Construction has begun on the fourth tier of 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. 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.
Recent photographs show another handful of floors added to the steel superstructure since our last update in mid-July, when crews were on the precipice of crossing the 984-foot supertall threshold. Now, construction is beginning on the fourth and penultimate tier of the stepped massing. These final two tiers make up the crown, which is shown illuminated at night in the main rendering.
Photo by Michael Young
Photo by Michael Young
The sleek tripled-glazed windows and metallic bronze paneling has steadily continued installation and now encloses the building above the first setback to the second set of mechanical floors. This is indicated by the presence of ventilation slits in the glass.
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
Photo by Michael Young
Photo by Michael Young
Façade installation has progressed the furthest on the northern elevation.
Photo by Michael Young
Photo by Michael Young
More of the bronze paneling now covers the signature diagrid pattern on the eastern and western faces along Madison and Park Avenues.
Photo by Michael Young
Photo by Michael Young
Photo by Michael Young
Photo by Michael Young
Work is also progressing on the inward-sloping base, which features a set of colossal columns that fan out from various steel nodes. New additions include a framework of black metal mullions for the glass paneling, and the framework for the main entrance canopy along Park Avenue.
Photo by Michael Young
Photo by Michael Young
Photo by Michael Young
YIMBY also spotted the arrival and hoisting of the first of four BMUs last Sunday. The system is being supplied by R&R Scaffolding Ltd., which is owned by Leila and Giovanni Savinovich, and has provided equipment for at least 80 percent of new skyscraper construction in New York City. Photographs show multiple truck beds parked along East 48th Street as the tower crane carefully lifted the numerous segments of the window washing apparatus high above Midtown East and onto the 38th floor of the tower.
The pieces of the BMU include a four-legged base, the center mast, a winch and elevator drum box, counterweights, and the long telescopic arm that will hold the metal basket for workers to stand in while cleaning. Two BMUs will be located on the eastern and western setbacks of the 38th floor, another will travel north and south on rails on the 58th floor, and the final unit will be placed on the topmost roof parapet. Able Rigging and Dublin Iron Works also participated in the lifting process, while Chrisopher Baquero from R&R Scaffolding Ltd. served as the permanent installation supervisor.
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
Other team members of the project involved in 270 Park Avenue include JB&B as the MEP engineer; Banker Steel providing the steelwork; NYC Constructors as the steel subcontractor; Mueser Rutledge Consulting Engineers (MRCE), which designed the structural foundation elements; Severud Associates as the engineer of record; and New Hudson Façades supplying the curtain wall.
270 Park Avenue is anticipated to be completed sometime in 2025. YIMBY estimates the topping out to occur before the end of this year.
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what is a “BMU”?
building maintenence unit
Located in the middle of big city in the western hemisphere it is actually high, the tower is one of many large skyscrspers in New York. Capable of holding more than 10,000 people with a space is very large and spacious, I want to see the crown turn on beautiful light: Thanks to Michael Young.
Amazed at how “gargantuan” this building has become, and wonder if there will be upwards of 15,000 employees working there… how many
of them are needed to process customers checking accounts?! 🤔🤣
My daughter works at the gigantic JP Morgan office building just north of Columbus Ohio.
It has 2,000,000 ft.² and 10,000 employees!
Will there be any offices in that 4th tier?..the rendering doesn’t seem to suggest it
Mechanical levels I believe
It will have quite an overwhelming presence as intended. The shaft has a Chicago mid-century look to it. The base will garner a lot of attention, but I’m not so sure the top will offer anything other than a demand to look at me.
I overall like the look, and the height. But the base, to me, looks the weakest part of the building, rather than the strongest.
thank you for names of subcontractors working on site
The base ruins the whole building
I really hope that the bankers will return to the office instead of working from home.this building is incredibly beautiful. Thanks to Michael Young
I like the scale and design of the building, but am particularly enamored of the base. The lobby will be quite striking.
Agree… The base is going to really look incredible as people walk up and down Park Ave. There’s just nothing like it in NYC.
Well, the Citicorp Center, or whatever it is called now, might have originated the idea of a tall building open at the bottom in this city. In Philadelphia, 460 N. Broad from 1954 is entirely on open columns except for provision for the entrance and stairwells.
Hopefully people will get back to work in offices.
Didn’t Dimon order all JPMorgan employees back to the office? And the same with Goldman Sachs?
There’s no doubt people will work in these new state-of-the-art offices.
The question is how easy it will be to find new tenants for the offices in various Midtown buildings that are being vacated to consolidate the Morgan Chase employees in the new HQ.
JPM will brag about the building being sustainably powered by hydro, but the waste of tearing down a 50 story building to build a 60 story building likely cancels out any benefit.
One has the option of buying electricity from a number of providers, some of which are hydro. I suspect the building uses ConEd district steam that is generated by natural gas. It will be curious to see how LL 97 affects that and all the wealthy buildings using it.
There’s no new hydro in North America. This power comes from existing hydro in Quebec and is being bought at a slight premium, so other consumers must buy fossil powered climate destruction. This new seemingly tallest tower proclaims Chase/JPMorgan’s ability to destroy it all for profits, right now.
Atsabigone
I’m sure it will be a beautiful building once everything is done and all the bells and whistles are added. However, working from home (as I am doing now) is easier and better for one’s mental, emotional and physical health.
There is no Hydro Electric Power generated any where near NYC so why keep saying this building is using hydropower.
It’s basically an accounting fiction.Whatever the supply contracts all the power generation goes into the same grid that distributes it.
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