Wrapping up the year and YIMBY’s construction countdown, it comes as no surprise that Extell‘s Central Park Tower tops the list. The supertall will soon become New York City’s tallest residential building, and it will also have the highest roof of any structure in the Five Boroughs. The 1,550-foot-tall tower is being designed by Adrian Smith + Gordon Gill Architecture. The site has previously gone by its address, 217 West 57th Street. The building has now surpassed its 90th floor, and currently stands over 1,300 feet atop 57th Street.

Looking south from Central Park, north from Lower Manhattan, or across either river from New Jersey and Queens, the building is now very prominent, and imminently set to surpass Harry Macklowe’s 1,396 foot tower at 432 Park Avenue. Although plans for a proposed spire that would’ve brought the total height to 1,775 feet have been scrapped, the additional 154 feet of residential and mechanical floors compared to 432 Park will still ensure Central Park Tower’s absolute dominance atop 57th Street.

Central Park Tower will dominate the back half of the Midtown skyline thoroughly, as seen from the World Trade Center. Inside the retail base, Nordstrom is planning on opening its flagship department store early next year. Up above, work will continue apace. The base is covered in a translucent wave of frosted wavy glass on 57th and 58th Streets. At night, a soft warm glow illuminates the radiant exterior. Entrances to the future 320,000-square-foot Nordstrom are found on 57th Street, and also along Broadway.

Above the Nordstrom flagship, amenities for residents will be located on floors eight through 18. Condominiums begin on the 32nd floor, and culminate with the reported 17,000-square foot triplex on the top three residential floors. That residence will have its own private ballroom, and the highest outdoor terrace in New York City, with 360 degree views of the tri-state area.

The noteworthy, protruding cantilevered section over the Art Students League of New York can be seen when looking up in front of the tower, from street level. A layer of light gray-colored panels cover the thick concrete shear perimeter walls before the glass begins to enclose the tower all the way towards the top. As of the end of 2018, all the glass panels are still sealed and protected with a blue plastic film which will later come off, and visually lighten the dark blue hue that is currently seen.

Sales for the 179 condominiums launched a couple months ago, and are being handled by Extell’s in-house team. The projected sellout for the project is to be just over $4 billion. Once the final concrete floors and shear walls are formed, a steel structure will be assembled on the top that forms the building’s glass crown on all four sides.

With One57 standing across Seventh Avenue as Extell’s first residential supertall on 57th Street and in New York City, Central Park Tower may be the last title-taking tower in the neighborhood for quite some time. It will most likely hold the crown of the tallest building by roof height for at least an additional several years, with no proposals currently on the boards to challenge the new mark.

Central Park Tower is set to be completed in 2020.

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