Could Midtown’s Olympia House be replaced with a towering new office building?

” In spite of COVID-19, Midtown East remains an appealing prospect for New York’s office market. The latest proof comes from German architect Jakub Sobiczewski, which has released highly detailed new renderings for a soaring office tower at 279 East 44th Street.

The address is currently home to postwar rental Olympia House, and it remains to be determined whether this design is part of a real proposal. It is clear, though, that the design is in line with current office trends. Renderings of the new building, which is around the same height as the nearby Chrysler Building, depict large floor plates, high ceilings, floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking panoramic East River and skyline views, and leisure and outdoor space.

The possible new building takes place in a stretch of New York that has proven highly attractive to bioscience companies. The site is up the street from 708 First Avenue, where Solow Realty & Development announced plans for a state-ofthe-art life science and biotechnology center.

To the south, the Alexandria Center for Life Sciences is taking shape near Kips Bay, which is historically known for its hospitals and still home to Bellevue and NYU Langone Medical Center. And while longtime area tenant Pfizer is getting ready to move to its new Hudson Yards headquarters in The Spiral, renderings have been released to show how its two adjacent office buildings could be redeveloped into a larger building.

The proposed tower is also right in the heart of the Midtown East rezoning to ensure the area’s future as a world-class business district. One Vanderbilt is now 65% leased, and JPMorgan Chase is still proceeding to build a massive new headquarters at 270 Park Avenue, between East 47th and 48th Streets. Moreover, a recent report from CBRE found that leasing activity is ticking up after a lull, and the average asking rent has stayed flat month-over-month and year-over year.“

From the Future New York by CityRealty
August 10, 2020

CityReality