An updated design has been revealed for PENN15, a proposed 1,050-foot supertall office skyscraper at 15 Penn Plaza in Midtown, Manhattan. Designed by Foster + Partners and developed by Vornado Realty Trust, the 52-story structure is slated to yield 2.1 million square feet of office space and lower-level retail. The property is alternately addressed as 401 Seventh Avenue and is located between West 32nd and 33rd Streets, directly across from Penn Station. The project is planned as the centerpiece of the 7.4-million-square-foot Penn District master plan.
The above rendering looks east toward the Empire State Building, previewing a tiered massing with setbacks on all four sides of the superstructure. This form will create space for ten outdoor terraces serving tenants on multiple floors. The façade is depicted composed of a glass curtain wall with a series of vertical metal fins, and the structure will culminate in a mechanical bulkhead clad in light gray paneling. Large LED boards will cover the podium above the retail frontage on the western elevation facing Seventh Avenue and Penn Station.
The following diagram breaks down the programming across the height of the building. Mechanical floors will be discreetly integrated into the design, unlike the more conspicuous arrangement used in similar properties like 432 Park Avenue.
15 Penn Plaza. Designed by Foster + Partners.
Additional renderings preview the tower’s base, porte-cochère, and terraces. The ground floor will feature a revamped entrance to the 34th Street–Penn Station subway station, which serves the 1, 2, and 3 trains.
15 Penn Plaza. Designed by Foster + Partners.
15 Penn Plaza. Designed by Foster + Partners.
15 Penn Plaza. Designed by Foster + Partners.
15 Penn Plaza. Designed by Foster + Partners.
15 Penn Plaza. Designed by Foster + Partners.
15 Penn Plaza. Designed by Foster + Partners.
15 Penn Plaza. Designed by Foster + Partners.
15 Penn Plaza. Designed by Foster + Partners.
The site was formerly occupied by the Hotel Pennsylvania, which began demolition in 2022. The building was razed to street level by the middle of the following year, leaving only two LED billboards on steel supports facing Seventh Avenue that remain in operation. Demolition of the substructure was never completed, and the bases of the columns from the hotel remain boarded up with plywood.
15 Penn Plaza. Photo by Michael Young.
A construction timeline for PENN15 has yet to be announced.
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Since Vornado owns the entire block, I am surprised they haven’t demolished the old Gimbel’s/Manhattan Mall, which appears to be struggling. The LIRR tracks run under part of the old hotel.