The MoMA tower is finally going up after purchasing $85 million in air rights from the neighboring MoMA and St. Thomas Episcopal Church. Formerly called Tower Verre, the project encountered the usual sorts of stalls, but after about a decade was able to push through. Among other things, with partner Goldman Sachs, developer Hines was able to get $1 billion in financing from international investors after it had first lost steam. Then, there was the issue of how much of a shadow it would cast on Central Park due to an initially planned 1,250 feet - when Hines purchased the site in 2007, it set the ambitious plan of erecting the city’s tallest residential tower. That title is now going to 432 Park pending its completion, which funny enough is currently catching some flack for the shadow that it would cast. That said, the tower, presently referred to as 53W53, won’t be a slouch at 1,050 feet. And it didn’t take its ad hoc museum moniker just from the air rights purchase, either - rather, it’s going to host 36,000 square feet of additional exhibition space on the second through fifth floors as part of the institution’s expansion efforts.

As for the residents of its future 171 luxury units, designed by architect Thierry Despont, the building’s amenities will include a fitness center, a 75-foot lap pool, 24-hour concierge service, great views of the park, and of course, the MoMA is across the street and partially on the bottom floors. Though, it’s worth wondering if any future residents would take advantage of that, kind of like how longtime urbanites rarely ever (or more accurately: never) visit the Statue of Liberty or the top of the Empire State Building. Anyway, if everything goes according to plan, the building is slated for a 2018 opening.