Throwing shade: Midtown East rezoning plan could make district darker

Midtown East may have a darker future if the district is rezoned.

The rezoning proposal, which is currently making its way through the land-use review process, relaxes rules that require buildings to gradually reduce in size as they rise, Crain’s reported. Under the rezoning, developers won’t have to adhere to the Waldram diagram, a design formula used to calculate how a building must taper.

The formula is only required for buildings in Midtown, though developers can also opt to use certain setback rules instead. L&L Holding’s [TRDataCustom] 425 Park Avenue was designed using the Waldram formula.

“The Waldram formula allows a builder to be more creative and sculpt their building in a more sophisticated and custom-tailored way,” architect Alex Duda told Crain’s. “Or you can build a property with a bunch of setbacks in the wedding cake style that you see with a lot of buildings in Midtown.”

The rezoning plan allows towers in the district to be built 40 percent larger than existing buildings and allows more of the project’s bulk to remain at the top. Officials estimate that the rezoning will add 6.5 million square feet of office space over the next 20 years or so. [Crain’s] — Kathryn Brenzel

(To see a list of several dozen of the largest office buildings in TRData’s database in Midtown East, The Plaza District and Grand Central neighborhoods, click here.)