Developer gives first look at planned skyscraper near Grand Central Terminal but lacks key piece to make it a reality

It’s build-or-bolt time for BXP on Madison Avenue.The developer is itching to build a skyscraper at 343 Madison between East 44th and 45th streets, which is currently a block-long, empty lot owned by the MTA.But it needs an anchor tenant before the striking, 46-story, 950,000 square-foot tower — designed by Kohn Pedersen Fox — shown here for the first time — can rise.BXP, previously known as Boston Properties, tapped a crack CBRE leasing team to make it happen.

The ground-lease agreement with the MTA gives BXP an off-ramp to terminate its 99-year leasehold by July 31, 2025, if a tenant can’t be found.BXP was chosen to develop the site in 2016.Now, after demolition of the old MTA headquarters and sale last year of a minority stake to Oslo-based Norges Bank Investment Fund, the developer hopes to exploit demand in the red-hot Grand Central district, where SL Green’s new One Vanderbilt leased up almost overnight.CBRE’s Howard Fiddle said BXP’s “state-of-the-art, highly sustainable tower” would provide a “single-seat commute” from nearly everywhere in the tristate region.

The CBRE leasing team also includes Peter Turchin, John Maher, Evan Haskell and Caroline Merck.BXP is already building for the MTA a new above-ground entrance to Grand Central Terminal at the corner of Madison and 45th in what’s described as the first phase of the project.During a recent investors call, BXP executive vice president for New York Hilary Spann cited “tightness in the Park Avenue district with very little Class-A premier workspace available” as reason for confidence in the tower, which BXP touts as a sustainability-driven, all-electric, “zero-carbon premier workplace.”Amenities are to include a double-height lounge and conference space on the 45th and 46th floors, indoor and outdoor dining spaces on “biophilic” terraces overlooking Midtown, and a high-end lobby lounge.Workplace floors range from 22,000 square feet in the tower to 27,500 square feet ...