Park Avenue takes home three industry 'Oscars'

Real Estate Weekly, March 9, 2005

Both structures reflect Scholastic's creativity inside and out. An array of paint colors and public corridor carpeting incorporates the company's mission statement into its patterned weave, while the reception area in 557 is reached by an escalator passing behind glass partitions awash with projected images of new projects. The facility also includes a rooftop corporate cafeteria, the Red Bar Cafe, the Library, Educational Resource Center and a 300-seat, state-of-the-art auditorium.

Owners: Scholastic Inc./Ise New York, LLC; Management Co: CB Richard Ellis, Inc.; Building Manager: Gregory S. Brown, RPA/FMA

RENOVATED BUILDING: 500 Park Avenue

Created during the late 1950's when Park Avenue was emerging as a corporate design showcase, 500 Park Avenue continued the tradition of innovative design with a sophisticated approach to modernism. Set back from the building line, it features a recessed service core clad in black granite. The same granite is used to create a plaza and extend it outwards to the curb, while above, the building's supporting columns have the effect of "floating" the curtainwall of gray-green glass, aluminum spandrels and polished aluminum mullions. At the time of its construction, such design and materials placed 500 Park in marked contrast to its more traditional neighbors, but its unique character and esthetic interest ultimately earned it a New York City landmark designation.

Owner: PPF OFF 500 Park Avenue, LLC; Management Co. Jones Lang La Salle Americas, Inc.; Building Manager: Brian O'Flaherty

OPERATING OFFICE BUILDING: 28 West 44th Street (100,000-499,999 s/f)

Built 85 years ago in the opulent Beaux-Arts style of the pre-1920's, 28 West 44th Street spans not only architectural eras, but markets as well, with a location equally distant between Grand Central Terminal and Times Square. It features a spacious retail arcade, extending through the building, and on the topmost tenant floor, the space has access to a terraced roof garden complete with Midtown views. The elegant lobby, with its Botticino marble and vaulted ceiling, has been restored and other new touches include a mahogany and glass concierge desk with high-tech card access/security monitoring, and mahogany paneled elevators and security stations.

Owner: Transwestern 25 West 43rd Street, LLC; Management Co: GVA Williams RE Company; Building Manager: Carlos Telleria

OPERATING OFFICE BUILDING: The MetLife Building--200 Park Avenue (Over 1 million s/f)

Soaring 59 stories above Grand Central Terminal, the MetLife Building has been a skyline landmark since it opened as the Pan Am Building in 1963.

Designed in the shape of an airplane wing by the legendary Walter Gropius, the 2.8-million-sq. ft. tower recently completed a $70 million capital improvements program to keep it operating at peak efficiency for its 14,000 tenants.

Now standing at 100% occupancy, the building's unique location offers unique amenities: more than two dozen shops, restaurants and services, combined with unprecedented access to public transportation and 58 floors of state-of-the-art offices.