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Zaha Hadid tapped to design a supertall skyscraper, "vertical mall" on Manhattan's Fifth Avenue

Zaha Hadid tapped to design a supertall skyscraper, "vertical mall" on Manhattan's Fifth Avenue

Developers Steve Roth and Jared Kushner have reportedly tapped Zaha Hadid to expand an existing 41-story office block at 666 Fifth Avenue into a supertall stack of apartments, a hotel, and a “vertical mall.”

Falling just short of the Empire State’s stature, no renderings or design details of Hadid‘s skyscraper have yet been released. But the New York Post claims the tower involves a “stacking” scheme whereby the developments might sit on top of the current building’s square base, eventually topping out 1,400 feet above the sidewalk.

The 58-year-old building currently standing on the site was designed by New York practice Carson & Lundin and was purchased by Roth and Kushner for a record-breaking $1.8 billion in 2006. “It is an extraordinary product and it’s a super location,” Roth was quoted in the Post. His company, Vornado Realty, also acquired the buildings retail complex in 2012 for $710 million.

Hadid has only made one foray in the New York architecture scene with a residential block at 520 West 28th Street (below) on the High Line in Chelsea. The Iraqi-born, British architect previously designed a tower scheme for New York City’s Park Avenue, but lost out to fellow Brit Norman Foster in 2012 in a competition.

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