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
“Corcoran Sunshine has always had a great relationship with Hines, a longtime client of the firm, and for the past several years we’ve been working on the planning and design of this landmark property,” said Kelly Kennedy Mack, president of Corcoran Sunshine, in a statement, declining to elaborate on the project. “It will be the ultimate destination for the world’s most elite buyers.”
Assuming the economy holds on and sales begin in the near future, the project would be well positioned to take advantage of the roaring recovery in the most exclusive corners of the New York City housing market. The past month has seen a record price for co-op ($50.2 million at 740 Park), a staggering Central Park duplex ($70 million at the Ritz-Carlton) and a jaw-dropping new record (somewhere north of $90 million for the penthouse at One57).
Now, we learn that Harry Macklowe’s 432 Park Avenue is well-underway, with building permits recently filed that call for a 1,398-foot tower, as The Real Deal revealed on Friday. At 84 stories, the tower is one foot taller than most recently reported, and technically taller than the Empire State Building and the World Trade Center (might as well be an asterisk). The price will no doubt be just as high.
Whether Torre Verre will be able to command the same prices of some of its rivals will be curious to see. On the one hand, it will not be the tallest, nor directly on the Park, but the cache of both its architect and the museum’s brand name might just help push it over the edge.
Why the name was ever changed from MoMA Tower is a mystery to us. Perhaps the developers should pull a Frank Gehry and call it “New York, by MoMA.” Maybe residents could even borrow art to hang on their walls–for a small donation, of course.
