Dive Brief:
- New York City developer Sharif El-Gamal has proposed a 70-story luxury condominium skyscraper on the site where he originally intended to build a controversial, 15-story Islamic cultural center, just a few blocks away from Ground Zero, where the former World Trade Center towers once stood.
- The 667-foot residential tower, architect Michel Abboud said, will include 15 full-floor units with private elevators, a 50-foot swimming pool in the basement, concierge service, a high-ceilinged private lounge and an exterior silhouette that resembles a "mini condensed New York skyline."
- El-Gamal abandoned 2010 plans for what protesters called the "Ground Zero mosque" after critics said that its location so near to the site of the 2001 terrorist attacks was insensitive and an insult to those killed in the attacks.
Dive Insight:
El-Gamal’s new project comes four years after he tossed out plans for a mosque and cultural center near the lower-Manhattan site now known as ground zero, yet his new project has stirred its own controversy.
With average prices at more than $3,000 a square foot, El-Gamal’s plans for the condominium tower come at a time when there is concern about an oversupply of apartments targeting multimillionaires, particularly foreign buyers whose purchasing power is on the decline due to a strengthening dollar.
"There’s growing concern about the volume of new units coming on line that are targeting a fairly narrow bandwidth," said Jonathan Miller, president of New York appraiser Miller Samuel. "There are already a number of projects with big units online now, so it might be a little late to the party."
El-Gamal said his project’s planned unit prices are still below the most expensive in Manhattan, and that he is optimistic about its success.
"The tower is going to be a market-maker," El-Gamal told Bloomberg. "We’ve perfected a building that’s really going to share in a unique moment."