T.J. Gottesdiener, Ken Lewis, Colin Koop and Chris Cooper
T.J. Gottesdiener, Ken Lewis, Colin Koop and Chris Cooper
Partners at Skidmore, Owings & Merrill
SOM has always had an outsized influence in New York City, and 2020 was no different. The firm is one of the largest architectural and planning companies in the city and the country, and their work on major infrastructure projects and high-rise commercial buildings carried them through the pandemic’s lean times.
While many architecture firms struggled as residential construction or city projects slowed to a crawl, SOM was wrapping construction on Moynihan Train Hall, an extension of Pennsylvania Station that was carved out of the former Farley Post Office. The redevelopment of the former postal sorting facility involved creating a new skylight above early 20th-century steel trusses, extending the platforms for Long Island Rail Road and Amtrak trains across Eighth Avenue, and completely revamping the building’s main hall into a massive hall with a separate retail area.
“COVID seems to have not had a big impact on us,” T.J. Gottesdiener said. “I really think there’s a renaissance coming; we’re really bullish on New York.”
The firm is also working on a slew of ground-up office developments, including Disney’s new 1.2 million-square-foot campus in Hudson Square, Brookfield’s 2 million-square-foot Two Manhattan West tower, and two boutique office projects for developer GDSNY at 28th Street and Seventh Avenue in Chelsea and at 1245 Broadway in NoMad. On top of all this, SOM recently unveiled plans for a 1,600-foot, 2.2 million-square-foot tower that will replace the Grand Hyatt Hotel attached to Grand Central Terminal, and include a 500-key hotel and 2.1 million square feet of commercial office space.
They are also overseeing the renovation and partial conversion of the landmarked Waldorf Astoria Hotel, which will eventually reopen as a 375-room hotel with 375 high-end condominiums.
On the residential side, The Howard Hughes Corporation and SOM recently won Landmarks Preservation Commission approval for their 25-story residential tower at 250 Water Street. The project, which will require a rezoning from the city, would hold 270 apartments, 70 of which are supposed to be affordable.—R.B.R.
