45 Broad Street Residential Tower May Restart With New Developer
By Mark Hallum March 1, 2023 3:42 pm
reprints
After a prolonged period of sputtering starts and stops, a vacant lot across the street from the New York Stock Exchange is likely to get filled with a 60-story condominium building, with a new developer taking over from Madison Equities.
Development firm Gemdale filed plans to build the condo tower at 45 Broad Street in a similar size to Madison’s original idea for the site, according to property records. A note on Madison’s website said it “sold its interest in the project” and it “remains on hold.”
Spokespeople for Gemdale and Madison did not respond to requests for comment.
Gemdale bought an easement on the property for $570,000 in March 2022 from Madison — which purchased the site for $86 million in 2015 — and filed plans with the New York City Department of Buildings in October. Gemdale amended plans last week, calling for 150 units total, according to property records. That’s one-third less than the 226 units Madison wanted.
Lendlease has been secured as the construction manager, but declined to comment.
Gemdale is known for projects such as 121 East 22nd Street in Manhattan, the Skyglass at 222 Dexter Avenue North in Seattle, and other projects primarily in California.
The Robert Gladstone-owned Madison originally planned to build a 1,100-foot, supertall condo tower designed by CetraRuddy Architects with residences all above the 230-foot mark and office and amenities on the lower section, according to Madison’s website.
CentraRuddy said it is not involved in what Gemdale is planning at the site.
Madison had at least $168 million in financing for the project, which it accumulated from Shanghai Commercial Bank over the course of 2019 and 2020.
Over that period, Gladstone put in work on the foundations of the residential tower by driving 470 steel piles into the ground to reach the bedrock 45 feet below the surface. The ground floor would have been only 9,000 square feet, Gladstone told Commercial Observer in 2019.
This meant that Madison was pouring money into the ground that it would have preferred to be spending in the sky, according to Gladstone, but the thoroughly secured building meant the elevators would operate more efficiently.
It also ensured floor plans that would price each unit between $2 million to $3 million.
But as the pandemic wore on, Madison quietly hit the brakes on the project, and it’s unclear why.
Mark Hallum can be reached at mhallum@commercialobserver.com.
