270 Park Avenue, also known as the JPMorgan Chase Building, is a
supertall skyscraper under construction on the
East Side of the
Midtown neighborhood of
Manhattan in
New York City. Designed by the firm of
Foster + Partners, the
skyscraper is expected to rise 1,388 feet (423 m) when completed in 2025.
Located in
New York City's
Midtown Manhattan neighborhood, 270 Park Avenue will occupy the entire city block bounded by
Madison Avenue to the west, 48th Street to the north,
Park Avenue to the east, and
47th Street to the south.[5][6] The lot measures about 80,000 square feet (7,400 m2) with a
frontage of 200 feet (61 m) on each avenue and 400 feet (120 m) on each street.[5]
Foster and Partners designed the building, which will be 1,388 feet (423 m) tall.[14][15][16] Sources disagree on the number of stories. The New York Times indicates that the building will rise 70 stories,[14]Emporis cited a figure of 63 stories,[15] and the
Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat gives a figure of 60 stories.[16] There are 24 massive columns at the base,[17] which will support a lobby measuring about 80 feet (24 m) high, with public space facing Madison and Park Avenues. Above the lobby will be a series of
setbacks to the west and east, tapering to a pinnacle.[18]
The interior will fit 15,000 employees and will contain a food hall, a penthouse conference center, a fitness center, and large spaces illuminated by natural lights.[18] The floor plates will be able to be configured in several layouts.[19] To comply with city legislation, which bans the use of natural gas in all new buildings constructed after 2027, the structure will be powered entirely by hydroelectric energy. Ninety-seven percent of materials from the old building had been salvaged during its demolition; much of this material would be used in the new building.[18][20]
In February 2018, JPMorgan announced it would demolish the former Union Carbide Building to make way for a structure that was almost twice as tall. This was the first major project to be announced as part of the
Midtown East rezoning in the 2010s.[22][14][21] The former building became the tallest
voluntarily demolished building in the world, overtaking the previous record-holder
Singer Building that was demolished in 1968.[23] The replacement 1,388-foot (423 m), 70-story headquarters would have space for 15,000 employees.
Tishman Construction Corporation will be the construction manager for the project.[14]
To build the larger structure, JPMorgan purchased hundreds of thousands of square feet of
air rights from nearby
St. Bartholomew's Episcopal Church as well as from
Michael Dell's
MSD Capital, the owner of the air rights above Grand Central Terminal.[24][25] In October 2018, JPMorgan announced that British architectural firm
Foster + Partners would design the new building. The plans for the new building had grown to 1,400 feet (430 m), though the zoning envelope allowed for a structure as high as 1,566 feet (477 m).[26] However, this also raised concerns that the taller building would require deeper foundations that could interfere with the
Metropolitan Transportation Authority's
East Side Access tunnels and the
Grand Central Terminal's rail yards, which are directly underneath 270 Park Avenue.[27]
In May 2019, the
New York City Council unanimously approved JPMorgan's new headquarters.[28][29] In order to secure approvals, JPMorgan was required to contribute $40 million to a district-wide improvement fund and incorporate a new 10,000 square feet (930 m2)
privately owned public space plaza in front of the tower. After pressure from Manhattan
Borough PresidentGale Brewer and City Council member
Keith Powers, JPMorgan also agreed to fund numerous upgrades to the public realm surrounding the building, including improvements to Grand Central's
train shed and a new entrance to the station at 48th Street.[29][30] The MTA had planned to repair the Grand Central Terminal train shed's concrete and steel as part of the 2020–2024 MTA Capital Program.[31][32] The first portion of the train shed to be repaired was underneath 270 Park Avenue, since the agency wished to conduct the repair work alongside new developments where possible.[32]
Construction
In July 2019, JPMorgan Chase signed an agreement with MTA in which the bank guaranteed that the demolition of 270 Park Avenue would not delay work on East Side Access.[33] That month, scaffolding was wrapped around the tower and podium structure on the
Madison Avenue side of the building, the first step in an anticipated 18-month demolition effort.[34] But by late December 2020, only the podium structure had been demolished. Still, parts of the new superstructure were assembled on the Madison Avenue side,[35] and the following month saw the assembly of the new structure's first steel beams.[36] Demolition of the main tower was complete by April 2021; the entire demolition effort wrapped up in June.[37][38]
This allowed workers to begin building support columns in the base across the entire site.[3][39] By the end of the year, cranes and construction elevators had been built.[40] In April 2022, JPMorgan CEO
Jamie Dimon announced that he would further consolidate the company's New York City offices at 270 Park Avenue, since half of the staff would be able to work from home at least part of the time.[41][42]
In the first five months of 2023, construction reached the first two setbacks and rose above the height of the Union Carbide Building.[43][44][45] Work was temporarily suspended after a construction worker fell to his death from the 12th floor on March 24, 2023.[46][47] As of 2023[update], the JPMorgan Chase Building was estimated to be completed in 2025.[18][20] By late September construction had reached the fourth of the five tiers.[48] There was a topping-out ceremony for the building on November 20, 2023.[49][50]
This involved a beam being welded in place at the top of the fourth tier, with "the crown to be topped out toward the very end of the year".
[51] In December 2023, New York YIMBY predicted that the building would be architecturally topped-out by the following month;[52] this had occurred by February 2024.[53]
Outside cladding work proceeded on the base columns as well as the walls, the Park Avenue side being done before the Madison Avenue side.[54]
Reception
Architectural critic
Alexandra Lange described the new 270 Park Avenue in 2022 as "a Son of
Hearst Tower grafted on top of creepy legs."[55][56] Christopher Bonanos of Curbed characterized the building's base as supporting "all that heft balance, quixotically, on ballerinas’ toes."[17]
^
abDeffenbaugh, Ryan (May 13, 2019). "Council approves plan for JPMorgan tower". Crain's New York Business. Vol. 35, no. 19. p. 4.
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