57th Street is already known for its famous buildings, hotels, and restaurants. The 2-mile thoroughfare is home to the Hearst Tower, Le Parker Meridien hotel, Carnegie Hall, and the Russian Tea Room.
The street will soon be home to six new residential buildings that will change the face of New York's skyline due to their sheer height.
The artist's renderings below (courtesy of New York YIMBY) show what Manhattan's skyline will look like in 2020. The buildings outlined in red are all new.
Skeptics say the new buildings will block views and cast long shadows across Central Park. But that hasn't slowed development at all. The top rendering shows the park today; the bottom shows what it will look like when construction is finished (courtesy of the Municipal Art Society of New York).
next slide will load in 15 secondsSkip AdSkip AdHow will 57th Street change? Let's start on the east end, at 252 E. 57th St. between 2nd and 3rd Avenues. Construction on a 59-story condo building at this location started in 2013, and is expected to be done by 2016. This is how the lot looked back in 2008, when it was home to two schools.
Today, the space is home to a street-level Whole Foods and a revamped school space, which will serve as the base of the condo tower and are currently open.
When it's finished, the tower will rise 700 feet in the air, and will have 93 condos and 173 rental units, as well as a swimming pool, dining room, and billiards room. The total cost of the development is expected to reach $1 billion. The initial renderings showed a slender, tapered glass residence...
But the end result will likely be much more simple. These boxy building designs by SLCE were sent to the New York Building Commission.
Moving west, 432 Park, on Park Avenue between 56th and 57th Streets, has been under construction since 2012, and should be completed in 2015. This is what the site looked like back in 2008. The super-tall condo was designed by Rafael Viñoly, and has been getting a ton of buzz.
next slide will load in 15 secondsSkip AdSkip AdWhen it's complete, 432 Park will be tallest residential tower in the western hemisphere, at 96 stories high and 1,396 feet tall (until it's surpassed by a future tower). The construction, pictured here in July 2014, already rises well above its surroundings.
The skyscraper will eventually have 30,000 square feet of amenities and 125 residential units with price tags ranging from $7 million to $95 million.
Windows at 432 Park will be huge, at 10 x 10 feet, and each apartment will have 12-foot ceilings, private elevators, eat-in kitchens, and huge master bedrooms.
432 Park will offer residents a ton of amenities, including a restaurant, outdoor terrace, gym, spa, game room, and pool.
111 West 57th St. will be a few blocks west of 432 Park. The building's developer bought the land leases, as well as 45,000 square feet of air rights and a neighboring property, for $131.5 million in 2013. This is what the lot looked like in 2008.
next slide will load in 15 secondsSkip AdSkip AdConstruction began back in February, and so far, not a lot of progress has been made, as you can see in a current photo. The 60-foot-wide structure is expected to stand 100 feet taller than the Empire State Building, and will contain a hotel as well as condos.
Here's a rendering of the completed building. The tower will have three high-speed elevators and a hotel inside, as well as 45 luxury apartments.
Above the hotel, each floor of 111 West 57th St. will be a single 5,000-square-foot apartment with views of Central Park. The 1,350-foot tower will dominate its surroundings.
Perhaps the most talked-about building rising on 57th Street is One57. The mega-luxury condo, which was designed by Christian de Portzamparc and is being developed by Extell, has been in the works since 2009 (as pictured below).
The building is almost complete, and residents started moving in this summer. Standing 1,005 feet tall, One57 is currently New York's tallest residential tower.
next slide will load in 15 secondsSkip AdSkip AdThe building also houses the Park Hyatt, which hopes to become the city's newest 5-star hotel.
2 penthouse apartments at One57 each sold for a staggering $90 million back in 2012. The views should be spectacular.
Further west, Nordstrom Tower will soon rise at 225 W. 57th Street. (This photo shows what the space looks like in 2008.) One of the most enigmatic construction projects on Billionaire's Row, it's rumored that Nordstrom Tower will top out at 1,775 feet.
The first 7 floors of the building will house New York City's first Nordstrom department store.
Nordstrom Tower is expected to be the tallest residential building in the world, surpassing 432 Park. The developers behind the project have not confirmed any details, even after design plans leaked this summer.
next slide will load in 15 secondsSkip AdSkip AdStanding apart from the other skyscrapers on Billionaires' Row, 625 W. 57th Street on the far west side will be shorter and more moderately priced than its neighbors. The building is currently under construction between 11th and 12th Avenues, and will contain rentals — not pricey condos.
Here's what the site looks like today. 20% of apartments in the building will be set aside as affordable housing. The rest will be market rate.
The pyramid-shaped building, which is being developed by the Durst Organization and was designed by the Bjarke Ingels Group, will have eco-friendly water, heating, and cooling systems.
The building will also have retail space, and is slated for completion in January 2016.
57th Street isn't the only part of New York getting a revamp.