L: Unbuilt condo proposal known as Alexander Plaza; R: Rendering of the underway United Arab Emirates Consulate New York posted outside construction site
Back in 2007, Castle Development purchased a Turtle Bay development site at 315 East 46th Street from Extell (them again) for $40.95 million with plans to erect a sleek 25-story condo building. Following a common theme of projects unable to secure financing during the "Great Recession," plans were scuttled despite completing its foundation and rising several floors out of the ground. In 2009, Castle CEO, Alexander Gurevich, offloaded the distressed site to the United Arab Emirates for $44.7 million, according to The Real Deal. Now construction has restarted, but rather than another batch of self-absorbed condos, a foreboding consulate building for the UAE is on tap.
Building permits re-filed in 2015 detail a stodgier structure of just nine floors designed by Skidmore Owings & Merrill. The legendary firm knows a thing or two about seemingly impenetrable architecture — having designed the imposing Public Safety Answering Center II in the Bronx and the 200-foot tall fortified base of One World Trade Center.
Full monty shot of new UAE consulate building
For UAE's consulate building, the firm seems to channel the worst of mid-century architecture, specifying a dour facade of marble(?) interspersed with narrow rows of slit windows that grow slightly wider as they move up the building. Who knew oil-rich, mega-project-building UAE felt so insecure? The design stands in sharp contrast to the forthcoming Turkish Consulate under construction across the street, where its supple design by Perkins Eastman conveys optimism and openness and uses local motifs to solidify lower levels.
According to the floor schedule submitted to the Department of Buildings, there will be eight parking spaces, a ground floor auditorium, two “sleeping accommodations,” and lots of office space. A 2015 article from the Commercial Observer also notes that Fisher Brothers, developer of 111 Murray and House39, is serving as the project's development and construction manager. Earlier permits showed the project would rise 27 stories, 400 feet tall but the permits have been revised to a 9 floor, 145-foot-tall building.
According to the UAE embassy website, the New York consulate opened in 2016 and His Excellency Majid Al-Suwaidi is appointed as Consul General. A press release announcing the consulate opening explains that New York is one of the top five exporting states to the UAE and the trade deals range from financial services to automobiles that support thousands of American jobs annually. “New York is also the largest US port for UAE trade, with total trade growing from $626 million in 1999 to $1.9 billion in 2014,” say the release.
Renderings via Sydness Architects; created by AJSNY
Castle Development’s unbuilt condo, dubbed Alexander Plaza, was to be a glass-wrapped building designed by Sydness Architects. To stand 25 stories tall, the design was distinguished by angling faces, not unlike 400 Park Avenue South or Place 57. A chevron-shaped plan would recede occasionally creating terraces for some of the 52 one- to three-bedroom apartments. Marketing materials explain the project was to convey the “understated simplicity of haute loft living,” and depicted floor-to-ceiling windows (once novel), spa-like baths (once novel) and captivating views of the East River and Dag Hammarskjold Park.
While the demand to live in a neighborhood so attached to mid-century Modernism and with such “international flair” couldn’t save the project, rewards have been reaped by other condo developments such as the Zeckendorf’s 50 United Nations Plaza (two doors down) and Sheldon Solow’ 685 First Avenue where prices begin at $1.45M for a one-bedroom.
New Developments Editor
Ondel Hylton
Ondel is a lifelong New Yorker and comprehensive assessor of the city's dynamic urban landscape.
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