MANHATTAN – Just as the Hospital for Special Surgery breaks ground on a new tower to be built over the FDR Drive next to its main campus on East 71st Street, the medical center is also expanding to the north— anchoring a new medical office building set to be constructed at the corner of East 79th Street and First Avenue.
The 30-story, 400,000 square foot building is being developed by Extell— the developer behind luxury buildings like the Lucida at 86th Street and Lexington Avenue, the Kent on East 95th Street. Extell is probably best known for developing One57— one of the first super-tall skyscrapers to line Billionaire’s Row just south of Central Park.
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According to Extell, the Hospital for Special surgery has signed a long term lease for half the usable space in the building. HSS will use the space, spread across the first eight floors of the building, for doctor’s offices ancillary services for those seeking musculoskeletal care. HSS ranks first in the nation for Orthopedics, according to U.S. News & World Report.
“We are grateful to Extell for building a superb facility that will help us to continue lead the world in specialized patient care, research, innovation and education,” said Louis A. Shapiro, President and CEO of HSS.
“This is an important step in the multi-year transformation of our main campus, and complement to construction of the HSS Kellen Tower over FDR Drive, which is now underway.”
The site, which stretches a full block from East 79th Street to East 80th Street, was cobbled together by Extell using ten different properties— the company says it took over a decade to assemble the relatively large plot of land.
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The lot has sat empty for two years since the row houses that lined the entire block were demolished. Groundbreaking on the new building is expected by the end of March 2022, with completion of the building scheduled for early 2025.
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Too tall looks hideous and doesn’t match the charm of that block.
Totally agree. Complete disregard for the neighborhood. Developer came to a meeting to hear from the neighborhood & was told repeatedly that folks did not want concrete & glass. We wanted something that fits the neighborhood.