EB-5 filings show that Ritz-Carlton New York has plans to build the “Ritz-Carlton New York (Madison Park)” at Broadway and East 28th Street. Building permits filed in January 2016 call for a 40-floor, 580-foot tall tower designed by Rafael Viñoly Architects, which will contain 164 units, several eating/drinking establishments, a club lounge on the 29th floor and a rooftop bar on the 32nd. — 6sqft

The price, a record for a single U.K. office property, is remarkable given that the building will face ongoing maintenance costs, JPMorgan Chase & Co. analysts including Tim Leckie wrote in a client note. LKK, which sells Chinese herbal medicines, paid a 13 percent premium to book value for the property even as Land Securities’s shares trade at a 26 percent discount, he said. — Bloomberg

The effort to convert the old Penn Central rail yard on the Far West Side of Manhattan into high-rises has bumped along since being proposed in the mid-1970s by a developer named Donald J. Trump.

What was proposed for the area often rankled neighbors, who found the buildings to be too tall, too close together and too pricey. But, after welcoming its first residents in the late 1990s, the controversial mega-project is entering its homestretch. — The New York Times

Most of the foundations are completed for the three buildings, which will have rental apartments on the lower floors and condominiums on the upper ones. The partnership tapped Uruguayan architect Rafael Viñoly, who designed the slender ultraluxury condo skyscraper at 432 Park Ave., Richard Meier & Partners Architects LLP and Kohn Pedersen Fox Associates PC to design the glass, stone and metal towers, which range from 34 to 38 stories tall. — The Wall Street Journal

Three leading starchitecture firms – Rafael Viñoly Architects, Richard Meier & Partners Architects and Kohn Pedersen Fox Associates – have joined forces to collaborate on Waterline Square, a new residential development occupying five acres of land on one of the Upper West Side's last remaining waterfront development sites along the Hudson River. — Wallpaper

Critics of the tallest residential building in the western hemisphere, 432 Park Avenue, are quick to try to bring the tower down from its 1,400-foot pedestal. And strangely, its very own architect is the latest jump on the bandwagon. Rafael Viñoly admitted at a Douglas Elliman talk last week that his creation “has a couple of screw-ups,” namely the window framing, which he blames on developer Harry Macklowe, and the tiny issue of “the interior design and layout.” — 6sqft.com

Why build a straightforward bridge for an unremarkable sum when the same bridge could be built as a circle for vast amounts of money?

A new bridge spanning (or circumnavigating) Laguna Garzón, a coastal lagoon in southeastern Uruguay, poses just that question. [...] At a glance, it’s the sort of ridiculousness that you might expect of a bridge in London.

In fact, there’s a perfectly good functional explanation for it. — citylab.com

Designed by Rafael Vinoly Architects, which also designed the University of Chicago's Booth School of Business in Hyde Park, the 792-unit building would be the first of three that Crescent Heights plans just south of the park. [...]

Crescent Heights has become one of the busiest apartment buyers in downtown Chicago, recently paying $126 million for a 298-unit apartment building in the South Loop. It also owns 160 rental condominiums in Walton on the Park, a Gold Coast high-rise. — Chicago Real Estate Daily

A South Bay developer is reimagining an outdated Cupertino mall by building the world’s largest green roof on top of it.

The Vallco Shopping Mall, bought by Sand Hill Property Company for $316 million last year, is destined to become a 30-acre elevated public park that will connect shops to offices, trails and vineyards.

The $3 billion design was inspired by “starchitect” Rafael Viñoly, who is working alongside Olin Landscape Architects to replace most [of] the Valleco Shopping Mall... — CBS

Most ideas usually end up in the trash but few ideas are inspired by the basket that holds them. A recent discovery has revealed that...432 Park Avenue, was actually inspired by a Josef Hoffmann-designed wastebasket released in 1905. The revelation came via a talk held last December at the Cornell Center for Real Estate and Finance where Harry Macklowe, the co-developer of the supertall, told the crowd that the repository was an “important touchstone” for the 1,396-foot-high design. — 6sqft

Look out—not up—because there’s a new low-rise Rafael Vinoly-designed building coming our way. The architect mastermind behind the city’s tallest residential tower, 432 Park Avenue, has just been chosen to to design a comparatively demure ten-story office-and-retail building in the Meatpacking District, reports The Real Deal. The new addition is being developed by Vornado Realty Trust and Aurora Capital Associates and is located on the former site of Prince Lumber at 61 Ninth Avenue. — 6sqft.com

When it opens next month in Boston, the Edward M. Kennedy Institute for the United States Senate will be aiming to restore respect for Congress at a time when rancor and partisanship have seriously damaged its reputation. [...]

The 68,000-square-foot institute, designed by the architect Rafael Viñoly, is on the Boston campus of the University of Massachusetts and has a 99-year lease on the site. — nytimes.com

The Walkie Talkie – or 20 Fenchurch Street – became known as the Walkie Scorchie because of its apparent ability to bounce heat from the sun on to buildings in the next street in the City of London.

Yesterday, the developer, Land Securities, said that it had received planning permission for a “brise soleil” sunshade to be attached to the building to replace a temporary system erected last summer. Work is due to start this month. — telegraph.co.uk

Developers have promised urgent action to “cover up” the Walkie Talkie skyscraper in the City after an ultra-bright light reflected from the building melted a Jaguar car on the streets below.

The 525ft, £200 million building has been renamed the “Walkie Scorchie” after its distinctive concave surfaces reflected a dazzling beam of light which blinded passers-by and has now caused extensive damage to vehicles parked beneath it. — independent.co.uk

It's the first official day of spring, and that means this year's crop of new developments is about to start hitting the market. They'll have a lot to live up to, because the season is starting off with a big one: 432 Park Avenue! The city's—nay, the western hemisphere's—future tallest residential building is now available. Or at least, two-thirds of the units are. — Curbed