By Matt Chaban 7/25/12 8:03pm

Dizzying Designs

Striking, but affordable? (Durst Fetner)

Durst’s ‘Not Iconic’ 57th Street Pyramid Lauded for Its Beauty, Challenged on Affordable Housing

Durst Fetner is at work on arguably the most dynamic, certainly the least square, apartment building in New York City. Jean-Daniel Noland, chair of Community Board 4’s land-use committee, even cautioned his fellow committee members against overwrought superlatives when they considered the project last night as it entered the first phase of public review.

“We are in a house of worship, so no talk of icons tonight,” he said from behind a long table inside the Actor’s Temple synagogue on West 47th Street. “Only Jehovah can do that.”

Still, his colleagues on the committee could not resist, referring to the building as beautiful, interesting, celebrated, stunning, beautiful, attractive, singular, impressive, beautiful and destination architecture. At the end of the meeting, when a resolution was being drafted to make recommendations to the full board on what conditions it should support the project, James Wallace said, “I think we should go out of our to note the spectacular beauty of this design.” Read More

By Daniel Geiger 1/12/12 9:00am

lease beat

114 West 47th Street

Durst: BofA Reduction Won’t Hurt Us

Leasing executives at the Durst Organization say that Bank of America’s decision late last week to reduce its office footprint in midtown won’t create a pocket of vacancy in the landlord’s office portfolio. Read More

By Daniel Geiger 1/10/12 9:00am

lease beat

114 West 47th Street (Courtesy Property Shark)

EXCLUSIVE: Bank of America Shaves 300,000 Feet Off 47th Street Lease

Bank of America has renewed its lease at 114 West 47th Street for approximately 360,000 square feet of space—far less than it currently occupies in the building.

The bank had been in discussions to extend its occupancy at the building for months. On Monday, insiders with direct knowledge of the deal and a spokeswoman for the bank, confirmed that the contracted lease had been signed on Friday morning. Read More

By Eliot Brown 7/07/10 9:02pm

The Face of Freedom

Durst Selected to Buy Stake in One World Trade

Douglas Durst, the taciturn scion of a three-generation real estate empire, has been selected to buy a stake in One World Trade Center, besting in a bidding contest Stephen Ross, the aggressive developer who chairs Related Companies, according to an official familiar with the decision.

The board of the Port Authority, which is building the Read More