As Godzilla Condos Loom Over West Side, Zoning Arrives Too Late

Bloomberg, March 29, 2007

The Ariel Condominiums, a pair of shiny glass towers nearing completion on Manhattan’s Upper West Side, add a bloated presence to this mid-rise neighborhood. Rising to more than twice the height of the apartment buildings that line Broadway at West 99th Street, they disfigure the view for miles around.

Outsized towers are popping up everywhere, galvanizing neighborhood protests. Until now, activists have successfully defended Manhattan’s urbane boulevards on the Upper West Side – modeled on 19th-century Paris – and their leafy, family-scaled side streets.

These two lunks could rise to defile the neighborhood because Extell Development Co. carefully avoided the kinds of maneuvers that trigger public hearings and local outcry.

Manipulating one of New York’s many zoning peculiarities, Extell bought air rights – the blob of unbuilt space that floats above existing buildings within the zoning envelope – from a church and Art Deco movie theater. The city permits those rights to be transferred to an adjacent building without public fanfare. That’s how the developer built Ariel East, the taller of the pair, to 38 stories where 15-story heights prevail.

This lunk rises in traditional Manhattan wedding-cake style. Yet instead of telescoping upward in gentle tiers, architectural firm Cetra/Ruddy Inc. produced seven eyeball-jarring setbacks. The tower unceremoniously tops out at about 400 feet.

‘Pathetic Attempt’

Ariel East’s frameless, semi-reflective glass looks so insubstantial that the 64 units might as well be filmed in shiny Mylar gift wrap. In a pathetic attempt to compensate, the designers have added stripes of red terra cotta that zip aimlessly across the surface.

I should not be mystified that Extell would build a design that would earn the creator an F in any self-respecting architecture school. Hotshot developers love to crow over drinks about how little they managed to spend, conning buyers with glitzy lobbies and posh model units that obscure the graceless, white drywall boxes on offer.

You don’t have to work too hard to please buyers in a city that’s been a sellers’ market for half a century.

Certainly, Ariel East isn’t the most architecturally gruesome of the new crop of Manhattan condos. This one boils the blood because it could have merited its prominent position on the skyline. Though neighbors fought its height, the slim profile actually makes it less obtrusive than people feared. Had it been squat, as many older buildings are, it would have cast the street and adjacent properties into deeper shadow. A design of finesse could have made that silhouette soar.

Lunk No. 2

Across the street, the sins of lunk No. 2, 73-unit Ariel West, are less egregious. Extell also obtained air rights for this site, but not enough to match lunk No. 1’s height. At 32 stories, it’s thicker than Ariel East and so looms more incongruously over neighboring brownstones, even though it’s slimmed with a nicely formed setback.

Architect Cook & Fox – better known for office towers like the Bank of America’s Manhattan headquarters, now under construction in midtown – clad the exterior in gridded metal, glass and two-toned terra cotta. The result looks both more substantial and more suave than Ariel East. Still, it’s a perfunctory performance, considering the asking prices of $1,200 and more per square foot.

When citizens complain about Manhattan’s ridiculous real estate prices, developers retort that it’s because of New York’s maze of regulations and approvals. In fact, Extell got its approvals expeditiously.

Missed Opportunity

It may never again. Now that the tall-building horse has left the barn, citizen watchdogs have persuaded the city’s planning department to reduce permitted heights to less than half what was granted for Ariel East and will prohibit the air-rights gimmickry.

The new zoning will almost certainly be approved, drastically curtailing the possibilities to creatively engage the neighborhood’s rich context in a way that would work for neighbors and developers alike.

Extell, and most other city developers, fully deserve such punishment for abusing the regulatory freedom they had. The irony, of course, is that it may become impossible to build inventive designs to obscure these mediocrities.

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Ariel East Ariel West	As Godzilla Condos Loom Over West Side, Zoning Arrives Too Late Bloomberg, March 29, 2007 The Ariel Condominiums, a pair of shiny glass towers nearing completion on Manhattan’s Upper West Side, add a bloated presence to this mid-rise neighborhood. Rising to more than twice the height of the apartment buildings that line Broadway at West 99th Street, they disfigure the view for miles around. Outsized towers are popping up everywhere, galvanizing neighborhood protests. Until now, activists have successfully defended Manhattan’s urbane boulevards on the Upper West Side – modeled on 19th-century Paris – and their leafy, family-scaled side streets. These two lunks could rise to defile the neighborhood because Extell Development Co. carefully avoided the kinds of maneuvers that trigger public hearings and local outcry. Manipulating one of New York’s many zoning peculiarities, Extell bought air rights – the blob of unbuilt space that floats above existing buildings within the zoning envelope – from a church and Art Deco movie theater. The city permits those rights to be transferred to an adjacent building without public fanfare. That’s how the developer built Ariel East, the taller of the pair, to 38 stories where 15-story heights prevail. This lunk rises in traditional Manhattan wedding-cake style. Yet instead of telescoping upward in gentle tiers, architectural firm Cetra/Ruddy Inc. produced seven eyeball-jarring setbacks. The tower unceremoniously tops out at about 400 feet. ‘Pathetic Attempt’ Ariel East’s frameless, semi-reflective glass looks so insubstantial that the 64 units might as well be filmed in shiny Mylar gift wrap. In a pathetic attempt to compensate, the designers have added stripes of red terra cotta that zip aimlessly across the surface. I should not be mystified that Extell would build a design that would earn the creator an F in any self-respecting architecture school. Hotshot developers love to crow over drinks about how little they managed to spend, conning buyers with glitzy lobbies and posh model units that obscure the graceless, white drywall boxes on offer. You don’t have to work too hard to please buyers in a city that’s been a sellers’ market for half a century. Certainly, Ariel East isn’t the most architecturally gruesome of the new crop of Manhattan condos. This one boils the blood because it could have merited its prominent position on the skyline. Though neighbors fought its height, the slim profile actually makes it less obtrusive than people feared. Had it been squat, as many older buildings are, it would have cast the street and adjacent properties into deeper shadow. A design of finesse could have made that silhouette soar. Lunk No. 2 Across the street, the sins of lunk No. 2, 73-unit Ariel West, are less egregious. Extell also obtained air rights for this site, but not enough to match lunk No. 1’s height. At 32 stories, it’s thicker than Ariel East and so looms more incongruously over neighboring brownstones, even though it’s slimmed with a nicely formed setback. Architect Cook & Fox – better known for office towers like the Bank of America’s Manhattan headquarters, now under construction in midtown – clad the exterior in gridded metal, glass and two-toned terra cotta. The result looks both more substantial and more suave than Ariel East. Still, it’s a perfunctory performance, considering the asking prices of $1,200 and more per square foot. When citizens complain about Manhattan’s ridiculous real estate prices, developers retort that it’s because of New York’s maze of regulations and approvals. In fact, Extell got its approvals expeditiously. Missed Opportunity It may never again. Now that the tall-building horse has left the barn, citizen watchdogs have persuaded the city’s planning department to reduce permitted heights to less than half what was granted for Ariel East and will prohibit the air-rights gimmickry. The new zoning will almost certainly be approved, drastically curtailing the possibilities to creatively engage the neighborhood’s rich context in a way that would work for neighbors and developers alike. Extell, and most other city developers, fully deserve such punishment for abusing the regulatory freedom they had. The irony, of course, is that it may become impossible to build inventive designs to obscure these mediocrities.
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