Two Trees Rides into Hell on Bolt of Lightning

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Back in October, Dumbo overlords Two Trees filed scoping plans for the former Verizon parking lot the company had scooped up in Hell's Kitchen for a cool $130 million. Bounded by Tenth and Eleventh Avenues and 53rd and 54th Streets, we knew the so-called Clinton Park project would be big: a 100,000-square-foot parcel with 900 apartments and new facilities for the NYPD's horsie unit. What we didn't know was how WHOA! architect Enrique Norten's design would be. CityRealty has the first look, and—once again—WHOA! The S-shaped plan also includes auto dealerships, a health club, retail and 225 parking spaces. To make sense of the wonky elevation, we leave it to CityRealty...

The development would have a two-story base covering the site. Rising from the base there would be tower structures forming an S-shaped pattern and containing residential units. Along Eleventh Avenue facing DeWitt Clinton Park, the residential tower would step up from 7 stories on the north...to 10-stories on the south....On the eastern edge of the site adjacent to the 457-foot tall AT&T Switching Tower, the residential portion would step up from 29 stories on the north to 30 stories plus two mechanical levels on the south. Connecting these two sections would be a tower on a diagonal alignment relative to the street grid, stepping up from the west along W. 53rd Street to W. 54th Street on the east. The portions of the base structure not covered by the residential towers would have a flat roof predominantly covered by garden terraces for use by building residents and skylights providing natural lighting for the residential lobbies."

In other words, a giant glass lightning bolt dotted with shrubs will be aimed directly at Little League games. Community Board 4 has already come out against Clinton Park (the lot is not zoned for residential use), so this one still has a long way to go. But still, WHOA!
· Two Trees plans 900-unit development in Clinton [CityRealty]
· Walentas Gang Raising Hell With TEN Arquitectos [Curbed]




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