1 New York Plaza facts for kids
Quick facts for kids One New York Plaza |
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South & East facades
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| General information | |
| Status | Complete |
| Type | Office |
| Architectural style | Modernist |
| Location | 1 New York Plaza, Manhattan, New York 10004, United States |
| Coordinates | 40°42′08″N 74°00′42″W / 40.70214°N 74.01175°W |
| Construction started | 1967 |
| Completed | 1969 |
| Opening | 1970 |
| Renovated | 2014 |
| Owner | China Investment Corporation (49%) Brookfield Office Properties (35%) AEW Capital Management (15%) |
| Landlord | Brookfield Office Properties |
| Height | |
| Roof | 640 ft (195 m) |
| Technical details | |
| Floor count | 50 |
| Floor area | 2,556,000 square feet (237,500 m2) |
| Lifts/elevators | 45 |
| Design and construction | |
| Architect | Kahn & Jacobs, Lescaze & Associates |
| Developer | Atlas-McGrath |
| Structural engineer | Aaron Garfinkel & Associates |
| Main contractor | George A. Fuller Company |
1 New York Plaza is a tall office building in the Financial District of Manhattan, New York City. It stands where South Street and Whitehall Street meet, close to South Ferry. This building is 640 feet (200 m) tall and has 50 floors. It is the southernmost skyscraper in Lower Manhattan. William Lescaze & Assocs. and Kahn & Jacobs designed the building. Sol Atlas and John P. McGrath developed it.
The outside of the building, called the facade, was designed by Nevio Maggiora. It looks like a "beehive" with windows set back inside. This design uses aluminum-covered wall parts. On the lower level, there is a large shopping area called a retail concourse. It is about 40,000 square feet (3,700 m2) in size.
Contents
History of 1 New York Plaza
Building the Skyscraper
In 1959, New York City wanted to buy the land where 1 New York Plaza now stands. The city planned to combine several blocks to build public housing. This plan was part of a project to renew the Battery Park area. When the housing plan did not work out, the city hoped the New York Stock Exchange would move there. However, the owners of the land, Atlas McGrath, went to court. They won the right to keep their land and build on it themselves.
Soon after construction began, Chase Manhattan Bank agreed to rent a large part of the building. They signed a 30-year lease for space on 22 floors. Another early company to move in was the investment bank Salomon Brothers in 1970.
A Fire Incident
On August 5, 1970, a fire happened in the building. Two people died, and 35 were hurt. The deaths happened because an elevator was called to the burning floor. The elevator buttons were designed to react to a warm finger. But they reacted to the heat from the fire instead.
Later, in February 1975, an insurance company called Thomson & McKinnon Auchincloss Kohlmeyer rented space on the 47th to 49th floors. At that time, almost all of the building was rented out. In March 1978, another investment bank, First Boston, rented space and moved from a nearby building.
Chase Bank Owns the Building
In 1989, Chase Bank bought the building for $140 million. But in 1991, Chase moved many of its workers to MetroTech Center in Downtown Brooklyn. Salomon Brothers also left for 7 World Trade Center. With another company, Thomson & McKinnon, going out of business, a lot of the building became empty.
Chase Bank updated the building in the early 1990s. They spent $50 million to make the lobby, elevators, and outdoor plaza better. They also spent another $50 million to remove asbestos, a material that can be harmful. After these updates, a company called Prudential Securities rented a very large amount of space. They received tax benefits for moving there. They also spent money to build a data center, a trading floor, and special power generators.
Two years later, in 1994, Prudential rented even more space in the building. In the same year, Goldman Sachs also rented a large amount of space.
New Owners and Changes
In 1999, a Canadian real estate company called Trizec Properties bought the building from Chase Manhattan Bank for $390 million. The building's air conditioning system uses steam from the New York City steam system. On August 11, 2001, a steam machine broke in the basement. The damage from this event affected Goldman Sachs' trading activities for the day.
In 2003, Prudential Securities was bought by another company, Wachovia. Because of this, the combined company offered all its space in the building for rent to other businesses. In June 2005, Morgan Stanley rented a large part of Prudential's old office space. They planned to move 2,300 employees to the building. They also received tax help from New York State. Around the same time, the law firm Fried Frank renewed their lease for their space on floors 22 to 30.
In 2006, two banks, Lehman Brothers and Goldman Sachs, provided a large loan for the building. That same year, Brookfield Office Properties bought Trizec Properties. This made Brookfield the new owners of 1 New York Plaza.
In April 2012, Morgan Stanley rented even more space in the building. This new space was previously used by Goldman Sachs, who had moved to a new building in 2011. After this, about 85% of the building was rented out.
Hurricane Sandy and Recent Times
In October 2012, Hurricane Sandy caused a lot of damage to the building. About 28 million US gallons (110,000 kl) of water flooded the lower levels. The retail concourse, which is the shopping area, was completely underwater. It needed to be fully rebuilt. Office workers could return to the building starting November 17, 2012. The retail concourse reopened in the winter of 2014.
In March 2014, the National Association of Insurance Commissioners moved their main office to the 42nd floor. Around the same time, Revlon moved into the top two floors. These floors were once Goldman Sachs' trading floors. In the same year, other companies also moved in:
- Architectural firm Davis Brody Bond moved to the 42nd floor.
- The National Futures Association took space on the 43rd floor.
- WellCare signed a lease for space.
- Macmillan Publishers signed the biggest deal of the year. They rented several floors for their Science and Education division.
After all these deals, the building was almost completely rented out by the end of the year.
The building's retail concourse, the shopping area, reopened in the winter of 2015. This was after a three-year, $14 million redesign. New stores and restaurants opened there, including Starbucks, Chipotle Mexican Grill, Chopt, and Gateway Newstands.
In March 2016, Wells Fargo provided a large loan for the building. Two months later, a Chinese investment fund, the China Investment Corporation, bought a 49% share of the building from Brookfield. This valued the property at over $1.4 billion. At the end of the year, AEW Capital Management also bought a share from Brookfield.
Companies in the Building
Many important companies have had offices in 1 New York Plaza. Some famous past companies include Salomon Brothers and Goldman Sachs. Today, some of the companies with offices there are Fried, Frank, Harris, Shriver & Jacobson, Morgan Stanley, Nature Publishing Group, and Revlon.
Images for kids
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South and east facades
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North facade
See also
In Spanish: 1 New York Plaza para niños
