75-Story Tower May Soon Rise Beside MoMA

The city's Landmarks Preservation Commission is being asked to pave the way for the construction of a soaring glass tower that would alter the city's skyline and permit the expansion of the Museum of Modern Art.

Today, the 11-member panel will consider the plan by a prominent national developer, Hines, to build a twisting, 75-story apartment tower on a small site adjacent to MoMA.

The project architect, Jean Nouvel, last month won the most prestigious award in his field, the Pritzker Prize, and prominent members of the city's architecture community are expected to rally on behalf of the project, which they say represents a groundbreaking innovation. The plan is also facing loud criticism from neighbors and preservationists because of the tower's height and its mid-block location on a side street rather than an avenue. The critics say the angular design is out of context with one of Midtown's most visited blocks.

"This area is a very small footprint where they want to build and put a building that is taller than the Chrysler building," the president of the West 54th and 55th Street Block Association, Veronika Conant, said in an interview.

The preservation battle is part of a recent trend of developers hiring high-profile architects to add momentum to projects that face challenges acquiring the necessary city or state approvals.

Two years ago, many critics lauded the 30-story glass tower designed by another Pritzker Prize winner, British architect Sir Norman Foster, that was set to be built out of the Parke-Bernet Gallery building at Madison Avenue and 76th Street. After an outcry from neighbors and preservationists, the plan was rejected by the landmarks commission last year. "In the end, we think this building should be evaluated on its merits, not on the architect attached," the deputy director of the Historic Districts Council, Frampton Tolbert, said. "This was a big question that came up with the Norman Foster tower."

Hines will ask the landmarks commissioners to approve the transfer of development rights from two individual landmarks on Fifth Avenue — the University Club and St. Thomas Church — to a site formerly owned by the Museum of Modern Art, more than 500 feet to the west, near Sixth Avenue. The site does not fall within a historic district, but the landmarks commission has oversight because it involves the transfer of development rights from a landmarked building.

In considering the transfer, the commissioners must decide whether the application would help to preserve the existing landmarked structures, in the form of up-front restoration work or a long-term maintenance program. To begin construction, the developer needs several waivers from the city's Planning Commission and final approval from the City Council.

As part of its agreement with Hines, the Museum of Modern of Art would add gallery space on the second, fourth, and fifth floors of the new building. Museum officials support the plan and will have representatives present at today's hearing.

The executive director of the New York chapter of the American Institute of Architects, Fredric Bell, said his board was in favor the proposed building and that representatives from the AIA would testify today on behalf of the developer.

"We were generally much more positive than negative and it had nothing to do with Nouvel. Urbanistically the building completes a missing tooth on the street," Mr. Bell said.

Two years ago, the Whitney Museum on the Upper East Side pulled out of its third proposed plan in 11 years to do an expansion with a celebrity architect attached as a designer. The most recent architect was Renzo Piano.

"It's a very, very unique block similar to what the Whitney has uptown. We thought what Renzo was doing uptown for the Whitney was similar — creating a different idea for the area, which was a great idea," Mr. Bell said.

The local Community Board 4 recently voted against the plan, and a number of local residents are expected to turn out at today's hearing in opposition.

"I can't believe the claim that Nouvel looked at the context. If he had he would never have done this," Ms. Conant said. "It will have an incredible affect on the already crumbling infrastructure and it just doesn't fit there however gorgeous some people think it is."

It is unclear whether the Landmarks commission will make a decision today.