Beekman Tower Update: Secret Gehry Design Still Secret

Friday, May 4, 2007, by Lockhart

Above, from the mind of starchitect Frank Gehry, the smattering of design concepts he toyed with for the 75-story tower set to rise soon in downtown Manhattan. Think we'd forgotten about this mysterious project since last year's big reveal of the (since-somewhat-discredited) design for the building? Actually, uh, we sort of had, until this bit of news popped up on LowerManhattan.info:

Pile driving will conclude on May 4th at Beekman Tower, one month earlier than expected. Since it began in February 2007, workers have installed more than 800 piles for the 75-story tower, located at 8 Spruce Street (near Pace University). The tower is being designed by Frank Gehry and will be primarily residential with office space for neighboring New York Downtown Hospital and a 630-seat K-through-8th-grade school. Foundation work continues at the site, with superstructure work beginning in late summer 2007. The tower is planned to open in early 2010.

The crazy part is that Gehry and tower developer Bruce Ratner haven't yet released the final plans for this thing. Might we suggest that they never do so? Watching the tower rise would be so much more entertaining that way, no? (That said, anyone with dirt on the latest renderings—email us!)
· Pile Driving Wraps Up at Beekman Tower [LowerManhattan.info]
· Beekman Tower Update: What? Where? When? [Curbed]
· Gehry's Beekman Tower Update: 'Sort of Baroque' [Curbed]
· BREAKING Curbed Exclusive: Gehry/Ratner Renderings! [Curbed]

Filed under Architecture, Manhattan: Tribeca, Real Estate Development, 8 Spruce Street, Beekman Tower, Bruce Ratner, Frank Gehry, Secret

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Comments (14 extant)

Trust me if they existed someone would hav leaked them to WiredNY or SkyscraperPage months ago. Gehry is being for protective of the final designs. Don't expect an email from anyone official. Best we can hope for is a spy report.

By Bryan at May 4, 2007 1:09 PM

Yeah, let's encourage Ratner to be more secretive.

By enid at May 4, 2007 1:12 PM

I'm surprised this isn't being built in Bushwick...

By nowayman at May 4, 2007 1:27 PM

Where is the bitching? Ok, I'll be the first to put in nonsensical, nimbot comments...

It's too tawwwwllll! It's out of scaaaallle with a person's height! Where is the context??! The world is coming to an end! GARRRRRHGHGHGHH!

By ho-mee at May 4, 2007 1:42 PM

they totally wont be able to open their windows!

By union avenue at May 4, 2007 1:56 PM

Twelve designs, one tired gimmick.

By Oldmark at May 4, 2007 2:41 PM

how about Gehry's a hack and should leave his napkin crunching designs for museums in spain?

By Anonymous at May 4, 2007 3:04 PM

Looks like he took the Sears Tower and wrinkled it a bit. He should stick to low rise work because highrises look like shite.

You can build as high as you want in Manhattan; I could give a flying f#$k, but in predominantly low rise Brooklyn 60 story buildings ARE out of scale and in my opinion (not to say my opinion is the right one) destroy the character of the neighborhood/borough.

By Anonymous at May 4, 2007 3:52 PM

I agree with #8. You can build as high as you want in Manhattan because it stays in scale with not just the neighborhood physically but also the culture and sentiment of the people. Brooklyn is not Manhattan and its people do not want Brooklyn to become Manhattan. That is, the culture of the borough and the physical scale of the BK neighborhoods should dictate that 60 story buidings do not belong. Gehry is not taking the surrounding area into consideration when it comes to Brooklyn and when it comes to his new project over in England. In the city of Brighton and Hove, which is an hour south of London on the English Channel, apparently Gehry is building a 750-unit housing block overlooking the sea. You have to understand that this small city by the sea is comprised of victorian houses with floor to ceiling windows along with grand columns. Why he thinks that a 750-unit tower block belongs in this area is beyond me. Just another example where Gehry does not take into consideration the area when he "designs" a residential building.

By Kilgore Trout at May 5, 2007 8:00 AM

10.

Give me a break... "Beekman" How many fucking "Beekman" buildings are there already in the city??? IT'S NOT EVEN IN BEEKMAN!!! Why doesn't someone build a highrise in Harlem and call it "Greenwich Village" ???

By anon at May 5, 2007 1:09 PM

11.

Um, maybe because it's on Beekman Street?

By CitySpecific at May 6, 2007 12:16 AM

12.

haha it's on beekman street idiot.

By J at May 7, 2007 9:03 PM

13.

This building is going to change the whole area from nassau/pearl to beekman/maiden lane. That's a good thing, BTW.

By sunchild at May 8, 2007 11:10 AM

14.

Umm... hate to burst your anti-FCRC bubble - but they haven't released the final designs because all the construction sources have yet to be secured. This isn't insider info - the NYT reported this about a week ago.

By Anon at May 8, 2007 3:19 PM