Plans for Tower Verre, a 1,250 ft-tall (380 m) skyscraper at 53 West 53rd Street, were announced in 2007 in conjunction with an expansion of MoMA.

[4] 53 West 53 is one of several major developments in the northern section of Midtown Manhattan that are collectively dubbed Billionaires' Row by the media.

[9][10][11] Officially named 53 West 53,[12] the building was designed by French architect Jean Nouvel as a 77-story, 145-unit tower.

[7][a] There are also two basement levels; the cellar immediately below ground is used as storage by MoMA, while the subcellar beneath it contains mechanical rooms for the upper stories.

[2] The tower technically measures 1,049 ft 8 in (319.94 m) tall from the lobby floor to the tip of its tallest spire.

[18] During planning, Nouvel's team designed a sloping structure to follow the setback requirements and various parcel restrictions on the site.

[21][22] The building's facade is framed within a concrete diagrid, which shifts the tower's structural system to the exterior, thereby allowing more open space for the interior of each floor.

[23][24] The diagrid includes vertical, diagonal, and horizontal girders to carry weight loads while also stiffening the frame against wind.

[25] The diagrid was initially planned to be made of steel,[23] but concrete was ultimately used because of concerns over cost, ceiling heights, weight, and collaboration with labor unions.

[32] Much of the underlying ground in Midtown Manhattan could support loads of 60 short ton/sq ft (590 t/m2),[22] but the western portion of 53 West 53's site had formerly contained a stream.

[22][33] Furthermore, the site abutted several adjacent buildings and the New York City Subway's 53rd Street Tunnel (carrying the E and ​M trains).

Steel trusses transfer loads from the interior columns to a shear wall core along the eastern edge of the tower.

[22] The northeast corner of 53 West 53 also includes a 24 ft (7.3 m) cantilever above an emergency electrical generator owned by Con Edison.

[25] Massive steel trusses on the sixth and eighth stories (floors 6 and 12, respectively[a]) divert the loads above the MoMA space.

[22] A 650-short-ton (580-long-ton; 590 t) tuned mass damper was installed in the double-height 74th story[22][21] to provide stability against high winds or earthquakes.

The walls of the lobby are covered with oak paneling, and the ceiling is supported by the diagonal columns of the diagrid.

[19][70][3] Nouvel had so fervently wanted to design the tower that he told his business partner Michel Pelissié to not pressure Hines excessively on architects' fees.

[19] To build a taller structure than would normally be allowed, Hines sought to buy air rights from the University Club of New York and St. Thomas Church nearby.

Manhattan Community Board 5, whose district included 53 West 53rd Street's site, voted overwhelmingly in March 2008 to recommend that the LPC disapprove of the air rights transfers.

[74][75] In response, supporters of the tower formed an online petition to recommend that the community board rescind its objections.

[79][80] New York City Planning Commissioner Amanda Burden said the top of the tower was composed mainly of "highly visible mechanical equipment".

[82][83] The approval came with stipulations such as restrictions on loading docks and a requirement to preserve a sculpture-garden fence owned by MoMA.

[84][85] That year, the University Club sold the tower's developers 136,000 sq ft (12,600 m2) of air rights.

[90][91] Hines continued to seek financing throughout the rest of the year, despite speculation in late 2012 that construction would start soon.

[102][103] In September 2014, Hines and Pontiac purchased a combined 240,000 sq ft (22,000 m2) air rights from MoMA and St. Thomas Church for $85.3 million.

Excavation proceeded slowly because of the presence of the subway tunnels under 53rd Street and other facilities owned by the New York City Transit Authority.

[116] In early 2019, Hines, Pontiac, and Goldman Sachs were involved in a dispute over the extent to which they wished to reduce apartment prices at the tower.

[119] As part of 53 West 53's construction, the Museum of Modern Art closed for renovation from June to October 2019 so the exhibit space at the skyscraper's base could be completed.

"[129] When 53 West 53 was being completed, a writer for the Financial Times said that the building contrasted with "intense skinniness" and "the dim, expressionless glass curtain walls of corporate extrusion" across the rest of the city.

[131] The tower also garnered criticism, including the controversies over its original height and the American Folk Art Museum's demolition.