Developers Reveal 'Penn15' Tower Planned For Midtown: Report

MIDTOWN MANHATTAN, NY — Developers behind Midtown Manhattan's latest planned supertall office tower have branded the building with a name that is raising some eyebrows.

Materials and renderings released by Vornado Realty Trust for a new building that will rise on Seventh Avenue across from Madison Square Garden have dubbed the development "Penn15," New York YIMBY first reported. The name is technically correct — the property is known as 15 Penn Plaza — but it's also a reference to a joke about the male anatomy often told in middle school.

Naming aside, the new development figures to be absolutely massive. Renderings from architect Rafael Vinoly reveal a tower that is both taller and more girthy than the nearby Empire State Building, New York YIMBY reported. The design of the tower is unusual for Midtown, with uneven floors and a lot of open green space throughout the building — some of the green spaces will be several hundred feet above street level. The tower will rise 1,400 feet and have more than 2.8 million square feet of buildable space,

The tower doesn't have a tenant attached to it yet, but Vinoly's renderings feature multiple references to Facebook as a potential future tenant, according to the report.

Frequently-maligned Hotel Pennsylvania will be replaced by the development.

Reactions to the reveal on social media were largely focused on the development's name:

Some how "Penn15" made it through the focus group when naming this new tower in the city. The date of the buildings erection is unclear. https://t.co/SDJ789Njxm
— Dan Norton (@RealDanNorton) June" class="redactor-linkify-object">https://twitter.com/RealDanNor... 5, 2019

Some people--presumably adults--sat in a room and decided that "Penn15" might be a great name for Facebook's new nyc tower. Think about that.https://t.co/ls2trFHN5I
— Luis Daniel (@luisdaniel12) June" class="redactor-linkify-object">https://twitter.com/luisdaniel... 5, 2019

The building looks okay I guess but what 12 year-old came up with the name?https://t.co/byC6b1F36I
— Bikesexual Pride Month (@Yehuda_Pollack) June" class="redactor-linkify-object">https://twitter.com/Yehuda_Pol... 5, 2019

Check out renderings and see the full New York YIMBY report here.