Real Estate
Postmodern Midtown Tower Might Be Saved From Glassy Fate: Report
Proposals to renovate the facade of 550 Madison Ave. were met with criticism, and the city landmarks commission acted quickly.
MIDTOWN MANHATTAN, NY — Developers behind a planned renovation of Midtown Manhattan's icon of postmodern architecture, 550 Madison Ave., said they will be going back to the drawing board after the city landmarks commission acted quickly to consider the tower's exteriors a city landmark.
Developers will wait until the city Landmarks Preservation Commission makes its final decision on 550 Madison Ave. to unveil new plans to renovate the building's exterior facade, an executive at RXR Realty said during a Tuesday public hearing at the LPC, Curbed reported.
"As we soon as we confirm the limitations within which we will be required to work by the landmarks designation, we will be able to complete our new designs and engage with the public and the Landmarks Commission—a process we are eager to begin," Seth Pinsky of RXR Realty — which joined 550 Madison Ave.'s development team this year — said Tuesday, as reported by Curbed.
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Most of the testimony at Tuesday's public hearing was in favor of landmarking 550 Madison Avenue's exteriors, Curbed reported. The building's lobby was demolished after the LPC declined to designate it a landmark, according to the report.
The granite-clad skyscraper, also known as the AT&T Building, was designed in a Postmodern style by architects Philip Johnson and John Burgee and was completed in 1984, according to the commission.
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Architecture firm Snøhetta announced in late October of 2017 that it had been hired to redesign the building's bleak, granite facade. The firm planned to replace the granite facade with large glass windows, upgrade retail space in the building's base floors and double the building's public space to include a large outdoor garden, according to a press release.
The City Landmarks Preservation Commission voted to calendar the building for an individual landmark designation one month after the redesign was revealed.
Read the full Curbed article here.
Rendering of initial renovation proposal courtesy Snøhetta
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