750 Seventh Avenue
750 Seventh Avenue | |
---|---|
General information | |
Status | Completed |
Type | Office |
Location | 750 Seventh Avenue Manhattan, New York, US |
Coordinates | 40°45′39″N 73°59′02″W / 40.76083°N 73.98389°W |
Completed | 1989 |
Owner | Fosterlane Management |
Height | |
Roof | 615 ft (187 m) |
Top floor | 514 ft (157 m) |
Technical details | |
Floor count | 36 |
Floor area | 561,139 sq ft (52,131.5 m2) |
Design and construction | |
Architect(s) | Kevin Roche |
Developer | Solomon Equities |
750 Seventh Avenue is a 36-story office building in the
Solomon Equities had developed 750 Seventh Avenue as a
Site
750 Seventh Avenue occupies the southern two-thirds of the
The surrounding area is part of Manhattan's Theater District and contains many Broadway theatres.[1] Nearby buildings include The Theater Center, Brill Building, and Ambassador Theatre to the west; Paramount Plaza to the northwest; the Winter Garden Theatre to the north; The Michelangelo to the northeast; 745 Seventh Avenue and 1251 Avenue of the Americas to the east; and Crowne Plaza Times Square Manhattan to the southwest.[2] The site was formerly occupied by the Rivoli Theatre,[5] a 2,400-seat movie palace that opened in 1917 under the management of Samuel Roxy Rothafel. Thomas W. Lamb had designed the Rivoli in a style resembling the Parthenon, with a triangular pediment and grand colonnade; these were removed in the late 1980s by the theater's owner, United Artists (UA).[6] The theater was demolished in 1988.[7]
Architecture
750 Seventh Avenue was designed by
In designing the building's massing, Roche was not constrained by a small site or the need to acquire air rights from neighboring buildings, unlike the nearly contemporary Carnegie Hall Tower.[15] There are setbacks along 750 Seventh Avenue's exterior, which ascend in a counterclockwise direction, giving the appearance of a spiral. The setbacks are placed on all sides of the building and span a small section of every floor.[16][17] As a result, all the floors are different in size. Each setback has a gradual, near-vertical slope, creating what architecture writer Robert A. M. Stern described as a "prismatic" appearance.[17] The building rises to an asymmetrical pinnacle,[1][17] which is made of glass[18] and was designed to illuminate at night.[14]
750 Seventh Avenue has a
History
Times Square's Theater District had evolved into a business district after World War II.
Development
By 1986, the Solomons were planning a 29-story tower on the Rivoli Theatre's site, one of several developments planned for Times Square.
The CPC approved a planning regulation in September 1987, which required large new developments in Times Square to set aside about 5 percent of their space for "entertainment uses", such as broadcast studios or ground-floor stores.[34] The ordinance also required the developers of such buildings to install large signs facing Times Square.[35] In March 1988, UA president Stewart Blair confirmed that the company had sold its ownership stake in the site to David Solomon. According to Blair, a theater on the site was infeasible because of the presence of the subway line nearby.[7] By that July, the office building's foundation had been constructed. Kevin Roche had modified the planned building, which was to contain 35 stories and 585,000 sq ft (54,300 m2).[36]
The aftermath of
Completion and insolvency
The building was substantially completed in 1989[18] at an estimated cost of $150 million.[52] This coincided with the beginning of the early 1990s recession, when 14.5 percent of Manhattan office space was vacant.[53] Furthermore, some 9 million square feet (840,000 m2) of office space in the western section of Midtown had been developed in the 1980s, of which only half had been leased.[54][55] The Solomons' other project, 1585 Broadway, was similarly unsuccessful with just one tenant.[56] In April 1990, the Solomons signed their first tenant at 750 Seventh Avenue: the law firm Olwine, Connelly, Chase, O'Donnell & Wehyer, which signed a 20-year lease for ten floors.[57][58] Besides that, their Times Square skyscrapers, as well as a third project at 712 Fifth Avenue, were almost nearly empty.[59][60] Since 750 Seventh Avenue was less than half occupied, the Solomons were not required to operate the exterior signs.[14] As part of the Industrial and Commercial Incentive Program, which automatically distributed tax abatements to developers of industrial or commercial buildings in certain areas of New York City, the building also received a municipal tax abatement that lowered its tax bill by several million dollars.[61]
Some work was still progressing in July 1990,
In January 1992, Solomon Equities filed a
Occupancy and sales
By early 1993, the building was no longer in bankruptcy and its broker, Newmark Real Estate, was looking for tenants. The banks that owned the building had to decide whether to charge cheaper rents immediately or charge higher rents in several months.[72][76] The banks decided to charge a variety of rents, with higher rates on higher floors.[76] Newmark furnished some "prebuilt" office space for tenants needing small space, which it advertised to tenants at the nearby Rockefeller Center.[77] The tactic drew tenants such as a regional office for accounting firm Ernst & Young, which took 42,000 sq ft (3,900 m2).[78][79] Meanwhile, Morgan Stanley had acquired 1585 Broadway in 1993,[80] but the firm still needed around 250,000 sq ft (23,000 m2).[81] The Hong Kong firm Glorious Sun was considered purchasing 750 Seventh Avenue at the time, but the firm ultimately decided to let Morgan Stanley buy it instead.[82] Morgan Stanley bought 750 Seventh Avenue in 1994 for $90 million.[52][83][a]
Morgan Stanley installed signs on the facade to comply with the city regulations.
After the sale, Morgan Stanley continued to lease back its space at 750 Seventh Avenue.
Hines placed the building for sale in March 2011[18][98] and received thirty bids for the building.[100] Kuwaiti firm Fosterlane Management agreed that May to purchase the building for $485 million.[101][102] Afterward, Fosterlane attempted to evict Ruby Foo's, which prompted the restaurant to sue.[91] Ruby Foo's ultimately stayed until 2015 and was replaced by a Junior's restaurant the next year.[103] Law firm Holwell Shuster & Goldberg also subleased three floors in the building in 2015.[104][105]
Reception
Upon the completion of 750 Seventh Avenue in 1990, New York Times architectural critic
The 2010 version of the AIA Guide to New York City described the spire as a "finial finger",[1] while Wiseman likened the spire to a finger making a "rude hand gesture".[15][109] When the building was placed for sale in 2011, Laura Kusisto wrote for The New York Observer that the building had "an uncanny resemblance to the neighboring Death Star", with the glass spire being among its "dubious architectural features".[18]
See also
References
Notes
- ^ The Wall Street Journal did not name 750 Seventh Avenue explicitly but said that the building was on Seventh Avenue and 49th Street and was developed by the Solomons. The newspaper also gives a conflicting figure of 200,000 sq ft (19,000 m2) for Morgan Stanley's space requirements.[52] Crain's New York mentioned both structures by name in 1995.[84]
Citations
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Sources
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