What does 1090 feet look like?

May 18, 2026 Real Estate

This is a repeat of a post from 2023 — I thought it was worth rerunning with the latest info on the proposed tower for Independence Plaza at Greenwich and Jay.

The most recent plans, just filed with the Department of City Planning, show a potential height of 1090 feet, which I am pretty sure will make it the tallest building Downtown with the exception of 1 World Trade. Here are the heights of the other buildings on what was called the Washington Market Urban Renewal Area — the demolition that took place in the 1960s, making room for all the development we know along Greenwich from North Moore to Murray — in descending order:

  • 111 Murray — 792 feet
  • Citi — 496 feet
  • 101 Warren — 428 feet
  • Bank of New York Mellon (101 Barclay) — 361
  • Independence Plaza’s three towers — 356 feet
  • 200 Chambers — 301 feet

And some more supertalls in the neighborhood and in Fidi for reference. Only The Greenwich, the Rafael Viñoly-designed residential tower just south of the World Trade Center, crosses the 900-foot line *so far*. (That building is 455,815 square feet and has 243 units.)

  • One World Trade Center — 1368 feet to the room, 1776 to the top of the spire (get it?)
  • 2 World Trade (unbuilt) — 1226 feet
  • 125 Greenwich (The Greenwich) — 912 feet
  • 5 World Trade (unbuilt) — 900 feet
  • One Manhattan Square (in Two Bridges) — 847 feet
  • 8 Spruce Street — 827 feet
  • 56 Leonard (Jenga) — 796 feet
  • Woolworth Building — 792 feet
  • One Wall Street – 654 feet
  • 45 Park Place (stalled out) — 667 feet

The Greenwich

101 Warren and 111 Murray

Citi

101 Barclay – Bank of New York

IPN

200 Chambers

56 Leonard

45 Park Place

One Wall

Woolworth Building

One Manhattan Square

8 Spruce Street

 
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1 Comment

  1. Gary
    May 18, 2026 • 12:53 pm

    Magnificent display of the towers that “support” this supertall project. As they say, don’t tell – show. There’s nothing like real examples to help put things into perspective.

    If only E. B. White was here. These photos, and the new building proposal, vindicates what he wrote in 1948, in “Here is New York”:

    “Manhattan has been compelled to expand skyward because of the absence of any other direction in which to grow. This, more than any other thing, is responsible for its physical majesty. It is to the nation what the white church spire is to the village – the visible symbol of aspiration and faith, the white plume saying that the way is up.”

    Yes, he was right. And impressed as he seems to have been by this kind of building (“…this vigorous spear that presses heaven hard”), very soon he brings the reader up short with his pointed statement: “It is a miracle that New York works at all.”

    White comes back around to defend New York after two paragraphs filled with NY’s shortcomings and hazards. But what a litany of urban complaints! Read ‘em for yourself. Most of them are still true!

    So, here in 2026, with the wisdom of hindsight, everyone involved in this development should take a breath and consider before adding 1,090 feet to the crowded skyline.

    Reply

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