More than two years ago, the city rezoned more than 70 blocks in Midtown East, paving the way for some 6.5 million square feet of new office space. The first major project to take advantage was JPMorgan’s new headquarters at 270 Park Avenue.
The company announced in early 2018 that it would demolish its existing headquarters and build another one 1,400 feet and 70 stories tall. But not until this June did the company submit plans for the new tower, making it the largest project for which new building permits were filed this year, according to an analysis by The Real Deal.
Here are the 10 biggest projects announced in 2019:
1) 270 Park Avenue, Manhattan
After community pushback, JPMorgan agreed to increase the amount of public space along the base of its tower to 10,000 square feet from 7,000. In May, the City Council approved the bank’s plans for its new headquarters, which will have 1.9 million square feet (though it’s marketed as 2.5 million) of office space. The bank also filed permits to begin demolition of the 52-story tower on the site — the largest ever voluntary razing.
2) 1-15 57th Avenue and 57-28 Second Street, Queens
Two residential towers, developed by the Gotham Organization and Riseboro Community Partnership, are planned for Long Island City as part of the Hunters Point South project. The larger of the two, on 57th Avenue, is to span nearly 700,000 square feet, most of which will be residential space, though 9,000 square feet will be dedicated to commercial and 19,000 to community use. Plans for the Second Street tower call for 333,000 square feet of residential and 6,500 square feet for a community facility. Both towers are being designed by Handel Architects.
3) 526 Gulf Avenue, Staten Island
Matrix Development Group is planning to build a 955,000-square-foot storage facility as part of a 3.5-million-square-foot logistics development. In 2017 Amazon agreed to take 975,000 square feet at the development for its first distribution center in the city, which opened last year. The larger development topped TRD’s ranking of the largest real estate projects announced in 2017, and the first phase made our 2016 list.
4) 310 Hudson Street, Manhattan
The Walt Disney Company plans to build a 19-story headquarters in Hudson Square. The 850,800-square-foot building (marketed as 1.3 million), which will be designed by Skidmore Owings & Merrill, will house Disney’s New York operations, including production space for “The View” and ABC News.
5) 221 West Street, Brooklyn
Brookfield Property Partners filed plans in March for a 719,000-square-foot development, the largest project proposed in the city that month. It is part of the megaproject Greenpoint Landing, which Brookfield is co-developing with Park Tower Group. The West Street Tower is expected to have 302 residential units across 710,000 square feet, along with 9,000 square feet of commercial space.
6) 71-12 Park Avenue, Queens
In July David Marx’s MDG Real Estate transferred the development rights for a 2.4-acre site in eastern Queens to Marx himself. He subsequently filed plans for two residential towers that would collectively span 717,000 square feet. The filings represented a reversal for MDG, which announced earlier this year that the company’s “owner and the board of directors have no desire to develop said real estate at this time.”
7) 595 Dean Street, Brooklyn
Last year TF Cornerstone purchased two parcels from Greenland Forest City for $143 million. Before selling it, the joint venture had planned to build a 25-story condominium building at the site as part of its massive Pacific Park development. TF Cornerstone filed plans in October to build two towers totaling 660,000-square-foot towers and 798 apartments.
8) 2505 Bruckner Boulevard, Bronx
A 740,000-square-foot warehouse is planned for a site that Innovo Property Group and Square Mile Capital Management bought from Extell Development for about $75 million. The warehouse will rise on the former site of Whitestone Multiplex Cinemas in the Bronx.
9) 575 Exterior Street, Bronx
L+M Development plans to build a 23-story, mixed-use building, which is expected to span more than 550,000 square feet and have 542 residential apartments. The project is part of the multi-acre Bronx Point development, which the company is co-developing with Type A Projects. S9 Architecture is designing the Exterior Street tower.
10) 451 10th Avenue, Manhattan
In June, Spitzer Enterprises filed plans for a 415,000-square-foot, mixed-use development. The long-anticipated project, first reported in 2015, is expected to feature 268,000 square feet of residential space (526 residential units, including 126 for seniors), 33,000 square feet of commercial and 114,000 of community space.