A highly controversial proposal hit the newswire this week, as JP Morgan announced its plans to demolish 270 Park Avenue (formerly known as the Union Carbide tower), designed by architect Natalie Griffin de Blois.
"JPMorgan Chase announced on Wednesday that it will demolish its headquarters on Park Avenue between 47th and 48th Streets and build a new 70-story world headquarters on the site for its 15,000 employees," reports Charles V. Bagli.
"The building would be the first skyscraper to go up under new zoning rules for the area surrounding Grand Central Terminal, which were designed to encourage the development of taller, more modern skyscrapers and ensure that Midtown remains one of the city’s premier business districts," ads Bagli.
The article includes more details about the proposed demolition and new skyscraper. The article also includes a quote from Mayor Bill de Blasio touting the project as a sign of the Midtown East plan, approved in 2017. For additional perspectives on the skyline changing news, see an article by Jonathan Hilburg, and another for the real estate website The Real Deal.
Planetizen followed the Midtown East rezoning processes through the de Blasio Administration, as well as a previous, unsuccessful attempt at rezoning during the Bloomberg Administration.
Read the full story: Out With the Old Building, in With the New for JPMorgan Chase
Planetizen Federal Action Tracker
A weekly monitor of how Trump’s orders and actions are impacting planners and planning in America.
California plans to bury El Niño’s downpour
If the state plays its cards right, it may be able to store a billion acre-feet of El Niño’s water in aquifers.
Desperate measures: Advocates weigh draining Lake Powell to fill Colorado River
Draining the reservoir could reduce evaporation losses by a couple hundred thousand acre-feet.
In Texas, data centers are swallowing promised parkland
Residents who moved to Taylor, Texas for a rural community now have to contend with three data centers in their backyard.
How a Chicago-sized wind farm beat the odds and powered on
The project spanned five presidential administrations and a standoff with a U.S. military base.
MTA gives itself 30 days to transform pit into basketball court
The site has been under construction since 2022; the city originally estimated it would finish the court in 2024.
FREE Course: Walkable City 1: Why Walkability?
After describing his path towards focusing on walkability as the essence of good planning, Jeff Speck marches through his five principal reasons for making more walkable places.
Reinventing Malls: Planning Alchemy—Turning Gray Fields Into Gold
The course focuses on the opportunities and imperatives that shape reinvention of mall sites.
City of Rosemead
Rutgers University, Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy
One Hundred Miles
Hunter College, City University of New York (CUNY)
The Architects Foundation
University of Cincinnati Online
City of Cambridge
Montrose County
The Pocatello Development Authority