Midtown's Grand Hyatt Skyscraper To Include Public Art Venue

MIDTOWN MANHATTAN, NY — The giant skyscraper set to replace the Grand Hyatt Hotel and tower over Grand Central Terminal will include a new public art and event space, developers said Thursday.

The tower, at 175 Park Ave., will stand 83 stories and 1,646 feet tall — second only to One World Trade Center.

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Also included will be a cultural program held on the tower's elevated terraces, which will surround the building and cover 25,000 square feet, developer TF Cornerstone said.

Designed by James Corner Field Operations — one of the architects behind the High Line — the terraces will accommodate "a wide range of programming and activities," developers said.

TF Cornerstone is working with the Public Art Fund and Lord Cultural Resources to spearhead the installations.

Those organizations will hold community meetings and workshops in the coming months to collect feedback about the project.

The skyscraper is now in the early stages of ULURP, the city's monthslong public review process for major developments. If it is approved near the end of the year, demolition of the existing Hyatt hotel could start next year and construction on the new tower could be done by 2030.

The tower will include 2.1 million square feet of office space, a 453,000-square-foot Hyatt hotel and 10,000 square feet of retail space.

Along with the skyscraper, developers are pledging to overhaul the Grand Central subway station by expanding the cramped 42nd Street entrance by 5,400 square feet, removing overhead girders that support the current Grand Hyatt and widening sidewalks along Lexington Avenue.

It will be symmetrical and set back in four tiers to mimic the designs of pioneering skyscrapers like the Chrysler Building and the Empire State Building. Its stone-clad core and latticework pay tribute to Grand Central's design, developers said.

If the tower is built, Grand Central would be flanked by two skyscrapers — One Vanderbilt, which sits on the opposite side of the terminal, opened to the public in September.