Oh Schist! 3 Sutton Place is already halfway towards its 850-foot height

By CityRealty Staff | From Future New York Thursday, October 17, 2019

Sutton 58 (3 Sutton Place) at 430 East 58th Street | Rendering via Gamma Real Estate

There's never a dull moment in NYC real estate. With new taxes, rent regulations, up- and down-zonings, developers squeezing every square inch out our wallets and schist; the tallest, the skinniest, the most heavily-marketed buildings anywhere, and all the while the powers that be struggle to wrangle the ever-escalating rents, the ever-shrinking living spaces, and the crumbling infrastructure all around us. In the classic battle of wealthy long-time local versus discreet developer wooing the even higher-heeled newcomer, is 3 Sutton Place (aka Sutton 58). Now rapidly rising at 430 East 58th Street, the tower is about 30 floors up and already towers over its namesake neighborhood better known for quiet tree-lined streets and pre-war co-ops flush with old money.

This far-flung section of Midtown (yes, this is still Midtown) has been off developer radars for quite some time. Who would have thought an 850-foot-tall skyscraper could wiggle its way upon some unsuspecting walk-ups this far east? But, to the surprise of many—most notably to residents of the sinfully ugly Sovereign cooperative, Gamma Real Estate is endeavoring: Sovereign views, ex-developer lawsuits, and downzonings be damned.

A recently-revised zoning diagram better illustrates the 65-floor tower to be. Final renderings have been kept under close guard, likely to avoid arming the not-in-my-backyard types (NIMBYs) of the East River Fifties Alliance with further ammunition. While the current project is shorter than the +900-foot-tall plan proposed by the site's previous owner, Joseph Beninati's Bauhaus Group, the revised 847-foot parapet height will still leer over the sleepy neighborhood. This includes the 491-foot Sovereign building, the neighborhood's tallest.

3 Sutton will likely have everlasting views over the east side. Just the idea of the project resulted in a nearly two-year-long legal battle concluding in new local zoning regulations where 45 to 50 percent of a new building's floor area must be kept under 150 feet. The rules apply from 52nd to 59th Streets between First Avenue and the East River. 3 Sutton did not have to comply with the new rules since it finished its foundation just in the nick of time.

Faceoff: The Sovereign (l) and 3 Sutton under construction (r)

3 Sutton Place from Roosevelt Island in late October 2019 (CityRealty)

In 2016, Bloomberg quoted an East River Fifties Alliance member stating “our community needs protection from out-of-scale, out-of-character, super-tall mega buildings within our residential neighborhoods.” However, despite 3 Sutton's greater height, 484,000-square-foot 3 Sutton Place will be a much smaller building than the Sovereign, which weighs in at an astounding 1.14 million square feet, more than double the bulk of its future neighbor. In addition, the new tower will measure 86 feet wide, just a quarter of the Sovereign's 300-foot-wide span. The New York Times architecture critic Paul Goldberger called the Sovereign “brutally destructive of the scale of 58th Street and Sutton Place” upon the building's completion. Ironic.

The project is reportedly being designed by Danish architect Thomas Juul-Hansen, who handled the interiors of other top-of-the-market towers such as 50 West and the Beekman Residences. His lower Manhattan-based firm also handled the exterior and interiors of Two Ten West 77 and the High Line-flanking 505 West 19th Street. Stephen B. Jacobs Group is listed as the project's executive architects on building permits. One released rendering posted on the developer's website shows the base will flaunt a limestone-colored facade that frames multiple floors of full-height windows. After a six-floor podium, the building cantilevers over its immediate neighbors to the east and west. The tower's size was made possible by collecting unused floor area through a zoning lot merger of a dozen adjacent parcels —an exercise in patience that would make even Gary Barnett (the site assemblage extraordinaire) sweat.

Rendering via Gamma Real Estate

3 Sutton will have 121 residential units in all, up from Beninati's 95 —reinforcing a shift in the market from ultra-luxury to just plain luxury since 2015. There will be no more than three apartments per floor and no more than two per floor above the 36th level (roughly the height at which it surpasses the oh-so-hideous Sovereign). After six full-floor apartments on 56-61, the tower is crowned by a duplex penthouse.

Lower levels will house the amenities: A spa and pool on the third floor, a fitness room on the fourth, a game room, party room, sports simulator, and children's room on the fifth, and an amenity lounge, screening room, common kitchen and terrace on the sixth floor.

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The previus taller design for 3 Sutton Place designed by Foster and Partners and commissioned by the Bauhaus Group

Google Earth image show 3 Sutton Place at its current 847' height

(Google Earth)

The majority of units will have Central Park and/or East River views. Situated slightly removed from the Midtown skyline, residences with southern exposures will have some of the best skyline views around with the tiaras of the Chrysler and Empire State buildings standing as glittering centerpieces. Views to the north over the Upper East Side and west towards Billionaires' Row and Central Park will be nothing to sneeze at either. The tower will be Manhattan's second-tallest building east of Third Avenue, only behind Trump World Tower: the Walter Cronkite-ruffling trailblazer whose genesis was strikingly similar to this venture.

3 Sutton Place's next challenge will be finding its place in the city's softened (still softening?) high-end condo market. Fortunately, the project has no condo peer in its neighborhood in terms of views, amenities, and likely finishes. Standing two avenues west is the emerald-glass condo 252 East 57th Street, finished in 2017. Closed sales in the building from the past 16 months have averaged $2,450 per square foot, with prices on two- to five-bedrooms ranging from $4M to $12.9M. The tower has five available units including a six-bedroom penthouse asking $23.75 million.

Ten blocks south on 48th Street, the 2001-finished Trump World Tower has recent closings averaging $1,654 per square foot and 24 apartments available priced from $1.2M to $33.4M. Also not to be missed for anyone interested in 3 Sutton, is the city's finest co-op building, River House, where eight current listings are priced from $2.7M to $15.8M.

With 3 Sutton Place approximately halfway up, we should expect a topping out early next year and delivery sometime in 2021.