. It is located at East 13th Street, north of the Fumihiko Maki-designed 51 Astor Place, a 13-story mixed-use office and school building being developed by Minskoff Equities. Those familiar with the area, however, say that the transformation has been in the works for a while…. [more]

With yesterday’s topping off of 4 World Trade Center, praise finally flooded Fumihiko Maki’s understated design for the structure. But according to the New York Post, admirers also owe thanks to David Childs for the tower’s appearance.

Silverstein Properties President Larry Silverstein had originally offered Skidmore Owings & Merrill partners David Childs and TJ Gottesdiener the opportunity to design the entire seven-building development site. Silverstein said Childs was grateful but told him he thought that would be a mistake. [more]

State authorities reached a deal with the city and the United Nations to revive stalled plans for a $340 million new U.N. tower earlier this month, the New York Observer reported. That means that Japanese architect Fumihiko Maki, who was selected to design the building when the idea first emerged in 2004, will be dusting off his blueprints alongside local partners architecture firm FXFowle and getting back to work.

“We have a saying around the office,” Dan Kaplan, a principal at FXFowle, told the Observer. “It takes a long time for things to happen suddenly.”

Much of the design work has already been completed for a 35-story tower on the site at the southeast corner of First Avenue and 42nd Street, but it will require some changes, Kaplan said. … [more]

Developer Edward Minskoff detailed his plans for 51 Astor Place, the former home of Cooper Union’s engineering department and the New York Film Academy Cafe, in a segment on NY1 last week. Minskoff, head of Edward J. Minskoff Equities, purchased the building in 2008 and commissioned famed Japanese architect Fumihiko Maki to design a 13-story office building before inking an anchor tenant. The 183-foot tall building will have a ribbed granite and glass exterior and will boast a different design on each of its four sides. “This building technologically will be the most advanced building built in New York City since the Bank of America headquarters [completed in 2009] on 42nd Street,” Minskoff said. … [more]