Dive Brief:

• A project called 53 W. 53rd Street was being planned when the recession dealt it what seemed to be a fatal blow, but it appears it was only knocked out.
• The project includes a 1,050-foot, steel and glass condominium tower and a 36,000-square-foot expansion for the Museum of Modern Art next door.
• The revived $1 billion project will be developed by Hines and is getting new life from a $300 million investment from the Kwee family of Singapore and money from Asian banks.

Dive Insight:

The 53 W. 53rd tower was proposed and designed in 2007 and was generating both positive and negative excitement among architectural critics (positive) and neighbors (negative). The downturn stopped all of that, but now the backing of the Kwees, who control Pontiac Land Group, is persuading banks to get on board. The tower is slated to have 145 residences that will start to be ready in 2018.