At 255 East 77th Street, a 36-story residential tower located in Manhattan’s Upper East Side neighborhood of Lenox Hill, the foundation work is underway.
The 500-foot-tall building, which is being developed by Naftali Group and designed by Robert A. M. Stern Architects with Hill West Architects serving as the architect of record, will occupy 170,481 square feet, and house 62 condominium units, 3,861 square feet of retail space, two cellar levels, and 33 enclosed parking spaces. Situated at the intersection of Second Avenue and East 77th Street, the property is also known by its alternate address, 1481 Second Avenue.
Since our last report in late December, when excavation and pilings had just begun, significant below-grade progress has been made. According to recent pictures, a large portion of the corner site has been excavated while the foundations surrounding two temporary steel buttresses supporting the wall of the building next door on East 77th Street are being built.
The concrete formwork that would support the inner walls and columns was being laid by workers. YIMBY anticipates that the superstructure will rise before the end of the summer after substructure work continues for the next few months.
The structure is depicted in the main photo’s black-and-white layout as starting with a large, multi-story platform that opens into an East 77th Street automobile courtyard. After there, the tower climbs steadily for another two-thirds of a mile, after which a sequence of progressively steeper setbacks start to sculpt the skyscraper’s western elevation.
The structure ends in a complex crown that is capped by a bulkhead with metal ventilation grilles and a sequence of gently sloping curves. Along with several towering arched windows below the tower’s midway, the Prewar-inspired façade will also have jutting terraces with dark metal railings.
In 2021, Naftali Group paid $73 million for the land and got $236 million in construction finance from Starwood Capital and J.P. Morgan.
The 6 train at the 77th Street station, two avenues west, is the closest subway to the location.
According to information on the property, 255 East 77th Street is expected to be completed in the fall of 2026. There isn’t yet a finished set of renderings available.
