This past September saw concrete reach the rooftop of Extell‘s record-setting Central Park Tower at 217 West 57th Street, and shortly thereafter One Vanderbilt‘s spire quickly come together at the top of SL Green‘s new commercial jewel. October has also commenced with a bang, and last week, workers installed the first steel for the crowning level of SHoP Architects‘ 111 West 57th Street, reaching the parapet 1,428 feet above the streets below. That makes the building the second-tallest in New York City by its parapet, ranking below the 1,550-foot Central Park Tower, and above the 1,396-foot 432 Park Avenue. Work has indeed reached the last section of the crown, but is important to note that the supertall has not officially topped out yet.

JDS Development, Property Markets Group, and Spruce Capital Partners are behind the residential supertall, which is also the most slender building on planet Earth at a height-to-width ratio of 24:1. There will be 46 condominiums within, with sales led by Douglas Elliman.

Work on the crown sped along after the concrete formwork topped out this past May, however, the final level of steel has taken almost a month to complete. Most of the framework was finished by the end of August, but evidently the final touches took a few weeks to finish, and a few pieces of steel are still awaiting installation.

ShoP’s design features a shimmering façade of terra cotta and bronze on the east and west sides of the tower, with the northern and southern faces dominated by glass and bronze. The result is an extremely slim silhouette that is substantially more slender than even 432 Park Avenue. However, the rise of the neighboring supertalls along 57th Street and across the rest of Midtown has tempered 111 West 57th Street’s relative significance on the skyline, and NIMBYs can hardly continue complaining that 1,300-foot-plus supertalls are sore thumbs when their envelopes are now normalized in many Manhattan neighborhoods.

Nonetheless, what makes 111 West 57th Street stand out, aside from the dramatically slim profile, is the almost perfectly centered alignment with Central Park. The symmetrical views looking north with the Upper West Side and Upper East Side on each end of the floor-to-ceiling glass windows will create a stunning visual frame from the residential units.

111 West 57th Street is expected to be fully compete sometime next year.

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