By Matt Chaban 5/22/12 3:55pm

Stratospheric Sales

Jagged! (Atelier Jean Nouvel)

You Can Soon Buy a Piece of MoMA! Or At Least a Piece of Its 1,050-Foot Condo Tower

Last year, The Observer discovered that Jean Nouvel’s soaring MoMA Tower—called “the most exhilarating addition to the skyline in a generation” by The Times‘ architecture critic—would not be a jagged victim of boom time hubris but in fact a real part of the skyline after all. Hines, the project’s developer, filed amended plans for the tower last July, showing that even at its Burden’d height of 1,050 feet, the Pritzker prize would still rise.

Now, more encouraging news that this project will actually become a reality: Hines has tapped Corcoran Sunshine to market the MoMA Tower, officially known as the Torre Verre, according to Crain’s, which means sales can’t be too far away Read More

By Matt Chaban 8/15/11 6:12pm

Dizzying Designs

Amanda approves.

Amanda Burden: Shorter MoMA Tower ‘Is Glorious’

It was Amanda Burden who stopped the MoMA Tower, giving Jean Nouvel’s 1,250-foot spire a haircut, and it is up to her if the project will ever snake its way onto the skyline. As The Observer revealed last month, developer Hines Interests has resubmitted plans for the shorter, stockier Torre Verre, and they await Ms. Burden’s approval. Where the head of the City Planning Department once thought the top of the tower was undignified, unworthy of sharing space with the Empire State Building, she now loves it. Read More

By Matt Chaban 8/08/11 6:09pm

Starchitects

20 Photos

By the 59th floor, there is only one apartment per floor.

MoMeh: Nouvel’s New Museum Tower Looks Very Familiar [Pics]

When Amanda Burden and the City Planning Commission cut Jean Nouvel’s Torre Verre down to size, the architectural cogniscenti were dismayed. Hines, the project’s developer, had sworn the project would be financially infeasible 200 feet shorter. At only 1,050 feet, it would no longer rival the Empire State Building on the skyline but instead share a midtown profile with the likes of the Chrysler Building, Rockefeller Center and the MetLife Building. Still, even in a downturn brought on by bombastic overbuilding, real estate has a way of persevering in New York. As The Observer revealed two weeks ago, Hines is currently pursuing a new set of plans for the oft-called MoMA Tower. And here they are.

Hines declined to release new plans, and initially suggested there were none. Through a public information request, The Observer has obtained copies of architectural drawings from the City Planning Commission. While they may not be as sexy as the kind of full-color renderings architects usually prepare to wow the media , they shed plenty of light on the new shape of the project. Read More