Two-Skyscraper Proposal Revealed For 629 West 54th Street, 801 Eleventh Avenue in Hell’s Kitchen, Manhattan

Diagram courtesy of Hill West Architects.

Proposals have been revealed for a pair of mixed-use skyscrapers at 629 West 54th Street and 801 Eleventh Avenue in Hell’s Kitchen, Manhattan. Designed by Hill West Architects and developed by The Chapman Group and Friedland Properties, the project consists of a 42-story tower standing 565 feet tall at 629 West 54th Street and a 38-story, 525-foot-tall tower at 801 Eleventh Avenue. The former will yield 617 rental units, with 154 reserved for affordable housing, as well as 84,359 square feet of commercial space, while the latter will house 447 rental units, with 119 slated for affordable housing, and 64,392 square feet of commercial space. The skyscrapers will rise from opposite corners of two separate city blocks bound by West 55th Street to the north, West 54th Street to the south, Eleventh Avenue to the east, and Twelfth Avenue to the west.

The axonometric diagram above shows the two proposed towers in relation to the surrounding waterfront area. The pink lower levels indicate the podium commercial spaces, which are both expected to be occupied by car dealerships. The taller building at 629 West 54th Street features a symmetrical design with two mid-rise arms on the northern and southern sides topped with what appears to be green terraces. The shorter sibling to the east has the same tower orientation, but with an offset bulkhead and cutout down the majority of the southwest corner. A small green terrace is also visible on a lower-level setback.

The following plans offer more detail for 801 Eleventh Avenue, followed by 629 West 54th Street.

Plan view of 801 11th Avenue courtesy of The Chapman Group.

Plan view of 629 West 54th Street courtesy of The Chapman Group.

To build the towers to their intended scale, the developers are seeking to acquire unused development rights from Hudson River Park Piers 81, 83, 98, and Chelsea Piers, taking advantage of the Hudson River Park Special District resolution that allows for the transfer of air rights from these zones to inland developments in exchange for capital improvements to the parks. In return for the development rights, the development team would contribute new green space and aid in the redevelopment of Pier 76, which is currently in need of roughly $150 million of repair work.

Diagram courtesy of Hill West Architects.

Plans were first revealed during a Manhattan Community Board 4 Clinton-Hell’s Kitchen Land Use committee meeting earlier this month. The developers are also currently negotiating with the board to implement a residential floor-area-ratio (FAR) above 12 after the cap, originally mandated in 1960, was lifted last year. The two projects must also go through a zoning text amendment and a Uniform Land Use Review Procedure (ULURP) before gaining approval from the City Council.

The low-rise structure currently occupying 629 West 54th Street is partially vacant with a car dealership, while the other low-rise occupant at 801 Eleventh Avenue is fully vacant. The Chapman Group purchased for the latter for $8.25 million in 2011.

The closest subways from the site are the 1, A, B, C, and D trains at the 59th Street-Columbus Circle station to the east along Eighth Avenue.

The development team is aiming to complete the ULURP procedure before the end of the year, and to finish both 629 West 54th Street and 801 Eleventh Avenue as early as 2029.

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20 Comments on "Two-Skyscraper Proposal Revealed For 629 West 54th Street, 801 Eleventh Avenue in Hell’s Kitchen, Manhattan"

  1. Why so much affordable housing? It just means it’s all the more expensive for everyone else in the building. Removing rent control and affordable housing are all part of the reason that rent is spiraling upwards. M

  2. Acquiring dock rights, why

  3. What is “affordable housing” in such a high price, decadent city?

    • Housing affordable to the people who come to paddle back the rich folk who have heart attacks in their offices.
      Caustic? Yes. But that’s exactly what is necessary and why. The

  4. This looks like a great development on some very underutilized land. Upgrades to the pier are also very welcome. Hope this gets approved and built quickly.

  5. Something is off here. I think 801 11th Avenue is north of 55th street, so it is not in the same block as 629 W. 54th Street.

  6. Please renovate all those piers.

  7. Aaah Hill/West – the mediocre-est of the mediocrities, they should only bew given AOR jobs-leave design to more talented offices

    • They’re better than SLCE.

    • Hill/West: New York’s 2nd Most-Okayist Architecture Firm.

      SLCE remains the numero uno Okayist.

      Got a small budget and you’re fine with mediocre? They got ya covered. Got a big budget but you’re still fine with mediocre. The can do that to. Want to hire RAMSA and just need them to do the drawings. That’s their bread and butter.

  8. I worked next door at 630 west 54th for 5 years. You have to take a bus from 57th St & 8th avenue to get there. Some mornings that was a 20 minute bus ride with a red light at every intersection. Also, you ain’t gunna walk it in the winter because the wind blows off the river and WILL knock you down. Not to mention frostbite.

  9. idiotic air rights…

    • You mind doing a better job at elaborating your opinion, aside from blurting out a baseless claim like a radical?

  10. 54th street is an absolutely wonderful site-beside a park and on the waterfront-those views will be as close to permanent as is possible. Given Clinton is beside Midtown one assumes the subsurface should be solid granite…why not a few more levels to assist w the housing shortage.

  11. David : Sent From Heaven. | January 26, 2025 at 12:16 am | Reply

    At least affordable housing is still more livable than slums, that full of nasty germs: Thanks to Michael Young.

  12. That’s 1,064 units…build now!! We need housing badly

  13. Looks like another winner on the west side-Let’s Get it Going!

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