LED Lights Shine Brighter on Foster + Partners’ 270 Park Avenue in Midtown East, Manhattan

270 Park Avenue. Rendering © DBOX for Foster + Partners

YIMBY captured more of the exterior LED strips undergoing testing on 270 Park Avenue, JPMorgan Chase’s 1,389-foot-tall Midtown East headquarters. Designed by Norman Foster of Foster + Partners and developed by Tishman Speyer, the 60-story supertall 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. Adamson Associates is the architect of record for the project, which occupies a full city block bounded by East 48th Street to the north, East 47th Street to the south, Park Avenue to the east, and Madison Avenue to the west.

Our last update showed only the uppermost levels of the superstructure partially illuminated, including some sections of the vertical columns along the southern elevation and just one of the diamond-shaped outlines on the western face of the external diagrid. A recent nighttime visit to the site showed a substantial number of new LED lights turned on and brightly illuminating vast portions of the copper-hued paneling through the mixed use of cove lighting and fully exposed LED strips. The latter is mostly visible at the top of the building surrounding the upper amenity levels. We should see even more of the façade lighting being tested over the next couple of months up to the opening of the property later this year. 270 Park Avenue’s façade will use approximately 20,000 LED lights supplied by FSG in collaboration with Montreal-based lighting manufacturer GKV.

270 Park Avenue. Photo by Michael Young.

270 Park Avenue. Photo by Michael Young.

270 Park Avenue. Photo by Michael Young.

270 Park Avenue. Photo by Michael Young.

270 Park Avenue. Photo by Michael Young.

270 Park Avenue. Photo by Michael Young.

270 Park Avenue. Photo by Michael Young.

270 Park Avenue. Photo by Michael Young.

270 Park Avenue. Photo by Michael Young.

270 Park Avenue. Photo by Michael Young.

270 Park Avenue. Photo by Michael Young.

270 Park Avenue. Photo by Michael Young.

270 Park Avenue. Photo by Michael Young.

270 Park Avenue. Photo by Michael Young.

270 Park Avenue. Photo by Michael Young.

270 Park Avenue. Photo by Michael Young.

Meanwhile, construction on the base and future outdoor plaza space is ongoing behind temporary sidewalk fencing and barriers. The tight grid of circular lights that covering the ceiling of the tall lobby atrium are all clearly visible from across the street.

270 Park Avenue. Photo by Michael Young.

270 Park Avenue. Photo by Michael Young.

The rendering in the main photo shows the final two tiers illuminated in solid white, while the below aerial nighttime rendering previews the colorful displays that will be made possible with the LEDs. The upper two tiers will likely be able to display moving visualizations and patterns, much like the three crown fins of Foster + Partners’ 425 Park Avenue.

270 Park Avenue at nighttime.

270 Park Avenue at nighttime.

The project is expected to generate over 8,000 jobs by the end of construction, spanning 40 local unions and producing $2.6 billion of economic activity for New York City. JPMorgan Chase is also expected to contribute $29.8 billion annually to the city’s economy and stimulate an additional 40,000 jobs across local industries.

YIMBY estimates 270 Park Avenue will finish construction around the end of this summer.

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12 Comments on "LED Lights Shine Brighter on Foster + Partners’ 270 Park Avenue in Midtown East, Manhattan"

  1. David of Flushing | June 4, 2025 at 9:14 am | Reply

    Utility customers in NYC have a choice of electricity generation providers, but must use Con Edison for transmission. Hydropower from Canada has been mentioned as being subject to tariffs. There are also in state sources of hydro electricity. Anyone can be all hydro if they are willing to pay the price.

  2. Building has grown on me tremendously as its come alive think its a fantastic elegant design the lights accentuate it beautifully the dialogue with vanderbilt think its a great addition

  3. Wonderful. Migrating birds love LED lights.

  4. Almost 1,400 feet tall, but only 60 stories!?🤔🤷, I do like the street level “spoke & hub”, sorta tree structure load displacement system, that helps keep this otherwise “monstrosity” of a bldg, cantilevered-up-and-away at street level for an “airy & less stifling” feel. I, However, would have seamlessly integrated another 30+ floors, sporadically for residential, &/or “corporate suites”, etc, and the total height would stay about the same, but with a 50% “better yield”🌱🌦️🌳🌎

  5. Come on Jamie, get those employees back to work.

  6. David in Bushwick | June 4, 2025 at 3:46 pm | Reply

    This is turning out better than the rendering, like most Foster designs.
    But it’s bad enough Chase is funding the destruction of our climate, now they’re garishly destroying our nighttime skyline too.

  7. I think the LED lights make it a little Las Vegas strip sometimes less is more Norman

  8. To the naysayers re: replacing the Union Carbide box, what do you think now?

  9. Union Carbide should have been granted Historic protection.

  10. I’m open to being wrong about this but so far I still think it’s not great

  11. It’s like a bodega moved in with crazy lights that are so absurd you can’t understand how it’s legal.

    • Indeed, the lights are harshly bright and ugly, even when a mile away coming over the williamsburg bridge. They need to be less bright

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