At number seven on our year-end countdown of the tallest construction projects in New York is The Torch, a 1,029-foot supertall skyscraper at 740 Eighth Avenue in Midtown, Manhattan. Designed by ODA and developed by Extell, the 52-story structure will span 885,902 square feet and yield an 825-room hotel topped by a public outdoor observation deck with a drop ride. The mixed-use project is also slated to include lower-level retail space, a restaurant on two of the upper floors, a VIP lounge, and a pool deck for hotel guests.
SLCE Architects is the architect of record for the development, which is located along Eighth Avenue between West 45th and 46th Streets on the border of Times Square and Hell’s Kitchen.
A significant amount of progress has occurred on the reinforced concrete superstructure since our last update in late-August, when construction had just begun to rise above street level. The undulating geometry of the floor plates is now visible in the podium levels, which surround three low-rise holdouts along Eighth Avenue. A hoist has been installed on the southern elevation above the podium setback as the hotel floors begin to steadily climb above the neighborhood. YIMBY expects The Torch to top out before the end of 2026, given the much smaller scope of the levels on the upper half of the skyscraper.
740 Eighth Avenue. Photo by Michael Young.
740 Eighth Avenue. Photo by Michael Young.
740 Eighth Avenue. Photo by Michael Young.
740 Eighth Avenue. Photo by Michael Young.
740 Eighth Avenue. Photo by Michael Young.
740 Eighth Avenue. Photo by Michael Young.
740 Eighth Avenue. Photo by Michael Young.
740 Eighth Avenue. Photo by Michael Young.
740 Eighth Avenue. Photo by Michael Young.
740 Eighth Avenue. Photo by Michael Young.
740 Eighth Avenue. Photo by Michael Young.
740 Eighth Avenue. Photo by Michael Young.
740 Eighth Avenue. Photo by Michael Young.
740 Eighth Avenue. Photo by Michael Young.
740 Eighth Avenue. Photo by Michael Young.
740 Eighth Avenue. Photo by Michael Young.
740 Eighth Avenue. Photo by Michael Young.
740 Eighth Avenue. Photo by Michael Young.
740 Eighth Avenue. Photo by Michael Young.
Some prominent design changes have emerged over the last few months, detailed in the below zoning diagram. The project’s height has been scaled down slightly from 1,067 to 1,029 feet, and the concave, spiraling geometry of the stem has been scrapped in favor of a simple vertical column.
740 Eight Avenue. Screenshot via https://a810-bisweb.nyc.gov/bisweb/bispi00.jsp.
The following outdated diagrams and renderings show the previous design, which would have provided a more natural transition from the hotel volume to the sloped pinnacle. In addition, the crown’s exterior also appears modified from broadly pleated glass panels to a more tightly corrugated envelope that ascends in rectangular blocks. These changes introduce a larger cutout in the northern elevation, where the observatory’s open-air steps will be located.
It remains unclear whether the top of the crown will retain the glass-enclosed landscaped garden, as detailed in the following renderings.
740 Eighth Avenue. Photo by Michael Young
The Torch at 740 Eighth Avenue. Rendering courtesy of ODA New York.
Rendering of The Torch at 740 Eighth Avenue by ODA and SLCE Architects. Photo by Michael Young
Rendering of The Torch at 740 Eighth Avenue by ODA and SLCE Architects. Photo by Michael Young
The Intamin-designed drop ride in the tower’s stem was originally planned to consist of 300-foot-tall transparent tubes that riders would traverse over a 90-second experience. However, these figures may have changed along with the rest of the structural revisions.
Updated renderings reflecting the design modifications have yet to be released. The Torch was initially aiming for completion in 2027, but sometime in 2028 is likely.
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The holdout properties are likely the worst since Rockefeller Center’s failure to obtain a 6th Ave. corner. I wish someone would throw some cold water on the Torch.
Basically great opportunity for the new mayor to raise taxes on hotels . This way the budget gets balanced. Tourists will not stop coming to NYC so great opportunity.
Tourists may not stop coming but conventions might. Hotel rates are a factor in their venue selection.
As it stands NYC hotels are already too expensive for middle class Americans to afford which is why NYC tourism is now overly dependent on wealthy international tourists. We don’t need to make it more expensive for the sake of making it more expensive. Our goal shouldn’t be to rip someone else off with higher taxes so we can save some money, it should be to have them cover their own costs so we aren’t directly or indirectly subsidizing tourists and tourist driven venues. Adding more hotels and rooms across the city is good for everyone as it allows us to continue converting older hotels into homes, and it creates capacity so when there is another fire, or another type of disaster we have rooms for temporary housing.
yup
the far left now in control only knows to spend other peoples money who they loathe for being successful.
and yes we should be a city for all – making it yet more expensive to access the city ( congestion pricing which is 24/7 , on top of tolls and parking) . For the life of me, I will never understand how spending more and wasting more solves any issue of “affordability”
while this is a new construction website, little is written about how the 2019 laws are strangling owners of stabilized controlled units. and the Pols plan to basically take them away thru foreclosure and give to their corrupt non profits (that pay themselves handsomely) remove the properties from the tax rolls and continue to decay. The victims will be the tenants who suffer from disinvestment and abandonment. Anyone around in the 70s and 80s will tell you
Here is a crazy idea. how about cut the bloat , waste and corruption in the already huge budget?
New York City’s budget is already higher then the state of Florida and they do not have a personal income tax.
How about not spending 10 BILLION dollars of New Yorkers money to house and feed hundreds of thousands of non citizens who came to our city without any means to support themselves. and not Maga (so annoying to just call names when pretty much all agree that was crazy and unsustainable, but the pols had to virtue signal) , just a New Yorker of common sense.
FYI –
The total mandatory hotel tax rate in New York City is a combined percentage of 14.75% plus a flat fee of $3.50 per room, per night.
Merry Xmas to all..Obviously this building was the #1 candidate in NYC to be value engineered. Hopefully, some of its original craziness won’t be V.E. out of existence, otherwise what’s the point?
The VE on the Torch was a bad Christmas gift to get today. Now the old design looks far more superior and will be missed.
G-d bless the holdouts!
Amen.
GREAT PROPERTY. The centerpiece of the revival of Times Square Theater District!
NYC has survived Abe Beame, 911 and Bill de Blasio, it will survive communism. It just may take longer to recover from, than the previous incursions.
Why don’t you move to Ohio
Merry Christmas MAGAt Edward.
Why don’t you move to Cuba
Architecturally, this building is ridiculous. From the abstract angle of art, I look at it as a sculptural addition to the skyline on a tall pedestal. Not ridiculous.
Amen to you too. We need a little bit of ridiculous in Manhattan. We need a little bit of everything.
Yikes! A lot of right-wing BS on this thread. Just to set something straight, NYC reached its peak population, peak employment, and lowest crime rates since they started keeping statistics under the De Blasio administration. It will continue to thrive under Mamdani–who is not a communist. Stop watching and reading Murdoch media.
You forgot to include the PEAK Cost of living too!
I can’t believe no one ever mentions the extraordinary photography of Michael Young.
Where would Yimby be without him. Detail work is great. I’m there with him.
Many do! It’s been fascinating to see his coverage of buildings over the years.
It’s not HC bresson
Well, duh lubomir. Any amateur would know he photographed people, not skyscrapers. Two totally different subjects.
edward Adrion wouldn’t know communism from a boiled hot dog in his
Actually it is the new East Wing with a ballroom drop ride built in and a bunker on the top floor for the president when he visits here. Hoe ho ho Merry Xxxmas.!
Every 1st comment in YIMBY by David if Flushing is negative🤔🤷♂️, What’s the point of being so vitriolicly crital & 100% hateful all the time!?, Maybe Ohio is a better place for David to live?🤷♂️,Nor Flushing NYC because apparently he longs for some “idealist” version of the city back when the Dutch arrived? The Indian days?, New Amsterdam?, the Ed Koch days?, Fort Apache the Bronx days?, Kurt Russel’s Escape From NY days?, what would make David happy? Should we all pitch in to relocate him to Toledo OH!?, i’m trying to be positive, solution oriented, optimistic, maybe the inherent strength of NYC is it’s dynamic perpetual evolution & the continually unfolding “tapestry” of layers of cultural, architectural & diverse interwoven “fabric” of various influence across the board, you don’t absolutely HAVE to live in NYC, endless criticism is counterproductive iny opinion, participate is positive influence & contribute, not just bark critiques from the “sidelines”🤷♂️☮️👍🌳
I do give credit where credit is due. The earlier comments on the Torch tended to the negative. It is something more fitting for Las Vegas. I do like a variety of architectural styles and am glad NYC is not all the same. I regard all-glass buildings as generally boring, Seagram and Lever House being exceptions. LIC could have done better without canyons of glass. I doubt very much that comments here have changed any construction.
I could see this being less abhorrent when constructed than the renderings initially show it. It will be interesting to watch it go up.
I hope it doesn’t turn into another zombie building, as it is a strong candidate for it should the market turn.
I have to admit I had some strange encounters on 8th Ave in the 1980’s. I am now 75.
Wasn’t one of the hold outs the old Eros theatre????? Ahhhhh! New York before Disney.
World famous!!!
Eighth Ave hit its recent nadir when The Row hotel became a migrant shelter. Happily it is closing momentarily. The Torch is at least new and it will bring visitors to NYC who will generate revenue for the City and area businesses. Unlike migrant shelters which were a sinkhole of NYC budget expenditures.
I believe that the building’s design in the example is dangerous because it gets thinner near the top and then gets thicker at the top
I love it
Maybe the ugliest building built in the city since… Most of times square. It fits in perfectly
Ugly original design now being further ugly value engineered. At least it will never be as prominent on the skyline as the renderings purport. I do support yet another tourist trap for Times Square tho, especially ones that will attract more local, domestic tourism.
An atrocity hitting every ugly branch on the way down to save every shekel they can.. gross Lol