Cesar Pelli’s Transbay Transit Tower, soon to be the tallest building west of the Mississippi, will reshape San Francisco’s skyline

The city by the bay will have a new heart in its skyline, once the tower’s 61 stories soar to 1070 feet.

By David Knowles / NEW YORK DAILY NEWS

Pelli Clarke Pelli Architects

Rising 1070 feet, the Transbay Transit Tower will be the tallest building west of the Mississippi when it is completed in 2016.

SAN FRANCISCO--A tower rises in the west.
Designed by renowned architect Cesar Pelli, construction of San Francisco’s Transbay Transit Tower is now officially underway.
A mixed use skyscraper that will reside atop the Transbay Terminal — a future rail hub that developers are billing as the west coast equivalent to Grand Central Station — Pelli’s sleek tower will reach 61 stories, 1070 feet into the sky, making it the tallest building west of the Mississippi River.

Peter Hurley

Architect Cesar Pelli says he hopes his creation will add some spark to what has become a "rather boring skyline" in San Francisco. 

“The numbers don’t interest me,” Pelli told the Daily News. “What is important is that the building be visible above others.”
More than 200 feet taller than the iconic Transamerica Pyramid, the city’s highest man made peak since it was completed in 1972, Pelli’s design will go up just south of Market St., a part of town ripe for the addition of a bold architectural landmark.
“I have known San Francisco for over 50 years,” Pelli said, “and it used to have a much more cheery silhouette than it does today. I’m sad to say it has become a rather boring skyline because of building codes.”

Pelli Clarke Pelli Architects

The Transbay Transit Tower will be more than 200 feet taller than the Transamerica Pyramid. 

No stranger to spicing up a city’s visual geography, Pelli, who was born in Argentina, got his start as an assistant to Eero Saarinen when the Finnish-American master was designing the space age TWA Terminal at JFK airport. After going on to serve as the Dean of the Yale University School of Architecture, Pelli founded his own firm, Pelli Clarke Pelli, and went on to design such eye-popping skyscrapers as Kuala Lumpur’s Petronas Towers.
Drawing inspiration from New York’s Empire State and Chrysler buildings, Pelli says the idea behind the Transbay Transit Tower’s tapered, illuminated crown is to draw the eye up into the sky.
“An architect has to be expressive,” Pelli, the founding partner of the firm Pelli Clarke Pelli, said. “This is going to be a very elegant and gracious tower. I wanted it to have a graceful note.”

Pelli Clarke Pelli Architects

Part of the new Transbay Terminal, a high speed rail and transportation hub, the Transbay Transit Tower will feature approximately 1.3 million square feet of rental space. 

As with every building project in San Francisco, earthquake safety is a priority, but even though the tower is going up in a part of the city where landfill was used to cover over the Bay, Pelli says there’s no need to worry.
“Towers are inherently safer in earthquakes than low buildings,” Pelli said. “If you know an earthquake is coming run to the tallest building you can find.”
The developers for the project — Boston Properties, Inc., which is owned by Daily News publisher Mort Zuckerman, and Hines — estimate that building the tower will cost upwards of $1 billion.

Ken James/Bloomberg

Set at the corner of First and Mission Streets, the Transbay Transit Tower will cost an estimated $1 billion to build. 

With luck, by the time the tower is finished in 2016, the adjacent rail terminal will be have progressed beyond the planning stage. Then again, since California voters approved a high speed rail line connecting San Francisco and Los Angeles five years ago, the estimated cost of the project has doubled to a jaw dropping $69 billion.
Still, with or without the high speed train, the Transbay Transit Tower will be completed and offer 1,300,000 square feet of rental space.
“It will be a shame if California doesn’t build high speed rail,” Pelli said. “When I go to Japan I never fly while I’m there. I take the Shinkansen everywhere.”
With anticipation running high in San Francisco to see how the Transbay Transit Tower will reshape the city, Pelli is already on to new projects.
When asked if there’s anywhere in the world he’d especially like to leave his architectural mark, he laughs and says he leaves that up to his clients.
“I’m like a kid on Christmas, waiting to see what I’m going to be given,” he explained.

Read more »

Living the high life in the land of the skyscraper: Panoramic pictures of Dubai show two sides of the shining city

• Russian tourists who took pictures from top of Great Pyramid capture new photographs from Dubai skyscrapers
• Images capture everyday life in the 'City of Gold' along with some spectacular images of world's tallest buildings
• Elsewhere, images also show aspects of life for some of the city's less wealthy residents

By James Rush

Taken from the edge of a scyscraper, hundreds of feet above the ground, these images offer an extraordinary glimpse into life among the enormous buildings in the desert city of Dubai.
With its gleaming buildings reaching for the skies and its vast network of roads and transport links on the ground, the UAE capital certainly appears to live up to its nickname, the 'City of Gold'.
The pictures, which include incredible shots of the First Interchange road junction as well as the Burj Khalifa, the tallest building in the world, were captured by a group of Russian tourists.

Spectacular: The latest pictures by the group of Russian tourists capture Dubai from above

On the edge: Members of the group take pictures from rather precarious positions

Looking down: The picture capture the city's distinctive skyline, as well as its extensive road network

Bird's eye view: A picture peering down on to a balcony surrounded by skyscrapers in Dubai

The group were previously responsible for capturing the views from the top of Egypt's famous Giza Necropolis, according to English Russian.
The latest pictures, published on the group's blog, show some daredevil photography, as they stand on ledges hundreds of feet above the ground to capture the revealing images.

 

The images also show a side to Dubai less familiar to many - people playing cricket in the desert on the outskirts of the city, along with some of the poorer residents in the area.
There are also shots of people sunbathing on balconies, along with impressive pictures of some of the world's most famous hotels.

Impressive: The First Interchange road junction with the Burj Khalifa, the tallest building in the world, in the background

Life in the desert: A group set up to play cricket away from the hustle and bustle of the city

A different view: A less glamorous side to the 'City of Gold'

Bustling: The city bustles beneath the towering skyscrapers reaching for the skies

Top of the world: Members of the group take a break from capturing pictures themselves to pose for a photo from high up

Sunbathing: Two women catch some rays from a balcony on one of the buildings in the city

Looking up: A photographer peers through his camera the roof of the five star hotel Millennium Plaza to get a picture as the city lies in the background

Oil-rich Dubai is home to the tallest building in the world, the 2,722-foot Burj Khalifa, and the city is about to begin building works on the world's largest Ferris wheel on a fake island off its coast.
Last week MailOnline reported how a group of Russian tourists waited until official visiting hours were over at Egypt's famous Giza Necropolis, before scaling the enormous Great Pyramid as the sun began to set.
The Russians managed to escape the attention of security guards at the ancient site, allowing photographer Vitaliy Raskalov to snap pictures of the surrounding desert and the majestic Sphinx from the top of the 455ft structure.

Scene: The photographers can be seen taking shots from hundreds of feet above ground, capturing the city in the desert from a unique angle

Night and day: The city comes alive with colour in this image taken after the sun has gone down (left) while its glass buildings gleam in the bright daytime sunshine (right)

Junction: Dubai's busy road network can be seen to be well-used in this picture

Panoramic: While the city in the foreground is populated by huge buildings, the land surrounding the city appears to less well-populated

Designs: The city boasts some impressively-designed buildings

Taking a break: A man and two women chat while sitting on the roof of a hotel

Wealthy: Dubai Marina is home to some of the richest people in the city - tts hotels are also some of the most expensive

The Great Pyramid of Giza is the oldest of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World and the only one to remain largely intact.
It is thought to have been built as a tomb for an ancient Egyptian pharaoh over a period of around 20 years up to 2560BCE.
Officials in Egypt put a stop to people attempting to climb the pyramids in the 1980s, but it thought some guides will still take tourists part of the way up the structures in exchange for bribes.

Man-made: The canal which feeds into Dubai Marina

Out on its own: The Burj Al Arab, dubbed the world's most luxurious hotel

Expensive: Boats make their way across the water while Atlantis, one of the most expensive hotels in the world, lies in the background

Contrast: An avenue of skyscrapers stand by the side of a much more flat part of the city

After sunset: The city appears to be just as bright even when the sun has gone down

Lit up: Fountains shoot into the night sky as buildings glow a fluorescent green

Pyramids: The Russians have previously captured the view from the top of Egypt's famous Giza Necropolis

Read more »

Back in the ‘high’ life again! Apartments selling well at 432 Park Ave., which will be the tallest residential tower

Harry Macklowe and CIM Group is developing. Building so tall it needs FAA approval.

By Jason Sheftell / NEW YORK DAILY NEWS

dbox for CIM Group & Macklowe Properties

The tower that’s rising at 432 Park Ave. will be the tallest residential building in Western Hemisphere when it is completed in 2015.

The high life takes on a new meaning at 432 Park Ave., a 96-story residential tower that is set to challenge the Empire State Building as midtown’s tallest building.
Prices at the proposed 1,396-foot tall skyscraper start at $20 million for three-bedroom units with libraries and small terraces. Full-floor penthouses with 360-degree views cost up to $85 million.
“This building is the show- stopper,” said CORE broker Jarrod Guy Randolph, who toured 432 Park.

dbox for CIM Group & Macklowe Properties

On the site of the former Drake Hotel, 432 Park Ave. apartments come with 12 1/2-foor ceilings, 10x10 foot windows, and nine-foot doors.

Amenities in the Rafael Vinoly-designed building include a 75-foot-long pool, sauna, steam room, fitness center, and offices or guest apartments for purchase. On the site of the former Drake Hotel, apartments come with 121/2-foot ceilings, 10-by-10-foot windows, and 9-foot doors. Other perks include chauffeur service and a separate entrance for servants.
“Everything about this place is larger than life,” said Douglas Elliman broker Lisa Simonsen, who has clients close to contract. “There isn’t anything that is not exquisite.”
RELATED: GRAY IS RED-HOT ON UPPER EAST SIDE

dbox for CIM Group & Macklowe Properties

432 Park Ave. will transform the Park Ave. skyline and will require an aviation consultant to complete the study require by the FAA.

The Federal Aviation Administration isn’t convinced yet.
Like other skyscrapers, 432 Park will hire an “aviation consultant” to complete a study to prove the building won’t endanger airplanes or helicopters.
The FAA has not yet received an application from the under-construction tower at E. 57th St., an agency spokesman said. But a local real estate expert said it was likely 432 Park will rise to its stratospheric goal.

Andrew Savulich/New York Daily News

The current construction site at 432 Park Ave. as of March 14, 2013. 

“The financing is in place to finish (construction),” said a broker, and co-developer Harry Macklowe claims he has already sold one-third of the 123 units.
The broker, however, is still worried about pricing.
RELATED: NEW YORK REAL ESTATE IS A BARGAIN

Mark Lennihan/AP

When completed, the skyscraper will rise to a height of 1,398 feet (426.11 m). It is scheduled for completion in 2015 and would be the second-tallest in New York.

“Not everyone can afford to spend $30 million,” he said.
But plenty can.
“The number of buyers for this market is going up,” said Jonathan Miller, a New York real estate research expert with Miller Samuel. “With the financial crisis in Europe worsening and London considering a cap on financial bonuses, New York is looking more attractive. Projects like 432 Park are a big reason why. It delivers that outta-sight apartment these people want.”

Michael Toporkoff/UCSF via Wikipedia

The architect Rafael Vinoly in 2011.

Worldwide, New York City ranks first with 7,580 individuals with $30 million or more in total assets. For billionaires, the United States leads the pack with 543 in 2012, according to a study by London real estate concern Knight Frank.
Neither Macklowe nor a rep from CIM Group, the co-developer, would comment. The 432 Park tower could be complete by 2015.
The Empire State Building, with its spire, is 1,453 feet tall, putting it above 432 Park. But without the spire, the Empire State is a “mere” 1,250 feet tall, meaning the Park Ave. building would be champ.
The new 1 World Trade Center, however, will top off at 1,776 feet.

Read more »

Wales outshines Greece and Sardinia for beaches as Swansea's Rhossili Bay rated third best in Europe

• The three-mile stretch of white sand on the Gower Peninsula, was the UK’s top destination
• British resorts on TripAdvisor survey were Woolacombe Beach in Devon, and Cornwall’s Porthminster Beach at St Ives in ninth place

Forget the sun-kissed sands of Sardinia, Majorca or Greece – for the best beach experience, you’re better off travelling to Wales.
That’s according to a poll of tourists which placed Swansea’s Rhossili Bay at number three on a list of Europe best beaches.
The three-mile stretch of white sand on the Gower Peninsula, was the UK’s top destination.

Swansea's Rhossili Bay at number three on a list of Europe best beaches

The three-mile stretch of white sand on the Gower Peninsula, was the UK's top destination

Councillor David Phillips, leader of the City and County of Swansea said he was 'delighted, but not surprised' that Rhossili Bay has been acknowledged

Other British resorts on the survey by TripAdvisor were Woolacombe Beach in Devon, which was fifth, with Cornwall’s Porthminster Beach at St Ives in ninth place.
On the list of Britain’s best beaches, Longsands Beach at Newcastle upon Tyne was fourth, while in fifth place was Hengistbury Head in Bournemouth.

 

Dorset had two more beaches in the UK top ten – Weymouth, in seventh place, and Sandbanks in Poole in eighth. Making up the rest of the list are Fistral Beach in Newquay, Cornwall – sixth – with Filey Beach in Yorkshire and St Brelade’s Bay Beach in Jersey at nine and ten.
The top European beach was Rabbit Beach at Lampedusa in Sicily, with Playa de las Catedrales in Rabadeo in Galicia, Spain, in second place.

Second place: A stretch of beach at Playa de las Catedrales in Rabadeo, Spain, was voted Europe's second best

Highest rated: The top European beach was Rabbit Beach at Lampedusa in Sicily

Popular beaches - such as Mirtos Beach, Kefalonia - were overlooked in favour of the Welsh beauty spot

Making up the rest of the list was Fistral Beach in Newquay, Cornwall (pictured)

Dorset had three beaches in the UK top ten - Hengistbury Head in Bournemouth, Weymouth, and Sandbanks in Poole

Sicily’s Rabbit Beach was also the top world destination, with Caribbean beach Grace Bay at Providenciales in the Turks and Caicos second, and Whitehaven Beach in Queensland, Australia,  at third.
Councillor David Phillips, leader of the City and County of Swansea said: ‘We are delighted, but not surprised, that Rhossili Bay has been acknowledged.
‘We hope that many more visitors continue to enjoy its outstanding natural beauty.’
A TripAdvisor spokesman said: ‘Huge congratulations to Swansea’s Rhossili Bay for beating many of the most exotic beaches across the globe.’

Read more »