Construction is climbing higher on JPMorgan Chase‘s 1,388-foot supertall headquarters at 270 Park Avenue in Midtown East. Designed by Lord Norman Foster of Foster + Partners with Adamsom Associates as the architect of record and developed by Tishman Speyer, the 60-story skyscraper will yield 2.5 million square feet of office space with a capacity of 15,000 employees, and will become the tallest structure in New York completely powered by hydroelectric energy. JB&B is the MEP engineer and AECOM Tishman is the general contractor for the full-block property, which is bound by East 48th Street to the north, East 47th Street to the south, Park Avenue to the east, and Madison Avenue to the west.
Crews have assembled more office levels of the steel superstructure since our last update in early May, when construction had just reached the top of the second and tallest section in 270 Park Avenue’s five-tiered massing. A tower crane has been disassembled since springtime, leaving just two remaining in service. Recent photos show progress hovering around the 45th floor, which is roughly the midway point of the third tier. Crews will soon reach the 300-meter (984-foot) supertall mark before transitioning to the final two tiers, which have some of the tallest ceiling spans of the remaining 15 levels. Many of these final stories will be reserved for mechanical space. Based on the pace of progress and the reduced size of the upper floor plates, topping out could likely happen before the end of the year.
Photo by Michael Young
Photo by Michael Young
Photo by Michael Young
Photo by Michael Young
Photo by Michael Young
Photo by Michael Young
Photo by Michael Young
Photo by Michael Young
Installation of the tripled-glazed windows and metallic bronze paneling has also made significant progress across the bottom office floors since our last update.
Photo by Michael Young
Photo by Michael Young
Photo by Michael Young
Photo by Michael Young
Photo by Michael Young
A section of open slits in the curtain wall indicate the location of a mechanical level.
Photo by Michael Young
Photo by Michael Young
Photo by Michael Young
Photo by Michael Young
Photo by Michael Young
Photo by Michael Young
Photo by Michael Young
Directly below the first office floor is a honeycomb grid of metal cylinders surrounding the top of the inverted trapezoidal base. Most of this can be seen on the eastern half of the base.
Photo by Michael Young
Photo by Michael Young
Photo by Michael Young
Photo by Michael Young
Photo by Michael Young
Photo by Michael Young
Photo by Michael Young
Photo by Michael Young
Below this, the lobby will be enclosed with expansive sections of glass with a thin metal framework, some of which has been installed facing Park Avenue. The glass will span between the steel columns fanning diagonally outward from the eight massive steel nodes at ground level.
Photo by Michael Young
Photo by Michael Young
The below rendering is oriented north along Park Avenue and previews the finished look of the various elements of the base.
270 Park Avenue. Rendering © DBOX for Foster + Partners
Other team members of the project include Banker Steel providing the steelwork, NYC Constructors serving as the steel subcontractor, Mueser Rutledge Consulting Engineers (MRCE), which designed the structural foundation elements, Severud Associates as the engineer of record, R&R Scaffolding Ltd. as the provider of the BMU, and New Hudson Façades supplying the curtain wall.
270 Park Avenue is anticipated to be completed sometime in 2025.
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I still don’t get why they couldn’t sell the old building to someone who’d preserve it instead of demolishing it, and then buy an underdeveloped lot nearby with the sale proceeds to build this on.
Location.
There are underdeveloped lots right on that same stretch of Madison and Park Avenues
Several reasons: (1) NYC and NYS transfer taxes on the sale would have been millions of wasted dollars, (2) not really any “underdeveloped lots” nearby which could support a building of this size, and (3) potential purchasers would likely have been a small universe given the millions which would have been needed to fully renovate the old building, which needed it.
Not sure about (1) nor (2) but the old Union Carbide building had been fully renovated not so long ago. Unless there was some incredibly poor workmanship during that renovation to make the building LEED Platinum certified so I’m thinking it had more to do with floor plates, ceiling heights (spans) and ego.
I don’t personally miss the UC building and I think this tower will prove to be as iconic as the ESB, but it does seem a bit excessive. Then again, Park Avenue, Manhattan; world’s largest banking company… how excessive can they possibly be?
Focus on outward appearance so rich of steel to build, and honeycomb which is related to rendering. I thought that metallic bronze and lusters are beautiful, though it’s not shine bright like a diamond. The last is inverted triangle look good on the base: Thanks to Michael Young.
Undeveloped lot? Full block undeveloped lot? Have you ever been to Manhattan
Mike J, are you referring to 343 Madison Avenue and 407-417 Park Avenue? Those aren’t undeveloped, they were cleared from previous demolition in the past year or so
This location,directly connected to Grand Central (which now includes LIRR as well as Metro-North and subway links) is uniquely suited to something of extraordinary size.
There’s no sense using the site for anything less than as much as possible.
This one’s the real deal.
270 Park is really taking shape now. It would already be an impressive skyscraper as it stands currently. The curtain wall treatment is looking especially good.
They make so much money of our interest – They were just looking to dump some money
This building is nice. Fun fact: its built on the same supports as its predecessor since its above all those rail lines. Thats partially why the base is shaped like it is. Also hamburger wit cheese and lettuce. Fork napkin and ice cream.
They did apparently have to reinforce the supports to accommodate the larger building,a recent article on “Grand Central Madison” indicated the whole block underneath was rebuilt after initial excavation as part of this.
Guesser and his negativity would probably like this whole block demolished and replaced with grass since construction is apparently such an eyesore
Be careful Square, you’ll trigger him and make him wish this gets built next to your house to try and convert you into a Nimby
Being a Yimby or Nimby should not be treated like a religion Guesser (or Gubser, or whatever mafioso alias you come up with next)
I love it
Now I’m a mafiaso.
How do you even know if i’m italian?
What a laugh
It’s even more laughable to see the fact you still attempt, and fail, to convince people you’re someone else by coming up with multiple fake usernames. Like you’re not fooling anybody, we know it’s you Guesser. No rational and stable person should feel the need to do that, let alone on a site like this. Only criminals or people who do wrong to others do that.
I’m not trying to fool or convince any YIMBY
. I use multiple names just because i’m bored.
Trust me , i’m totally rational and stable.
But I have a question for you .
why do you give a sht what names I use when I comment?
How does that affect your life in any way ?
Bored? That’s your excuse?? If you’re bored, why don’t you learn how to say more constructive comments towards people instead of making snide remarks like you’ve always done in the past towards everyone…
trigger him?
Another reference to my Mafia connections
LOL
Enormously impressive; certainly a landmark in the making, but suffering from two obvious disconnects from its context:
there is no admission of its position as the northern terminus of Vanderbilt avenue, and…
it’s all the wrong color; in spite of its engineering legerdemain it remains leaden, the color of the ground where it should be aspiring to the sky.
If the Union Carbide building wasn’t a landmark building, why would this one be?
Its heroic scale.
At least it’s not going to look like those straight up and down glass pencils like 432 Park Ave. The setbacks along with the bronze facade and the steel cross sections will add some decent aesthetics to it.
I’ve walked around this several times. The angled support beams are just disturbing. Let’s hope there were no miscalculations or construction errors. Those circular tube grilles will make perfect pigeon homes. The metal panels are thankfully modulated in color.
Considering the sin of demolishing a recently renovated mid-century tower for a new tower with slightly more square footage is bad enough. But now the building will mostly be empty on Mondays and Fridays because office drones don’t want to look directly in the faces of coworkers across the open tables. This office design fad needs to go away: it’s a mistake.
Yes, likely a fad which will hopefully fade. Almost like the “stand-up” workstations that were supposed to replace sitting in a chair at a desk. An associated CPA firm five years ago got those stand-ups (all their millennials wanted them, so I was told); most of those stand-up workstations have since been replaced by – desk and chair! Imagine that.
270 Park is the coolest building ever
So many cylinders!!
Love the bronze metal. This is looking better and better as it goes up.
In time, another “SUPERDUPERMEGAGIGATALL” will challenge JPMC, and rise even higher?! 🤔🤣
Don’t you know it.
I worked at 350 Park in the 1980’s. I guess we have a new skyline in the 21st Century!
Love the new 270 Park. I did a summer internship at Chase, and the building was a fine example of mid-century, Park Avenue architecture. The only constant is change in our city, so let’s embrace it.
I don’t know why anyone would mourn the loss of a boring cookie-cutter modernist skyscraper from 1960. Manhattan is littered with these dead objects, reeking of corporate conformity and stifled creativity with all the aesthetic charm of a Rothko grey on black color field painting. Glad to see it go, replaced by something dynamic and exciting.
I thought i was the only one who felt this way. I have no clue why people are so in love with the old one. Its just a generic black box and theres like 45 identical other ones in the same city🤣🤣
There is nothing interesting about this new building, it is going to be hideous
Lol. It’s already more interesting than its predecessor.
Wow!!!! The world’s first Tallest Building in Midtown …makes the Freedom Tower Second Base!!
Nope—not even close…. 1WTC is 1776 feet tall (for some reason that escapes me right now). Assuming this building will be 1388’, it’ll be the sixth tallest building in NYC, just below 1 Vanderbilt (spire) and 432 Park Avenue. BoroDoug
Sure, but 1WTC uses a 400′ spire to boost its height. I suspect this building will end up having a higher top floor.
Actually,the tallest roof in NYC at the moment is the Nordstom/Central Park Tower,and the one that will surpass it is 175 Park (directly across Lexington Avenue from the Chrysler Building and directly across 42nd Street from the Chanin Building,which were each the tallest building in Midtown when built…it’s as tall as the two of them stacked on top of each other if you leave off their spires).
270 Park’s roof isn’t even as tall as 432 Park’s.
The “pigeon homes” will simply “direct deposit” banking. I walked by there when the 5th Ave. bus was detoured by the fire in the library wastepaper basket that set off a terrorist response by the police. The nodes need a little something at ground level. Animal paws might be fun.
Two comments. Although it might detract from the spacial & visual impact of this unique building plaza, I would hope that the designers add sufficiently strong street level barriers of some sort to protect the four crucial pivot points on which the building appears to balance. This, to deter potential terrorist vehicular attacks against such an obvious symbol of American wealth, power & finance.. Secondly, with the current problems of office occupancy we’’re making things far worse by mandating congestion pricing for all buildings below 60th street in Manhattan. We’re segregating those owners, workers and their suppliers to being cordoned off on an island within an island, This at a time when we’re still struggling to recover from an unprecedented pandemic. Don’t call it congestion pricing. Call it for what it is. Call it a targeted tax that unfairly diminishes the value & use of these properties and businesses. Call it strangulation pricing — a strangulation of the vital business core of the city. With great time, effort and expense we have built all these roads, highways, bridges and tunnels to sustain the life-blood commercial flow of a great city. And now we’re actively working to keep people out? What folly. What misguided and self-destructive folly. We can live with and improve congestion issues,. But we will die – we wil commit suicide,- with strangulation pricing.
for people who drive to work from Connecticut and NJ and could afford to put their cars in parking garages all over midtown , tough sht, pay the extra fee for congestion pricing
otherwise ,they could take mass transit and not pay a dime
Let’s heal Mother Earth and all of us will breathe easier.
Rubbish!
congratulations, well written rubbish!
A big improvement over UC. And the strangulation is from too many cars below 60th.