Type Commercial offices Construction started 1986 Owner George Comfort & Sons Floors 47 Architect David Childs | Architectural style Postmodernism Completed 1989 Height 237 m Phone +1 212-765-0846 | |
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Location 825 8th Avenue
Manhattan, New York City Address 350 W 50th St, New York, NY 10019, USA Similar Bertelsmann Building, 1585 Broadway, CitySpire Center, 383 Madison Avenue, AXA Equitable Center | ||
One Worldwide Plaza is the largest tower of a three-building, mixed-use commercial and residential complex completed in 1989, in the New York City borough of Manhattan, known collectively as Worldwide Plaza. One Worldwide Plaza is a commercial office tower on Eighth Avenue. Two Worldwide Plaza is a residential condominium tower west of the center of the block, and Three Worldwide Plaza is a low-rise condominium residential building with street level stores on Ninth Avenue, to the west of the towers. Skidmore, Owings & Merrill was the designer for the office complex, and the residential complex was designed by Frank Williams. The complex, whose component skyscrapers are among the list of tallest buildings in New York City, occupies an entire city block, bounded by Eighth Avenue, Ninth Avenue, 49th Street, and 50th Street. Located on the west side of Eighth Avenue, One Worldwide Plaza is built on the site of New York City's third Madison Square Garden.
Description
Designed by David Childs of Skidmore, Owings & Merrill, the Worldwide Plaza complex was developed by William Zeckendorf, Jr. and Victor Elmaleh of the World Wide Group. The building of One Worldwide Plaza was documented in a Channel 4 / PBS mini-series and a companion book Skyscraper: The Making of a Building by Karl Sabbagh. One Worldwide Plaza is a 50-story, 1,500,000 square feet (140,000 m2), 778-foot (237 m) office skyscraper. The building has three separate entrances to accommodate the various tenants in the building, which include the law firm Cravath, Swaine & Moore, the Japanese investment bank Nomura, and, formerly, the international advertising agency of Ogilvy & Mather. The base of the building is made of granite and precast concrete. The tower facade is made of brick. The building is crowned by a copper roof and glass pyramid known as "David's Diamond" after the architect, David Childs.
A mid-block public plaza separates One Worldwide Plaza from the residential buildings of Two Worldwide Plaza and Three Worldwide Plaza. The public plaza is a bonus space granted under New York City Department of City Planning. The creation and maintenance of the public plaza resulted in permission to build additional floors in the office tower. The landscaping of the plaza contains over 40 trees and numerous plantings, and a cafe. Public seating is available year round. The center of the plaza is highlighted by a fountain created by Sidney Simon called "The Four Seasons". Four female statues, each modelled by Molly Ackerman and representing a season, hold up a globe. A theater space lies beneath the public plaza; it was originally a six-screen movie theatre but is now occupied by five Off-Broadway theatres known as New World Stages. Access is gained by two kiosk buildings: one on 49th Street and the other on 50th Street. The 50th Street New York City Subway station (A C E trains) is underneath. The southbound platform was renovated when One Worldwide Plaza was built.
In July 2009, Deutsche Bank agreed to sell Worldwide Plaza for a paltry $600 million after a previous sale of US$1.7 billion in February 2007, a 66% drop in value in just 2 years. Developer George Comfort & Sons was the buyer, and the purchase was the biggest after the NYC downturn, which followed the collapse of Lehman Brothers. Harry B. Macklowe lost the building to Deutsche in 2008. In late 2013, American Realty Capital New York Recovery REIT, one of several companies owned by New York real estate mogul Nicholas Schorsch, acquired a 48.9% interest in the property, as well as the rights to buy the remaining 51.1% at a later date.
As of October 2014, CBS TV is going to consolidate numerous locations of their east coast distribution offices during the first quarter of 2015 through a 12-year, 32,598 square-foot lease for the entire 30th floor at 1 Worldwide Plaza.