Trump Place
Encyclopedia
Apartment
An apartment or flat is a self-contained housing unit that occupies only part of a building...
complex originated by Donald Trump
Donald Trump
Donald John Trump, Sr. is an American business magnate, television personality and author. He is the chairman and president of The Trump Organization and the founder of Trump Entertainment Resorts. Trump's extravagant lifestyle, outspoken manner and role on the NBC reality show The Apprentice have...
and six civic partners (Municipal Art Society
Municipal Art Society
The Municipal Art Society of New York, founded in 1893, is a non-profit membership organization that fights for intelligent urban planning, design and preservation through education, dialogue and advocacy in New York City....
, Natural Resources Defense Council
Natural Resources Defense Council
The Natural Resources Defense Council is a New York City-based, non-profit, non-partisan international environmental advocacy group, with offices in Washington DC, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Chicago, and Beijing...
, New Yorkers for Parks, Regional Plan Association
Regional Plan Association
The Regional Plan Association is an independent, not-for-profit regional planning organization, founded in 1922, that focuses on recommendations to improve the quality of life and economic competitiveness of the 31-county New York-New Jersey-Connecticut region...
, Riverside Park Fund, and Westpride) on the Upper West Side
Upper West Side
The Upper West Side is a neighborhood in the borough of Manhattan, New York City, that lies between Central Park and the Hudson River and between West 59th Street and West 125th Street...
of Manhattan
Manhattan
Manhattan is the oldest and the most densely populated of the five boroughs of New York City. Located primarily on the island of Manhattan at the mouth of the Hudson River, the boundaries of the borough are identical to those of New York County, an original county of the state of New York...
, in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
.
The $3 billion project on a 56 acres (22.7 ha) site between 59th Street
59th Street (Manhattan)
59th Street in the New York City borough of Manhattan runs east-west, from York Avenue to the West Side Highway, with a discontinuity between Ninth Avenue/Columbus Avenue and Eighth Avenue/Central Park West for the Time Warner Center. Although it is bi-directional for most of its length, the...
and 72nd Street
72nd Street (Manhattan)
72nd Street is one of the major bi-directional crosstown streets in the New York City borough of Manhattan. Where the west end of 72nd Street curves into the south end of Riverside Drive, the memorial to Eleanor Roosevelt stands in Riverside Park. At this end of the street is the landmarked...
was to include 16 apartment buildings with a maximum of 5,700 residential units, 1800000 square feet (167,225.5 m²) of studio space, 300000 square feet (27,870.9 m²) of office space, ancillary retail space and a 25 acres (10.1 ha) waterfront park. The studio and office space were not approved. Nevertheless, Riverside South is the biggest privately-developed complex currently being built in New York City.
Rail Yard
The land for the development was formerly a freight rail yard owned by the New York Central RailroadNew York Central Railroad
The New York Central Railroad , known simply as the New York Central in its publicity, was a railroad operating in the Northeastern United States...
. New York Central's rail track north of 72nd Street was covered in the 1930s in a Robert Moses
Robert Moses
Robert Moses was the "master builder" of mid-20th century New York City, Long Island, Rockland County, and Westchester County, New York. As the shaper of a modern city, he is sometimes compared to Baron Haussmann of Second Empire Paris, and is one of the most polarizing figures in the history of...
project called the West Side Improvement
West Side Line (NYCRR)
The West Side Line, also called the West Side Freight Line, is a railroad line on the west side of the New York City borough of Manhattan. North of Penn Station, from 34th Street, the line is used by Amtrak passenger service heading north via Albany to Toronto, Montreal and Chicago...
. The project was bigger than Hoover Dam
Hoover Dam
Hoover Dam, once known as Boulder Dam, is a concrete arch-gravity dam in the Black Canyon of the Colorado River, on the border between the US states of Arizona and Nevada. It was constructed between 1931 and 1936 during the Great Depression and was dedicated on September 30, 1935, by President...
and created the Henry Hudson Parkway
Henry Hudson Parkway
The Henry Hudson Parkway is an long parkway in New York City. The southern terminus is at West 72nd Street in Manhattan, where the parkway continues south as the West Side Highway. It is often erroneously referred to as the West Side Highway throughout its entire course in Manhattan...
. It also created Riverside Park
Riverside Park (Manhattan)
Riverside Park is a scenic waterfront public park on the Upper West Side of the borough of Manhattan in New York City, operated and maintained by the New York City Department of Parks and Recreation. The park consists of a narrow four-mile strip of land between the Hudson River and the gently...
and was so skillfully done that many believe the park and road are set on a natural slope.
New York Central merged with the Pennsylvania Railroad
Pennsylvania Railroad
The Pennsylvania Railroad was an American Class I railroad, founded in 1846. Commonly referred to as the "Pennsy", the PRR was headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania....
to form Penn Central in 1968 as the rail lines were suffering severe financial difficulties that would ultimately lead to the demise of both. (The rail yard was known as the Penn Yards even though Penn Central only owned it for a brief period.)
In 1962 the railroad proposed a partnership with the Amalgamated Lithographers
Amalgamated Lithographers of America
The Amalgamated Lithographers of America is a labor union formed in 1882 to represent professional lithographers.- History :The ALA was formed on April 18, 1882 by eighteen journeymen lithographers calling themselves the "Romar Fishing Club". This name was used to conceal their true intentions...
Union to build a mixed-use development
Mixed-use development
Mixed-use development is the use of a building, set of buildings, or neighborhood for more than one purpose. Since the 1920s, zoning in some countries has required uses to be separated. However, when jobs, housing, and commercial activities are located close together, a community's transportation...
with 12,000 apartments, Litho City, on a platform over the tracks and on landfill in the Hudson River. The late 1960s saw various proposals by the city's Educational Construction Fund for mixed residential and school projects, also partly on landfill.
As the railroad as well as the city faced bankruptcy, Donald Trump
Donald Trump
Donald John Trump, Sr. is an American business magnate, television personality and author. He is the chairman and president of The Trump Organization and the founder of Trump Entertainment Resorts. Trump's extravagant lifestyle, outspoken manner and role on the NBC reality show The Apprentice have...
first optioned the property for $10 million in 1974. His proposal for 12,450 apartments depended on public financing, which never materialized. The Macri Group
Francisco Macri
Francisco Macri is a prominent Argentine businessman and father of Mauricio Macri, current mayor of Buenos Aires.-Childhood in Italy:...
, an Argentine
Argentina
Argentina , officially the Argentine Republic , is the second largest country in South America by land area, after Brazil. It is constituted as a federation of 23 provinces and an autonomous city, Buenos Aires...
company, bought the property in partnership with developer Abe Hirschfeld
Abraham Hirschfeld
Abraham Jacob "Abe" Hirschfeld , was a Polish-born New York real estate developer known for his eccentric endeavors, love for publicity, $2 neckties, strong Yiddish accent, and murder-for-hire plot against a former business partner.Hirschfeld was born in Tarnów, Poland and immigrated to the British...
in 1979, and in 1981, for the first time, a redevelopment plan was approved for the site — a 7300000 square feet (678,192.2 m²), largely residential project named Lincoln West. However, the development team was unable to obtain financing, and the project died.
Television City
In January 1985, Donald Trump bought the rights of the Macri Group for $117 million. Trump proposed building a vast complex he called Television City, featuring headquarters for NBCNBC
The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...
along with television studios. The plan involved 18500000 square feet (1,718,706.2 m²) of residential, retail, office, and studio construction. The centerpiece of the project, designed by Helmut Jahn
Helmut Jahn
Helmut Jahn is a German-American architect, well known for designs such as the US$800 million Sony Center on the Potsdamer Platz, Berlin, the Messeturm in Frankfurt and the One Liberty Place, formerly the tallest building in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and Suvarnabhumi Airport, an international...
, was to be a 152-story tower
Television City Tower
Television City Tower was a proposed building for New York City, New York, United States which was part of a larger project.-History:In 1985, Donald Trump proposed building Television City with headquarters for NBC along with television studios. The plan involved of residential, retail, office,...
, the 'World's Tallest Building'.
The project generated fierce opposition and NBC
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...
, fearing delays, eventually decided to continue broadcasting from Rockefeller Center
Rockefeller Center
Rockefeller Center is a complex of 19 commercial buildings covering between 48th and 51st streets in New York City, United States. Built by the Rockefeller family, it is located in the center of Midtown Manhattan, spanning the area between Fifth Avenue and Sixth Avenue. It was declared a National...
. At this point the project was redesigned by Alexander Cooper
Alex Cooper
Alexander Cooper, FAIA often credited as Alex Cooper, is an American architect and urban designer.In his piece on Cooper in The New York Times, Paul Goldberger wrote that Cooper "just might be the most influential architect in New York right now...
, renamed Trump City, and downsized slightly to 14500000 square feet (1,347,094.1 m²), but that failed to satisfy the critics.
Riverside South — the Civic Alternative
In 1989, six civic organizations proposed an alternative, known as Riverside South—a largely residential project of 7300000 square feet (678,192.2 m²), the previously approved floor area, based on relocating, and partially burying the West Side HighwayWest Side Highway
The West Side Highway is a mostly surface section of New York State Route 9A that runs from West 72nd Street along the Hudson River to the southern tip of Manhattan. It replaced the West Side Elevated Highway, built between 1929 and 1951, which was shut down in 1973 due to neglect and lack of...
to make room for a 23 acres (9.3 ha) expansion of Riverside Park
Riverside Park (Manhattan)
Riverside Park is a scenic waterfront public park on the Upper West Side of the borough of Manhattan in New York City, operated and maintained by the New York City Department of Parks and Recreation. The park consists of a narrow four-mile strip of land between the Hudson River and the gently...
. Hobbled by his weak financial position, Trump acquiesced and formed a partnership with his critics, formally the Riverside South Planning Corporation (RSPC). The RSPC compromise project was approved in 1992 without the television studios and office space that Trump had substituted for some of the residential space. The final project size was 6100000 square feet (566,708.5 m²) with 1800000 square feet (167,225.5 m²) of television studios still possible on the two southern blocks.
Continuing to face bankruptcy, Trump reached a deal with a consortium of Hong Kong investors in June, 1994. This joint venture finally put in motion the largest private development project in New York City history. Trump remained as the public face of the group, as he has on many other projects, but he lost control. Construction was delayed for several years as the new investors sought public financing. With improvement in the development climate, the new investors began construction in 1997. In 2005, the Hong Kong investors sold the unbuilt portion of the property to the Carlyle Group
Carlyle Group
The Carlyle Group is an American-based global asset management firm, specializing in private equity, based in Washington, D.C. The Carlyle Group operates in four business areas: corporate private equity, real assets, market strategies and fund-of-funds, through its AlpInvest subsidiary...
and the Extell Development Company. Contending that the sale for $1.76 billion was little more than half what the property was worth, Trump sued his partners, but lost. Trump's name remains on some of the existing buildings.
In late 2008, Extell proposed a 2900000 square feet (269,418.8 m²), largely residential project on the southern two blocks (59th to 61st streets) to complete the development (up from 2400000 square feet (222,967.3 m²)—the 1800000 square feet (167,225.5 m²) of studio space plus 600000 square feet (55,741.8 m²) of residential space already approved). The Extell project, known as Riverside Center, was approved by the City Council in 2010.
Burying the West Side Highway
One of the key components of Riverside South is relocating and burying the West Side HighwayWest Side Highway
The West Side Highway is a mostly surface section of New York State Route 9A that runs from West 72nd Street along the Hudson River to the southern tip of Manhattan. It replaced the West Side Elevated Highway, built between 1929 and 1951, which was shut down in 1973 due to neglect and lack of...
from approximately West 70th Street to West 61st Street to facilitate a southward expansion of Riverside Park
Riverside Park (Manhattan)
Riverside Park is a scenic waterfront public park on the Upper West Side of the borough of Manhattan in New York City, operated and maintained by the New York City Department of Parks and Recreation. The park consists of a narrow four-mile strip of land between the Hudson River and the gently...
.
The current viaduct is the only remaining section of the elevated highway which once extended to the southern tip of Manhattan. A portion of the elevated highway, which was mostly built in the 1920s and 1930s, collapsed in 1973 at 14th Street. Rather than repairing the antiquated road, the state closed it and planned to replace the viaduct (up to 34th Street) with an interstate highway in new landfill, known as Westway. Fifteen years later, after the failure of the Westway proposal, the state settled on an at-grade boulevard up to 57th Street flanked by a new Hudson River Park
Hudson River Park
Hudson River Park is a waterside park on the Hudson River that extends from 59th Street south to Battery Park in the New York City borough of Manhattan. Bicycle and pedestrian paths, including the Manhattan Waterfront Greenway, span the park north to south, opening up the waterfront for...
. Despite Robert Moses
Robert Moses
Robert Moses was the "master builder" of mid-20th century New York City, Long Island, Rockland County, and Westchester County, New York. As the shaper of a modern city, he is sometimes compared to Baron Haussmann of Second Empire Paris, and is one of the most polarizing figures in the history of...
' proposal to relocate the highway to grade north of 59th Street to facilitate an extension of Riverside Park
Riverside Park (Manhattan)
Riverside Park is a scenic waterfront public park on the Upper West Side of the borough of Manhattan in New York City, operated and maintained by the New York City Department of Parks and Recreation. The park consists of a narrow four-mile strip of land between the Hudson River and the gently...
, the elevated section between 59th and 72nd streets remained.
The section between 59th and 72nd streets was a little thornier than the rest because, while the state owned an easement, neither the state nor the city owned the land. Acquiring the land to relocate the highway from the bankrupt Penn Central would have interfered with private development, which was seen at a time when the City was also near bankruptcy, as preferable to public financing (See History of New York City (1946-1977)
History of New York City (1946-1977)
The history of New York City saw the emergence of New York immediately after World War II as the unquestioned leader among major cities of the world...
).
West Side Highway
The West Side Highway is a mostly surface section of New York State Route 9A that runs from West 72nd Street along the Hudson River to the southern tip of Manhattan. It replaced the West Side Elevated Highway, built between 1929 and 1951, which was shut down in 1973 due to neglect and lack of...
. However, in June, 2006, the developer began construction of a tunnel for the north-bound relocated highway between 61st and 65th streets, raising hopes that the highway will eventually be moved.
Buildings
The second phase of Riverside South is projected to be completed when the housing market improves. Overall, the project consists of nineteen apartment buildings, condominiumCondominium
A condominium, or condo, is the form of housing tenure and other real property where a specified part of a piece of real estate is individually owned while use of and access to common facilities in the piece such as hallways, heating system, elevators, exterior areas is executed under legal rights...
s, and lease properties. , twelve buildings have been completed.
As with all dwellings bearing the Trump name, living units in Riverside South are likely to be positioned towards the high-end housing market. Nevertheless, 12% to 20% of the units will be affordable
Affordable housing
Affordable housing is a term used to describe dwelling units whose total housing costs are deemed "affordable" to those that have a median income. Although the term is often applied to rental housing that is within the financial means of those in the lower income ranges of a geographical area, the...
, as required by the City Planning Commission approval of the project.
External links
- Lessons from Riverside South, Julia Vitullo-Martin, January, 2004
- Riverside South Planning Corporation
- Trump Place 220 Profile at CityRealty
- Extell Development's Riverside Center
- Trump Place Building Information