Renderings have been revealed for the expansion and residential reconfiguration of 809 Madison Avenue, a 12-story building on Manhattan’s Upper East Side. Designed by Robert A. M. Stern Architects and developed by Harry Macklowe of Macklowe Properties and SK Development, the project involves the addition of three floors above the existing roof, as well as a full renovation to convert its interiors into single-floor condominium units with an average scope of 4,000 square feet. The 159-foot-tall structure will also be expanded horizontally on its eastern elevation and will get new, larger windows. The roof-level addition will house a sprawling penthouse with a 1,500-square-foot private terrace. SLCE Architects is the architect of record for the property, which is located at the corner of Madison Avenue and East 68th Street.
The above photograph and rendering look south along Madison Avenue, comparing the current 12-story roof height and the new 15-story appearance upon completion.
Below are two street-level perspectives looking north and west at 809 Madison Avenue. Visible in the former is the renovated brick façade on the southern elevation to match the street-facing cladding. The latter illustrates the eastern horizontal expansion, which will rise from the building’s two-story base, as well as the tiered configuration of the three-story roof addition and its stone cornices and railings.
809 Madison Avenue. Expansion design by Robert A. M. Stern Architects.
809 Madison Avenue. Expansion design by Robert A. M. Stern Architects.
The below elevation diagrams depict the current and future appearance of 809 Madison Avenue’s northern elevation. The two water towers and mechanical bulkhead will be removed to make way for the three new floors. This drawing shows the eastern expansion featuring a stack of balconies lined with dark metal railings.
809 Madison Avenue. Expansion design by Robert A. M. Stern Architects.
Another diagram shows the main western profile and the stepped arrangement of the new stories, along with the enlarged window grid down the center of the building. The ground-floor retail frontage appears the same.
809 Madison Avenue. Expansion design by Robert A. M. Stern Architects.
The following Google Street View images shows the current conditions at 809 Madison Avenue.
809 Madison Avenue, via Google Maps
The developers purchased the building, which had been sitting vacant for roughly three years, for $49 million from Churchill Real Estate. Avison Young’s Alexandra Marolda, Brent Glodowski, and Eric Karmitz brokered the deal for the seller. The previous owner bought 809 Madison Avenue in 2019 for $55 million and sold off the retail portion of the site to the Jackson Group for $9 million in 2024.
A construction loan is being provided by Infinite Global Partners, led by former Silverstein Properties CEO Marty Burger, and Related Funds, while Sculptor Capital Management and Circle Property Partners are providing preferred equity. Michael Campbell of the Carlton Group arranged the financing.
The proposed exterior modifications and expansion have been approved by the Landmarks Preservation Commission, a required step given the property’s location within the Upper East Side Historic District. Harry Macklowe intends to use air rights to expand the structure. Units are expected to sell for more than $20 million each.
The closest subway from the property is the 6 train at the 68th Street–Hunter College station, located two avenues to the east.
A construction timeline and unit count for 809 Madison Avenue have yet to be announced.
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I kinda wish the middle section on the south side was infilled with white brick – as a reference to the existing back side service wall…..it would break up the facade and make it look a bit not like all the other RAMS buildings in the city, (which are all pretty good)……
Good first got at it, needs refinement.
The fact that it’s going to be one apartment is kinda bonkers.
Sitting vacant for 3 years doesn’t do anyone any good
Workable plan. Great location for the super wealthy…..the full floor apartments will be sold before the renovation/construction is completed
This is a building that needs a lot of love, and it’s gonna get it!
And, yes, please remove all those mini bathroom windows, which
ruin the two prominent facades.
According to their LPC proposal the building originally had ~3 apartments per floor, so while this will add an additional unit to the top, this ‘preservation’ project will increase gentrification and displacement pressure as this building goes from originally having 30+ apartments to only a dozen units.
‘Displacement pressure”?..this building has sat vacant for three years.
LOL gentrification.
on the upper east side (west of lex).
Literally always and forever the home of the “gentry”
Mathew clearly just graduated from one of those ivy league woke factories.
If you aren’t woke,
Then you’re asleep
This is how you do it. Thankfully the empty building is landmarked so it won’t be lost, and the addition is very cleverly done. Great job!
Agreed!
landmarked for what? ugly and not architecturally or historically meaningful
Landmarking is for the rich. It helps prevents a neighborhood from changing very much when absentee owners come to visit their second or third home.
All except billionaires, need not apply..
millionaires . and so what.
you think you deserve one for being you ?
they also contrite the vast majority of the personal income taxes in this city that pays for the budget larger then the state of Florida.
this website is about design and building – great job RAMSA, contextual and appropriate
Ok, but I’m a big fan of water towers, I hate to see them go…
.. No, I don’t think I just deserve to live here, and if you were all that clever you would understand that l used the term “billionaire” as a metaphor.
what is clever or amusing about what you said about billionaires ? please enlighten me.
and no I didnt say he was jealous. I cant afford it either.
Just not into class warfare. its tired and played and gets us Zohran as mayor.
also its CHOLLY , not Cholo thank you
Of course a cholo would be the one to play the “you’re jealous and can’t afford it” card. Tired of being a gangster yet?
This is like one of those “spot the difference” photo games.
It’s pretty easy to see the differences
Two things; 1)NYC is so very fortunate to have the attention and services of Rbt.AM Stern’s firm. Glad the building is being reused and preserved and not replaced by another glass and steel box, with the balance going to a landfill. I understand some of the frustration over the number of units, but that is the developer’s decision, not the designers’ as one comment implies. 2), on that topic, I’ll add Manhattan is but one of five boroughs, is clearly the most affluent and has been such for over a century. For a group of educated middle class citizens to complain that they cannot afford to live among the richest of the rich-a near constant refrain on this page-is simply demonstrating that despite one’s being well read, one is living in some alternate fantasy in ones’ mind. NYC has invested great effort and revenue into fostering percent set asides in exchange for height restrictions, investing the communities’ own resources in development aimed at below market rate housing, or the situation would be worse. The irony, revenue from the high priced commercial and residential properties foster that middle income housing. Rising waters raise all ships. hope this project becomes reality.
Your last sentence should read: A rising tide lifts all yachts.
A beautiful design and renovation. every time I would pass by the building, I would say what I said look at building on Madison Avenue. The larger windows really make it look like an impressive pre-war building and thank God they’re having that white wall removed which looks like a hideous 1960s extension. The penthouse finishes off the building beautifully and removes that ugly view of the water tower. Great job.!
I meant to say, Every time I would pass by the building, I would say, “What I sad looking building on Madison Avenue.”
One perhaps unforeseen result of projects like this is that once you pack the new units with ultra-wealthy residents, they will be very much inclined to want to protect the low scale of the UES historic district from out-of-scale development. Also, RAMSA does this kind of work very well.
The water tanks will disappear. I assume they will be inside, but will there be pressure for the units on the same level? This is a very sympathetic alteration of the building.
The very top floor of this ‘expansion’ will, I believe, be just mechanical, so the new gazillion dollar penthouse below will have its water pressure, it would be almost funny if it didn’t…
I like the proposal as well–if there has to be a proposal at all. But I do not understand who will live there. Is there really demand for more large sized, high end apartments in the neighborhood? Is there Armani building across the street fully sold? What about the 79th/Mad and 86th/Mad luxury towers that have been put up recently? Not to mention several new luxury buildings in the same area on Lex and 3rd avenues.
I worry this will become like the retail scene–lots of empty retail spaces. It’s so sad.
FYI, there is a demand for new condos in the area. Look at all the projects going up in Yorkville like the ones by Naftali Group and Legion Investment Group, and 3 new buildings by 72nd and 2nd
FYI, the Armani building has already fully sold out
FYI, the Benson and Bellemont have been really successful projects
“It’s so sad.” Stop being a dramatic NIMBY diva and take a hike.
totally agree. UES has some arguably the best new development sales in Manhattan in the last few years
dont worry yourself.
I think it’s good that they’re preserving a pre-war building. The new edition is good, although there is something off about the proportion, it doesn’t quite look classically correct. Candela did steps in classical proportions.