Samiksha Jaiswal (Editor)

Bertelsmann Building

Updated on
Edit
Like
Comment
Share on FacebookTweet on TwitterShare on LinkedInShare on Reddit
Type
  
Office

Opening
  
1990

Roof
  
616 ft (188 m)

Floors
  
44

Owner
  
CBRE Group

Completed
  
1990

Antenna spire
  
733 ft (223 m)

Height
  
188 m, 223 m to tip

Opened
  
1990

Construction started
  
1989

Bertelsmann Building httpsuploadwikimediaorgwikipediacommonsthu

Location
  
Times Square, New York City, United States

Architecture firm
  
Skid, Owings & Merrill

Similar
  
Times Square, 1585 Broadway, One Worldwide Plaza, Duffy Square, 383 Madison Avenue

The former Bertelsmann Building, now known as 1540 Broadway, is a 44-story, 733 foot (223 m) office tower in Times Square in Manhattan, New York City, standing at West 45th Street. The building was the North American headquarters of media conglomerate Bertelsmann from 1992 until the company vacated and sold the property, of which they occupied all office-use floors, in 2004. The building housed US satellites of central functions such as Corporate Development, Corporate Communications and the Office of the Chairman and CEO, as well as serving as worldwide headquarters for the Bertelsmann Music Group and Bertelsmann Book Group (what has later taken on the umbrella brand name Random House). Today's office tenants include Viacom, China Central Television, Yahoo, Adobe and Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman. The building retained the Bertelsmann name and signage facing Broadway until its eventual removal in late 2013.

Map of Bertelsmann Building, 149 W 45th St, New York, NY 10036, USA

Started in 1989 and finished in 1990, the tower is one of the few in Times Square to contain class A office space. Also found in the tower is Planet Hollywood, and commercial tenants MAC Cosmetics, Disney Store, and Forever 21.

In the 1990s the Bertelsmann subsidiary Random House looked to build a skyscraper across 45th Street from its parent and be connected to it via a neon-lighted bridge across 45th Street. When the deal fell through it built the Random House Tower 10 blocks uptown.

Loew's State Theatre (1921) formerly occupied the site of the Bertelsmann Building. Before Loew's, the Bartholdi Inn (1899), then New York’s best-known theatrical boarding house, was located there.

References

Bertelsmann Building Wikipedia