A 22-story rental tower rising at the corner of Third Avenue and East 36th Street in Murray Hill is nearing the finish line, bringing 160 apartments, Art Deco detailing, and a stack of resident amenities to one of Manhattan's quieter residential corridors. The building, known as The Dian and alternately addressed as 540 Third Avenue, has been taking shape with a two-toned gray glazed brick facade, recessed floor-to-ceiling windows, and balcony stacks that give the tower a distinct street presence.
According to New York YIMBY, the project sits at 162 East 36th Street on the southwest corner of the intersection, and its Art Deco influences extend to cornices at the setback, roof, and bulkhead, along with a lobby and entrance featuring gold-hued paneling, angular mullions, and period-style chandeliers. The Dian is a joint development between Gilar Realty and Ranco Capital, with interiors designed by Makers Collective working alongside architect Ismael Leyva, whose firm, Ismael Leyva Architects, drew on the city's Art Deco legacy using layered brick, limestone, and granite, per 6sqft. The Dian's own building page describes Makers Collective as having developed the interiors in close dialogue with that Art Deco-influenced architecture.
160 Units, Studio to Two-Bedroom
The finished building will hold 160 rental units ranging from studios to two-bedrooms, sitting atop ground-floor retail space. CityRealty breaks down the unit mix as 87 studios, 46 one-bedrooms, and 27 two-bedrooms. Most of the residential amenities are concentrated on the 22nd story, including a library, a speakeasy-inspired Ruby Lounge, a game area, coworking spaces, a coffee bar, a marble-clad fireplace, a private kitchen and dining room, and a landscaped terrace with outdoor seating and grilling stations.
A separate amenity level on the 23rd floor offers a sun deck with outdoor TVs and a shower, while additional building-wide amenities include a fitness center, a yoga room, a cedar sauna, a terrazzo- and Carrara marble-clad lobby, a pet spa, a communal laundry room, and bike storage, according to the same New York YIMBY account. The Gilar Group at Corcoran New Development is handling leasing and marketing for the apartments.
Affordable Lottery Closed, Market-Rate Leasing Underway
Before construction neared its current stage, The Dian ran a lottery for 40 mixed-income apartments, with qualifying New Yorkers earning 40, 60, and 130 percent of area median income eligible to apply, per 6sqft's report. Prices for those units ranged from $969 a month for a studio up to $4,484 a month for a two-bedroom, and the application window closed on July 7, 2026.
Market-rate leasing launched separately earlier in 2026, the outlet noted, with studios starting at $4,860 a month and two-bedroom, two-bath apartments listed at nearly $16,000 a month. As of October 14, 2026, a StreetEasy listing page for a unit in the building showed no active listings, though a separate StreetEasy search-result snippet referenced 11 active rental listings in the building — a discrepancy that has not been independently resolved.
Westville Signs On for Ground-Floor Retail
On the commercial side, restaurant chain Westville has signed a 4,148-square-foot lease at the base of the building, split between 2,739 square feet on the ground floor and 1,409 square feet in the cellar, according to Commercial Observer. The outlet's report, from August, confirmed that ownership of the property is structured as a joint venture between Gilar Realty and Ranco Capital, though it noted that the asking rent and lease length for Westville's space were not disclosed, and an opening date for the restaurant had not been announced at the time.
For context on the surrounding retail market, the Commercial Observer report pointed to average asking rents of $394 per square foot for retail space in the nearby Herald Square area during the second quarter of 2026.
Part of a Broader Murray Hill Building Wave
The Dian's arrival fits into a larger wave of residential development reshaping the stretch of Manhattan that CityRealty defines as Murray Hill — the area between Fifth Avenue and the East River, from East 34th to East 42nd Streets. That wave has been fueled in part by New York State's 467-m tax incentive program, approved in 2024 to spur office-to-residential conversions with exemptions of up to 35 years for qualifying projects, per CityRealty.
Nearby, an 11-story condominium planned for 218 Madison Avenue, also addressed as 23 East 36th Street, is slated to bring 25 residences, including a penthouse, online by late 2026. An 18-story condo project at 40 East 35th Street is expected to deliver 137 residences and ground-floor commercial space, with completion anticipated in 2027 and sales expected to launch later this year, CityRealty's overview states. Meanwhile, The Lotus, a 20-story rental building at 255 East 39th Street, brought 157 apartments online in late March 2026, including 48 affordable units — another sign of how quickly Murray Hill's residential stock is expanding.
