In 2015, to the dismay of preservationists, Ekstein Development Group demolished the ornate parish house of the Madison Avenue Baptist Church at 30 East 31st Street in NoMad. Blogger, DaytoninManhattan described the 1907-built structure as a quaint asymmetrical five-story concoction of Romanesque Revival with a touch of Mediterranean. Now, rising in its place is a 40-story residential building designed by Morris Adjmi Architects. The slender 92,000-square-foot venture is being co-developed with Pinnacle Realty of New York, and will only house 41 “ultra-luxury” condominiums.
New renderings published on Ekstein Development’s page show the exterior will channel some of the church’s gothic inspiration. Running up the face of the tower will be six robust columns that emphasize the building’s verticality. Along its uppermost floors, the piers will evolve into a diagrid pattern that can be likened to a cathedral’s vaulted ceilings, only flattened.
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Documents filed with the Department of Buildings show the building will rise 479-feet-tall to the top of the elevator bulkhead and that mid- to upper-level floorplates will measure roughly 54 by 36 feet in size. Views from the apartments will include Madison Square Park and many of the city’s iconic skyscrapers such as the Flatiron, Chrysler, Empire State, and New York Life buildings.
A steady flow of residential construction activity has transformed the blocks surrounding Madison Square Park into one of the most sought-after areas to buy in Manhattan. Per our index tracking condo closing prices in NoMad, the average price per square foot in the area stands at $2,525 —up 15.1% over the past two years. One of the neighborhood’s most coveted developments is the residential conversion of 212 Fifth Avenue where its remaining listings have asking prices north of $3,500 per square foot. New condos at the nearby 172 Madison Avenue have an average ask of $2,293 per square foot.
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