Welcome to the Elevator World News Podcast. Today’s podcast news podcast is sponsored by elevatorbooks.com: www.elevatorbooks.com

GOVERNOR, LANDLORDS AIM TO GET WORKERS BACK INTO OFFICES

New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo and building landlords are promoting a plan to get workers back into commercial offices, The Real Deal reported in January. Cuomo, during his second installment of the 2021 State of the State address, said rapid COVID-19 testing would be used in state-designated orange zones to open office buildings, along with restaurants and theaters. In orange zones, when COVID-19 has a 10-day rate of 4% infections and hospitals have 85% of their beds in use, limited outdoor dining and reduced-capacity operation at non-essential businesses are allowed. The plan involves opening hundreds of "pop-up" rapid testing sites where people can be quickly tested to engage in social activity or visit businesses. Many office buildings have been largely vacant since April 2020. Some companies have extended their deadlines for bringing workers back to the office, but some are allowing employees to work from home indefinitly.

Image credit: by Pexels for Pixabay

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Welcome to the Elevator World News Podcast. Today’s podcast news podcast is sponsored by elevatorbooks.com: www.elevatorbooks.com

CIBES LIFT GROUP EXPANDS SWEDISH FOOTPRINT WITH ACQUISITION

Cibes Lift Group, a Swedish manufacturer specializing in low-speed lifts, expanded its domestic footprint with the acquisition of Upplands Hiss AB, Cibes announced on January 12. Based in Uppsala in central Sweden, Upplands Hiss has approximately 10 employees who service roughly 300 lifts. It will become a wholly owned subsidiary of Cibes, and all employees are being retained. Cibes CEO Per Lidström describes Upplands as “a strategically important complement” to Cibes and praised the company’s knowledge about modernization and platform lifts. Observing it has subsidiaries in 17 countries, Cibes also said it is looking to expand in the Stockholm area.

Image credit: courtesy of Upplands Hiss AB

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Welcome to the Elevator World News Podcast. Today’s podcast news podcast is sponsored by elevatorbooks.com: www.elevatorbooks.com

PRYSMIAN GROUP COMPLETES ACQUISITION OF EHC GLOBAL

Prysmian Group, headquartered in Milan, Italy, announced the acquisition of EHC Global, a "complementary add-on to Prysmian's Draka Elevator business," on January 8. Headquartered in Oshawa, Canada, with manufacturing and distribution facilities in North America, South America, Europe and China, EHC Global supplies escalator handrails, rollers, elevator belts and other components. Founded in 1977, EHC Global also provides a range of technical services for escalators and moving walks, including installation. Prysmian announced its plan to acquire 100% of EHC Global in July 2020. Draka offers more than 7,000 components for the vertical-transportation industry, and Prysmian said the acquisition of EHC Global is "in line with [its] strategy to grow and reinforce its value-added businesses."

Image credit: courtesy of Prysmian Group

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SUPERTALL PLAN INVOLVES MADISON SQUARE GARDEN RELOCATION

The New York City Council agreed during a meeting earlier this month to move forward with Garden City, a massive plan to relocate Madison Square Garden between two new supertalls of unspecified height in Midtown Manhattan, New York YIMBY reports. Including two shorter buildings, the plan was initially proposed by Vishaan Chakrabarti, founder of Practice for Architecture and Urbanism (PAU), in 2016. Illustrated by an array of renderings, the latest iteration includes preserving the cylindrical shape of Madison Square Garden but removing several floors, recladding the façade with a double-skin curtain wall and adding entryways. The venue would move to an eight-acre site bound by Sixth Avenue to the east, West 32nd Street to the south, Seventh Avenue to the west and West 34th Street to the north. Despite no heights being given, the source observed the supertalls "would easily eclipse the height of the Empire State Building and 30 Hudson Yards." No construction timeline was provided.

Image credit: by PAU

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Welcome to the Elevator World News Podcast. Today’s podcast news podcast is sponsored by elevatorbooks.com: www.elevatorbooks.com

WILLIAMS PROMOTED TO PRESIDENT OF IDS LIFTNET

Ricky Williams has been promoted to president of Integrated Display Systems LLC (IDS LiftNet). The company, founded by Winslow Soule and based in Chicago, develops internet of things passenger conveyance management and monitoring systems. Williams remains based in NYC. Prior to assuming the president role, Williams oversaw business development for more than five years. He has more than 28 years' industry experience, including engineering, new business development and sales positions at thyssenkrupp Elevator, and president and transition leader at Computerized Elevator Control Corp. Williams holds a BS in Electrical and Electronics Engineering from the New York Institute of Technology.

Image credit: By Tumisu for Pixabay

To read the full transcript of today's podcast, visit: elevatorworld.com/news

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PERMIT PROPOSES 70-STORY TOWER ON NYC'S FIFTH AVENUE

A permit has been filed to build a 70-story mixed-use tower in NYC's Midtown Manhattan neighborhood, on a site previously speculated for a taller design, New York YIMBY reported on January 7. Rabina Properties, listed as the owner behind the permit, seeks to build an 896-ft-tall skyscraper at 520 Fifth Avenue that would hold 523,188 ft2: 353,196 ft2 set for commercial use, and 169,992 ft2 holding 98 residences. Kohn Pedersen Fox is listed as the architect of record. Plans for the site in 2019 showed a rendering of a 76-story, 920-ft-tall glass tower, with Ceruzzi Properties and SMI USA developing a mixed-use building that would include retail space and a 208-room hotel. The rendering by Handel Architects was being referred to as the first building on Fifth Avenue to rise above 900 ft. No construction timeline was reported.

Image credit: by Handel Architects

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Welcome to the Elevator World News Podcast. Today’s podcast news podcast is sponsored by elevatorbooks.com: www.elevatorbooks.com

GRAND CENTRAL SUBWAY ENTRANCES UNVEILED

Schindler tells ELEVATOR WORLD it provided five 9700 escalators and three elevators for the new entrances to the NYC Metropolitan Transportation Authority's (MTA) Grand Central-42nd Street subway station at One Vanderbilt, a 67-story office supertall developed by SL Green and designed by Kohn Pederson Fox in Midtown Manhattan. The elevators are by Mongrain Vertical Transport with CEC Elevator Cab Corp. cabs and entrances. MTA and SL Green held a grand opening for the subway entrance in December 2020, reported by outlets including Mass Transit, which pointed out SL Green invested US$220 million in the new entrances. They will ease access to numerous subway lines and the Metro-North Railroad from one of MTA's busiest subway stations. MTA President of Construction & Development Janno Lieber described the project as an “example of how the MTA is leveraging private investment for public improvement," with entrances served by escalators and Americans With Disabilities Act-compliant elevators.

Image credit: courtesy of Stantec

To read the full transcript of today's podcast, visit: elevatorworld.com/news

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Welcome to the Elevator World News Podcast. Today’s podcast news podcast is sponsored by elevatorbooks.com: www.elevatorbooks.com

CHANGING OF THE GUARD, HONORS FOR ZIEHL-ABEGG

German manufacturer Ziehl-Abegg announced that Uwe Ziehl, grandson of company founder Emil Ziehl, has passed the leadership reins to his children, Dennis Ziehl and Sindia Ziehl, who now serve as supervisory board chair and member, respectively. The pair attended more than 80 board meetings over the past several years to prepare for their roles. Dennis Ziehl is also director of ZIEHL industrie-elektronik GmbH + Co. KG, which designs and produces electronic devices, and is a member of the German Chamber of Commerce and Industry. Uwe Ziehl was also recently presented with the Medal of Economy by Baden-Württemberg, Germany, Minister of Finance and Economy Nils Schmid for Ziehl-Abegg's contributions to the area economy. The company, which manufactures products that include elevator drives, has approximately 4,300 employees, including 2,400 in the Hohenlohe region.

Image credit: courtesy of Ziehl-Abegg

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Welcome to the Elevator World News Podcast. Today’s podcast news podcast is sponsored by elevatorbooks.com: www.elevatorbooks.com

CENTRAL PARK TOWER CONSTRUCTION SET TO WRAP UP

NYC’s Central Park Tower, the tallest building by roof height in the Western Hemisphere and tallest residential skyscraper in the world, is nearly complete and should be open sometime in 2021, New York YIMBY reported on December 31, 2020. With an elevator system designed and built by Otis, the landmark, at 217 West 57th Street in Midtown Manhattan, is a glass supertall lording over Billionaires' Row. With 179 condominiums, developer Extell expects the 1,550-ft-tall tower to bring a US$4-billion sellout. The latest photos show the building, designed by Adrian Smith + Gordon Gill, lacks only minor work around the crown and an exterior hoist still attached but the construction crane completely removed. The adjacent Nordstrom flagship store at West 57th Street and Broadway is open to the public, even as construction work continues.

Image credit: by Michael Young for New York YIMBY

To read the full transcript of today's podcast, visit: elevatorworld.com/news

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Welcome to the Elevator World News Podcast. Today’s podcast news podcast is sponsored by elevatorbooks.com: www.elevatorbooks.com

REVISED CHICAGO STREETERVILLE PLAN TO MOVE FORWARD

Big revisions to a plan from Related Midwest for a pair of towers on the former Chicago Spire site means the Skidmore, Owings & Merrill-designed development on more than two acres at 400 North Lake Shore Drive in the Streeterville neighborhood will move forward, Chicago YIMBY reports. Chicago Alderman Brendan Reilly had previously objected to a hotel inclusion, podium size and traffic and security plans. Those have all been addressed, and then some, with both the Zoning Committee and City Council approving the updated plan. Including an 875-ft-tall, northern tower and a 765-ft-tall southern one, on the drawing board are 1,100 residential units, 300 parking spaces, US$10 million to develop DuSable Park across the street, new security cameras and lighting and improved pedestrian crossings. Gone are hotel rooms, condominiums and the podium. Construction is planned in phases, with the taller, northern tower set to rise first, perhaps as early as 2021.

Image credit: by SOM

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