Design for New York Times HQ revealed

Real Estate Weekly, Jan 2, 2002

Describing its design as "an expression of love for this city and the values it represents," Renzo Piano, one of the world's foremost architects, today unveiled his striking, innovative architectural plan for the new 52-story New York Times Headquarters Building.

To be built in the Times Square district of Manhattan, the building will be Piano's first major project in New York City. Bruce Fowler, a principal of the New York City firm of Fox & Fowle Architects, is collaborating with Piano on the design.

To develop the building, The New York Times Company and Forest City Ratner Companies (FCRC) have established a joint venture, with ING Real Estate, a wholly owned subsidiary of the ING Group, as FCRC's financial partner. Upon completion of construction, the Times Company and FCRC/ING will each own a commercial condominium in the building.

The building will occupy the entire block front on the East Side of Eighth Avenue between 40th and 41st Streets, anchoring the southwest corner of the Times Square area. It will contain some 1.54 million gross SF of space. The building will have retail space and a garden at the ground floor, with offices going up to the 50th floor. The top two floors will consist of mechanical space and a rooftop conference facility.

The building will rise 748 feet from the street level to its roof, with the building's exterior curtain wall reaching 840 feet. A rooftop mast will rise to an elevation of 1,142 feet. Construction is expected to begin in early 2003 and will be completed in 2006.

The Times Company will own and occupy some 800,000 gross SF of space on floors 2-28 of the building. The Times Company, which currently has offices at seven locations in New York City, will bring most of its Manhattan-based employees together in this state-of-the-art facility. This will encourage communication and collaboration among business units.

FCRC will own approximately 600,000 SF of space in the building. This will include office space on floors 29-50, which it will lease to corporate and service firms, and approximately 20,000 SF of ground floor retail space. A common lobby, ground floor auditorium, the rooftop conference facility and mechanical and below-grade areas will account for the remaining space in the building.

The distinguished New York City firm of Fox & Fowle Architects is collaborating with Piano on the building's design. In 2000, Fox & Fowle received a National Honor Award for Design from the American Institute of Architects for its design of the Conde Nast Building at 4 Times Square, which emphasizes state-of-the art energy conservation and other environmentally responsible features.

Piano said he took inspiration from the utility and symmetry of Manhattan's world famous rectangular street grid in designing a building with a shape he described as "simple and primary." At street level, Piano said "the building will be open, transparent and permeable." Glass-enclosed retail spaces along the ground floor will allow passerby on the street to view activity in the and ground-floor-level

A 35-seat auditorium, operated by the Times company, will also be located on the ground floor level. The wall behind the auditorium stage will be glass, permitting the auditorium audience to view the ground-floor garden. The auditorium will be used for cultural and civic events, and will be available to non-profit community organizations at least 104 nights per year.

The newsroom of The New York Times will occupy floors 2 through 7, and much of it will overlook the ground-floor-garden. The newsroom will, in Piano's words, "overlook the surrounding streets like a large magic lantern, continually lit and constantly active."

The new building will be located in the 42nd Street Development Area, a 13-acre district adjoining Times Square designated for redevelopment in the mid- 1980s by New York State and City government. It will occupy one of the last sites in the district to be redeveloped.

Earlier this week, the Times Company-FCRC joint venture signed an $85.56 million, 99-year lease for the building site with New York State government's Empire State Development Corporation (ESDC) and the New York City Economic Development Corporation (EDC). The lease gives the joint venture the option to purchase the site after 29 years.

Insignia/ESG represented the Times Company in finding the site for the new building, in the formation of the joint venture, and in negotiating with the State, City, ESDC and EDC. The development of the building requires state condemnation of 10 parcels of land. ESDC is expected to issue offers to purchase these parcels before the end of the year. Condemnation and relocation of businesses on the site, which is opposite the Port Authority Bus Terminal, is expected to take up to one year.

The project should generate an estimated 2,300 construction-related jobs. When completed, about 3,500 people are expected to work in the new building: some 2,500 New York Times Company employees, including many who will be relocated from the building at 229 West 43rd Street occupied by the Times Company since 1913; and approximately 1,000 people In the stores and offices leased by FCRC.