TSX Broadway is a 550,000-sf 46-story mixed-use tower that’s been under construction in New York City’s Times Square since 2019. This $2.5 billion project—whose development partners include L&L Holding, Maefield Development, Fortress Investment, and The Nederlander Organization—has retained 25 percent of site’s existing structure that included 16 stories of what had been a DoubleTree hotel, and the iconic Palace Theater, which on January 7 began its journey from the ground floor of this site to being lifted and repositioned 30 ft above grade to make way for 75,000 sf of street-level retail.
The lift of the 7,000-plus-ton, 27,000-sf theater with landmark status was expected to take six to eight weeks, at which point the Palace Theater will undergo a $50 million renovation that includes a new entrance on 47th Street with an 80-ft marquee, the addition of 10,000 sf of front-of-house space with a new lobby, a new orchestra pit for the 1,700-seat theater, and more back-of-house space.
Last week, the project’s Building Team poured the 43rd floor of TSX Broadway, which along with the theater is scheduled for completion in the fourth quarter of 2022, according to Robert Israel, Executive Vice President of L&L Holding and the firm’s project manager, with whom BD+C spoke earlier this week.
Also see: An animation of the demolition, excavation, and theater lift
HEAVY LIFTING
![Hydraulic jacks used to raise the theater](/sites/default/files/inline-images/%2ATSX%20Broadway%20Theatre%20Lift%20January%202022%20Day%202-54.jpg)
This project, he said, required a new permanent foundation, a new subcellar level, and a lifting foundation. The lift itself is utilizing a mechanism, devised by Urban Foundation Engineering, that combines 34 structural lifting posts and 136 hydraulic jacks. Israel said that the developers hired the structural engineering consultant Howard Shapiro & Associates to ensure the security and stability of the structure and theater, which was originally built in 1913 and remodeled in 1988.
The 580-ft-tall tower, when completed, will also feature a 669-key hotel (Israel said the developers were close to signing a branding and property management deal, but could not disclose the hotelier).
RISING ABOVE THE NOISE
![Exterior lighting systems for TSX Broadway](/sites/default/files/inline-images/TSX%20Broadway%20Mancini%20Duffy.png)
The building will also have several signage and lighting systems, all designed for marketing purposes: the exterior of floors three through nine will be distinguished by an 18,000-sf LED podium sign into which is integrated an indoor-outdoor stage with a 30x30-ft opening and a 35-ft depth that extends 10 ft outside beyond the LED lights. Israel suggested that this space could be used for New Year’s Eve events, and all manner of performances and broadcasts.
There will also be crown signage at the top of the building, and a full-tower lighting system, dubbed The Beacon, that will be able to project programmed messages and images.
Also see: How TSX Broadway will become the world’s largest billboard
TSX Broadway’s Building Team includes Mancini Duffy (AOR core and shell and hotel), PBDW Architects (AOR theater design and historic preservation), Jablonski Building Conservation (historic preservation consultant), Wise Janney Elsner Engineers & Architects (plaster structural support consultant), Cosentini (MEP), Langan (SOE/foundation engineering consultant), Severud (SE), and Perkins Eastman (lead design of building envelope).
Related Stories
| Dec 9, 2014
Steven Holl wins Mumbai City Museum competition with 'solar water' scheme
Steven Holl's design for the new wing features a reflective pool that will generate energy.
| Dec 9, 2014
Must see: World's tallest cylindrical aquarium unveiled in Moscow
The aquarium, designed and built by International Concept Management, is a staggering 23 meters tall and is viewable from all four levels of Europe's largest shopping center.
| Dec 8, 2014
Steven Holl's expansion to JFK performing arts building breaks ground
Designed by Holl and BNIM, the 65,000-sf facility will function as an interactive space, where artists and the community can come together.
| Dec 5, 2014
Must see: Dumpster becomes a public space in art installation
Dumpsters tend to be seen as necessary evils of city life, but John H. Locke and Joaquin Reyes wanted New York City's residents to think about them in a different way.
| Dec 4, 2014
£175 million 'Garden Bridge' gets the green light to cross the Thames
Westminster Council has approved a £175 million 'Garden Bridge' that will allow pedestrian traffic only. There has been some controversy about this bridge, which is expected to attract seven million visitors annually.
| Nov 25, 2014
Behnisch Architekten unveils design for energy-positive building in Boston
The multi-use building for Artists For Humanity that is slated to be the largest energy positive commercial building in New England.
| Nov 18, 2014
Fan of the High Line? Check out NYC's next public park plan (hint: it floats)
Backed by billionaire Barry Diller, the $170 million "floating park" is planned for the Hudson River, and will contain wooded areas and three performance venues.
| Nov 17, 2014
'Folded facade' proposal wins cultural arts center competition in South Korea
The winning scheme by Seoul-based Designcamp Moonpark features a dramatic folded facade that takes visual cues from the landscape.
| Nov 14, 2014
Bjarke Ingels unveils master plan for Smithsonian's south mall campus
The centerpiece of the proposed plan is the revitalization of the iconic Smithsonian castle.