| 15 Penn Plaza | |
|---|---|
| 15penn.png | |
| General information | |
| Status | Approved[1] |
| Type | Mixed |
| Location | 15 Penn Plaza (401 7th Avenue)[2] |
| Estimated completion | 2014 |
| Height | |
| Roof | 1,216 ft (371 m) |
| Technical details | |
| Floor count | 68 |
| Floor area | 2,050,000 sq ft (190,000 m2) |
| Design and construction | |
| Architect | Pelli Clarke Pelli |
| Developer | Vornado Realty Trust |
| Structural engineer | Severud Associates |
15 Penn Plaza, also known as the Vornado Tower, is an approved, but unbuilt, 68-story tower in the Midtown Manhattan district of New York City planned by Vornado Realty Trust. It would have 430 units and 2,050,000 square feet (190,451 m²) of floor space.[3] The Hillier Group is the designer. Although just 68 stories tall, it would be just 34 feet (10 m) shorter than the 79-year-old Empire State Building, currently the city's tallest skyscraper following the collapse of the World Trade Center (although the new 1 World Trade Center is slated to be taller than the Empire State Building).
The Empire State Building's owner, Anthony Malkin, asked the City Council on August 24, 2010, to deny permission for the construction of the Vornado Tower. Malkin's reasoning is that the new building would alter the skyline and obscure the view of the western side of the Empire State Building.[4] Located at Seventh Avenue between 32nd and 33rd Streets on the site of present-day Hotel Pennsylvania, opposite Pennsylvania Station – a major transit hub for the Long Island Rail Road, New Jersey Transit, Amtrak and the New York City Subway – the proposed building would add a concourse improving access within Penn Station and adding several new subway entrances.[4] In exchange for increases in height and density for the building, Vornado would undertake $100 million in transit-related improvements that would reopen the "Gimbels passageway", which was blocked off in 1986 and would reconnect Penn Station to Herald Square at Sixth Avenue and the 34th Street – Herald Square station (B D F M N Q R trains) and the 33rd Street terminal of the Port Authority Trans-Hudson (PATH) train, which provides access to Hoboken and Journal Square trains. An updated passageway would be built to the standards of "the elegant and efficient passageways at Grand Central and Rockefeller Center" and would also have integrated access to the proposed New Jersey Transit terminal that would be constructed as part of the Access to the Region's Core tunnel that was to be constructed under the Hudson River.[5]
The proposed building would be 1,216 feet (371 m) in height, 900 feet (270 m) away and 34 feet (10 m) shorter than the Empire State Building.[4] Anthony and Peter Malkin, owners of the historic structure, had requested the creation of a 17-block exclusion zone that would prohibit large buildings from being built that would obstruct views of the Empire State Building and suggested that the proposed skyscraper be limited to 825 feet (251 m) in height. While Manhattan Community Board 5 voted overwhelmingly against the proposed project, the New York City Planning Commission approved the plan, which would allow the building to be 56% larger than standard zoning rules provide under special regulations that encourage the development of high-density office space near transit hubs. Opinion was divided about the plan, with Henry Stern, former Commissioner of the New York City Department of Parks and Recreation said the proposed building "could do irreparable harm" to the city, Daniel Biederman, president of the 34th Street Partnership joined union and construction officials in saying that "If there's anywhere a building of this size and bulk should be built, it's at Penn Station.[4]
On August 25, in a 47–1 vote, the City Council voted to approve construction of the building, despite what The New York Times described as "a fierce public relations, advertising and lobbying campaign" by the owners of the Empire State Building to derail the project.[6] The Council's zoning and land use committees approved the project and the full council overwhelmingly voted to approve the plan, with the only dissenter, Brooklyn Councilmember Charles Barron, voting in the negative as a protest against the absence of a guarantee by Vornado to hire minority and female construction workers.[6]
The project seems to be on hold since Vornado Realty Trust anounced that constrcution of the building is put off till market rents recover from the economy crises and renovate the Hotel Pennsylvania for further use [7]
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