YIMBY Scopes Views From Foster + Partners' 425 Park Avenue in Midtown East, Manhattan

YIMBY toured 425 Park Avenue, a completed 47-story commercial skyscraper in Midtown East and the first new full-block building constructed along Park Avenue’s Plaza District in nearly half a century. Designed by Lord Norman Foster of Foster + Partners and developed by L&L Holding Company, Tokyu Land Corporation, and co-managing partner BentallGreenOak, the 897-foot-tall tower yields 667,000 square feet of flexible Class A office space with panoramic views up and down Park Avenue and over Midtown, Manhattan. Adamson Associates Architects was the architect of record, WSP was the structural and MEP engineer, R&R Scaffolding provided the BMU, and Tishman Construction was the construction manager for the property, which is located between East 55th and East 56th Streets.

425 Park Avenue. Photo by Michael Young

Our visit to the skyscraper was greeted with clear skies, facilitating fantastic 360-degree views of many famous New York landmarks. To the west is Billionaires’ Row starting with Rafael Viñoly‘s 1,396-foot-tall 432 Park Avenue, followed by SHoP Architects‘ 1,428-foot-tall 111 West 57th Street, Christian de Portzamparc’s 1,004-foot-tall One57, Adrian Smith + Gordon Gill‘s 1,550-foot-tall Central Park Tower, and a sliver of Robert A. M. Stern Architect‘s 220 Central Park South.

Photo by Michael Young

Central Park Tower, One57, 220 Central Park South, and 111 West 57th Street. Photo by Michael Young

The side profile of Jean Nouvel‘s 1,050-foot-tall 53 West 53rd Street is clearly visible from 425 Park Avenue.

53 West 53rd Street. Photo by Michael Young

To the south are notable Art Deco landmarks like Rockefeller Center, the Empire State Building, and the Chrysler Building, as well as the Citigroup Center, the MetLife Building, Lever House, and the Helmsley Building at 230 Park Avenue.

Photo by Michael Young

The Chrysler Building.Photo by Michael Young

885 Third Avenue, aka the Lipstick Building. Photo by Michael Young

Among these 20th century icons are new additions such as Kohn Pedersen Fox‘s 1,401-foot-tall One Vanderbilt and the rising 1,388-foot-tall steel-framed superstructure of JPMorgan Chase’s new headquarters at 270 Park Avenue, which Lord Norman Foster also designed for Tishman Speyer. It is expected to be finished by 2025. Construction will likely approach the halfway mark sometime this winter.

270 Park Avenue. Photo by Michael Young

To the east are the emerging skylines of downtown Long Island City, Hunters Point, and Greenpoint, as well as the Queensboro Bridge, SOM‘s 252 East 57th Street, and the recently completed 850-foot-tall Sutton Tower by Thomas Juul-Hansen at 430 East 58th Street.

Photo by Michael Young

Northern views show Central Park, the Upper East Side, and the rest of Park Avenue.

Photo by Michael Young

The Upper East Side. Photo by Michael Young

Central Park and the Upper West Side. Photo by Michael Young

Below are photographs taken from the 26th-floor outdoor terraces and the interior of the Diagrid Club. Outdoor spaces flank the northern and southern ends of the floor plate and are furnished with seating, tables, and landscaping.