Excavation work is about to commence for a 24-story residential condominium tower with 88 apartments at 250 East 49th Street that will be known as the Splendido.
A prior design by Sydness Architects for the site, which formerly was occupied in part by the Box Tree Restaurant and Inn, called for a 31-unit, 20-story, mid-block tower that would have been cantilvered over the low-rise building immediately to its east. The cantilevered portion would have been supported by an asymmetrical array of struts and the north and south facades of the tower would have floor-to-ceiling windows with frosted glass balustrades in a random pattern across the front of the building.
The site was subsequently expanded to include the frontage at the southeast corner of 49th Street and Second Avenue and Sydness Architects, of which K. Jeffries Sydness is the principal has redesigned the project.
The new design, shown at the right, has a red terracotta-clad base/podium from which rises a curved glass curtain wall flanked at the south and west portions of the tower by beige terracotta-clad facades.
The lower section of the development "respects the street wall of the residential block comprised primarily of townhouses and lower scaled buildings," according to the Sydness Architects website.
The lower two levels of the base will be retail and entered from the avenue and the residential entrance will be on 49th Street. "The remaining three levels of the podium section contain larger apartments with terraces that cut into the podium revealing the curved tower as it rises from the gounrd.
The curved section of the tower will ceilings higher than 11 feet for "expansive views uptown."
The building will have a concierge and roof deck and it is expected to be completed late next year.
The East 49th Street Development II LLC, of which Alexander Gurevich is a principal, is the developer.
Prior to forming Sydness Architects, K. Jeffries Sydness was a partner with John Burgee Architects, the successor firm to Johnson/Burgee Architects, which was founded by Philip Johnson and John Burgee.
A prior design by Sydness Architects for the site, which formerly was occupied in part by the Box Tree Restaurant and Inn, called for a 31-unit, 20-story, mid-block tower that would have been cantilvered over the low-rise building immediately to its east. The cantilevered portion would have been supported by an asymmetrical array of struts and the north and south facades of the tower would have floor-to-ceiling windows with frosted glass balustrades in a random pattern across the front of the building.
The site was subsequently expanded to include the frontage at the southeast corner of 49th Street and Second Avenue and Sydness Architects, of which K. Jeffries Sydness is the principal has redesigned the project.
The new design, shown at the right, has a red terracotta-clad base/podium from which rises a curved glass curtain wall flanked at the south and west portions of the tower by beige terracotta-clad facades.
The lower section of the development "respects the street wall of the residential block comprised primarily of townhouses and lower scaled buildings," according to the Sydness Architects website.
The lower two levels of the base will be retail and entered from the avenue and the residential entrance will be on 49th Street. "The remaining three levels of the podium section contain larger apartments with terraces that cut into the podium revealing the curved tower as it rises from the gounrd.
The curved section of the tower will ceilings higher than 11 feet for "expansive views uptown."
The building will have a concierge and roof deck and it is expected to be completed late next year.
The East 49th Street Development II LLC, of which Alexander Gurevich is a principal, is the developer.
Prior to forming Sydness Architects, K. Jeffries Sydness was a partner with John Burgee Architects, the successor firm to Johnson/Burgee Architects, which was founded by Philip Johnson and John Burgee.
Architecture Critic
Carter Horsley
Since 1997, Carter B. Horsley has been the editorial director of CityRealty. He began his journalistic career at The New York Times in 1961 where he spent 26 years as a reporter specializing in real estate & architectural news. In 1987, he became the architecture critic and real estate editor of The New York Post.
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