The obsolete office building at 460 Park Ave., now an empty vessel at the northwest corner of East 57th Street, will set soon sail with an all-new look and dramatically upgraded interiors.
The tower’s owner, the Korea International Trade Association (KITA), is launching a $200 million redevelopment to bring the entire 22-story, Midcentury property into the modern age.
The project to be completed in 2028 will bring to market a unique, 350,000 square-foot block of new office space on the prime stretch of Park Avenue, where direct vacancy is a minuscule 2.2%, the lowest in Midtown.
The mystery is now solved for passers-by who wondered why a promised new look for a large Citibank branch never happened — KITA bought out the lease to make way for the redevelopment.
The blocks between East 40th and East 59th streets are on a world-leading roll. Many neighboring buildings such as 425 Park Ave. are fully leased with some tenants paying up to $300 per square foot.
Further affirming the avenue’s No. 1 status, Gary Barnett’s Extell recently paid a half-billion dollars for the precious development site at 405-417 Park Ave., now a vacant lot, between East 54th and 55th streets.
Demolition meanwhile is underway for a planned office skyscraper at 450 Park to be developed by Vornado, Rudin and Ken Griffin.
Aided by a 20-year tax incentive under the city’s Manhattan Commercial Revitalization Program (M-CORE), KITA tapped SOM to design a new curtain wall for 460 Park, among other upgrades.
The structure will be cut down to its original steel bones and its current facade redesigned with floor-to-ceiling windows. The improvements are also to include a new, double-height lobby, new elevators, increased ceiling heights and advanced air-handling systems.
Office tenant amenities are to include a hospitality-driven, multi-floor amenity suite and outdoor terraces.
JLL is marketing the office space. The team includes Dave Kleiner, Frank Doyle, Peter Riguardi, Cynthia Wasserberger and Michael Pallas.
Kleiner said the project “offers a truly rare opportunity at a a time when large blocks of high-quality space in the Plaza District are increasingly scarce.”