NEW YORK, NEW YORK — Excavation and foundation work on Bjarke Ingels Group‘s (BIG) Strata Tower at 8 West 30th Street, has gotten deeper below the streets of New York City’s NoMad neighborhood.

Several excavators and piling machines are actively digging and inserting long metal pilings into the earth at the site, which is just five blocks south of the Empire State Building and almost on the centerline of the 88-year-old Art Deco icon. BIG’s project is being developed by HFZ Capital Group and is slated to rise 551 feet tall and 34 stories.

The tower will yield a total of 300,000 square feet and incorporate sheer glass walls and staggered outdoor terraces along the eastern elevation. Renderings show a view looking south toward Lower Manhattan with the stacked terraces.

The corner of 29th and 5th is close to several subway stations, including the R and W trains at the 28th Street-Broadway station to the west, and the B, D, F, M, N, Q and PATH trains to the north at Herald Square.

The skyscraper is slated to be completed in the spring of 2023.