New York City's One World Trade Center to become SECOND tallest building in the country

Nordstrom Tower, being built at 217 W 57th Street in Midtown Manhattan, was previously planned to come up one foot short of the 1WTC, or the Freedom Tower, near the island's southern tip. 

One World Trade is currently the tallest building in the city and the Western Hemisphere, though that will change if the plans for its uptown neighbor are carried out and the new building reaches a staggering 1,795 feet.

The final 19 feet would put the 57th street tower above the building that now stands at the site of the 9/11 terrorist attacks, which is 1,776 feet tall at the top of its beacon.

Nordstrom Tower's developer Gary Barnett of Extell upped the height between April and June of last year, according to New York YIMBY.

Beyond the twenty feet added to its total height, new plans for the skyscraper see its parapet, the area below the pointed beacon, rise more than 50 feet to 1530 feet.

Concrete is already being poured for the project's foundation, with completion expected in 2018.

Even at its staggering heights, the new midtown tower will not approach the title of tallest building in the world. 

Dubai's 163-floor Burj Khalifa stands at 2,717 feet, with Saudi Arabia's Kingdom Tower expected to reach 3284 feet, or 1001 meters, when it is completed later this decade.

Adrian Smith + Gordon Gill Architecture, which designed the Kingdom Tower, is said to be involved in the Nordstrom Tower project.

It is expected to have a seven-floor Nordstrom's department store when it is finished.

The building will also be the world's tallest residential building and include luxury apartments.

The units could rival the $100million price tag for the penthouse at nearby skyscraper One57, according to 6sqft.

Critics of the spate of new skyscrapers being built in midtown Manhattan say they will cast shadows over Central Park. 

(dailymail.co.uk)