NEW YORK CITY-The blinking neon signs from the scores of gold and diamond shops up and down 47^th Street were no match for the bright lights beaming from Gary Barnett’s new International Gem Tower at 50 W. 47^th St. after the developer opened its doors to the 34-story skyscraper for a office suite tour on Tuesday evening.

Constructed to serve as New York’s first state-of-the-art “hub” for the global diamond, gem and jewelry industry within the heart of the city’s Diamond District, the $750 million commercial condominium—designed by renowned architectural firm Skidmore, Owings and Merrill—will house more than 250 gem and jewelry industry tenants upon completion. And thus far, interest has been strong. The units, which are being marketed in-house by Extell, are currently 70% sold. Cushman & Wakefield is marketing the office space on floors 22-34.

Raizy Haas, senior vice president at Extell, tells GlobeSt.com that the company is on schedule to complete the project by November and plans to start transferring title to the units at that time. “We anticipate that the unit owners will start their own fit out work probably by the end of the year or early next, and depending on what kind of space you bought or how much work you are doing, we expect it to be fully operational by summer 2013,” she says.

Haas took GlobeSt.com on a tour of a 3,000-square-foot model unit and showcased some of the unique features specifically tailored for the jewelry business, including double-entry doors, intra-locking systems, bulletproof glass, conference rooms with floor-to-ceiling windows and sorting rooms with special lamps where gems are characterized by size and color.