343 Madison Avenue
Update
03/25/22
Demolition Continues Ahead of 55-Story Midtown Tower
Demolition contractor, The Titan Group, is currently in the process of demolishing a 15-story, Midtown office building at 345 Madison Avenue before work commences on 343 Madison, the brand new, 55-story office tower that will replace it.
From the street, nothing apart from the debris netting would indicate that any progress has been made, but when it comes to tearing down buildings of this size, it's often the interior prep work that takes the most time.
Behind the scenes, Titan has been working tirelessly to gut the insides of the structure. The process involves stripping out all the drywall, windows, fixtures, mechanical components, and most crucially, the electrical and plumbing systems. On top of that, if any hazardous materials (such as asbestos) were to be found, they'd need to be carefully disposed of using special procedures, which could be an entire project in and of itself.
All in all, demolition in urban environments is a delicate process, and the structure generally needs to be stripped down to just steel and concrete before it can come down safely. When the interior prep finishes, however, we should start to see the building get disassembled rather quickly. After this, construction should begin on the new tower right away.
Developed by , and designed by , 343 Madison Avenue will stand feet tall and contain square feet of office space. The base of the tower will have a direct entrance to Grand Central's East Side Access platforms, as well as 2,100 square feet of ground-floor retail, making use of the high-dollar frontage on Madison Avenue. The project site also sits in the heart of East Midtown, which is one of the city's hottest development districts at the moment.
