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NEW YORK | Woolworth Building | 792 FT / 241 M | 57 FLOORS | 1913

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/05/30/re...l?ref=business

Downtown Landmark Makes a High-End Play

http://graphics8.nytimes.com/images/...lworth.600.jpg

The Woolworth Building, known for its height when it opened in 1913, is being extensively renovated.

By ALISON GREGOR
May 30, 2007

In a leap of faith in the Lower Manhattan office market, a group of real estate developers is creating what would be the financial district’s first office tower with a country club’s exclusivity — and perhaps its extraordinary membership fees — in the Woolworth Building.

The group, 233 Broadway Owners, led by the developers Steven C. Witkoff and Ruben Schron, plans to create an “office club” on the top 25 floors of the Woolworth Building, one of New York’s signature skyscrapers. The intent is to attract affluent tenants like hedge funds and private equity firms.

The Woolworth Building, a striking Gothic structure at 233 Broadway, between Park Place and Barclay Street, was once called the Cathedral of Commerce.

After the renovation, the tower will have its own private entrance and lobby off Park Place adjacent to the lobby designed by the building’s architect, Cass Gilbert. The new lobby will attempt to match the opulence of the original one with Italian glass ceiling tiles and fine millwork, but it will also have large high-speed elevators.

The top 25 floors of the building, which were once lower-rent floors occupied by tenants like dentists and barbers, have been gutted. Ranging from about 3,500 to 8,000 square feet and once slated for conversion to luxury condominiums, the larger floors are now being converted into plush offices, while the smaller floors will contain private meeting rooms and a dining room for upper-floor tenants.

Tenants will have use of a private observatory deck on the 58th floor of the 60-story building, and the round elevator encased in glass serving the highest floors is being rebuilt. In the base of the building, the developers hope to restore the original swimming pool used by Frank W. Woolworth. They would also like to add a fitness center.

Motivating the developers is the fact that about a dozen select office towers in Midtown Manhattan, including 712 Fifth Avenue and the Seagram Building, have achieved rents of almost $150 a square foot, or 75 percent more than the average asking rent of $85.28 for premium space in Midtown, according to Jones Lang LaSalle, the commercial real estate services firm.

“Midtown was able to take its signature buildings and make them very important destination buildings for certain tenants,” said Randolph H. Gerner, a principal at Gerner Kronick & Valcarcel, the architecture firm designing the Woolworth renovation. “The Woolworth Building is already a destination building, so it seemed like a logical jump to create a similar product.”

The qualities that make the Midtown buildings attractive to small wealthy firms are relatively small floors of less than 14,000 square feet — called boutique space, which can provide full-floor identity — as well as fabulous views, often of Central Park, brokers said.

The Midtown towers typically have well-appointed lobbies, top-notch security and technology, and convenient parking for limousines. Part of the buildings’ appeal is their proximity to one another, as well as to fashionable shops, luxury hotels and Fifth Avenue residences.

Those qualities — and especially the rents — may be difficult to replicate in Lower Manhattan, brokers said, even in the Woolworth Building, which was built in 1913 and was then the tallest building in the world, at 792 feet.

The developers said they expect the rebuilt floors to be occupied by the end of 2008. While they said they were uncertain about the cost of the renovation or the prospective rents, there is no doubt that the rents will be higher than average for premium space downtown, which is about $50 a square foot, said Barry Pincus, the president of Phoenix Asset Management, which is in charge of operating and developing the building on behalf of the ownership.

The top floors of the building, with 360-degree views that include the Empire State Building, the Statue of Liberty and more distant landmarks, may achieve initial rents of $60 to $75 a square foot, said Peter Riguardi, president of the New York region of Jones Lang LaSalle.

The belief that rents can go much higher downtown reflects not only an overflow in commercial demand from Midtown to downtown, but also to the rapid residential growth of Lower Manhattan, he said.

“We’ve done a couple of hedge fund deals now in the TriBeCa area in converted lofts,” Mr. Riguardi said. “Some of these well-to-do hedge fund managers are now living in TriBeCa and SoHo, and interestingly enough, there’s a walk-to-work mentality that could occur in some parts of Lower Manhattan similar to what’s occurred on the Upper East Side on Park Avenue.”

Downtown Manhattan is also starting to attract some of the kinds of stores that might serve affluent residents, real estate experts said.

“I think there are unbelievable things that are going on in Lower Manhattan,” said Jonathan L. Mechanic, chairman of the real estate department of the law firm of Fried, Frank, Harris, Shriver & Jacobson, which has offices downtown. He noted that Tiffany & Company and the luxury retailer Hermès are now in the area, while a Whole Foods is opening, and there’s a BMW dealership on Wall Street. “The deli is gone, and the BMW is in,” he said.

Currently, the most expensive office space downtown is in the newly built 7 World Trade Center, which is achieving rents as high as $80 a square foot, brokers said.

Though 7 World Trade Center, like almost all the newer office buildings downtown, has large floors of about 40,000 square feet, some of its space is being divided into smaller units that are commanding a premium of 10 to 20 percent over typical leases, said Bruce Surry, an executive vice president at the commercial brokerage CB Richard Ellis.

Still, the Woolworth Building would be the only building of its era in Manhattan that aims to provide very high-end offices, Mr. Surry said.

“The one thing that is consistent in Midtown is that all of those buildings are new modern buildings,” he said. “All were built in the 1970s or later.”

Some brokers said that they have their doubts about the potential of redeveloped buildings to succeed as magnets for tenants willing to pay stratospheric rents. Rather, they think the odds for that kind of success are better for new buildings with certifications for being environmentally friendly.

“I think the fact that it’s new construction and ‘green’ will be important going forward,” said Jack Petrie, a senior vice president at the brokerage Cresa Partners. “That kind of space will drive the upper end of downtown rents.”

http://graphics8.nytimes.com/images/...worth1.450.jpg

Richard Woodward, left, an associate at Gerner Kronick & Valcarcel, and Randolph H. Gerner, a principal, at the Woolworth Building.

What an awesome building. Probably the world's greatest skyscraper?

Probably. Chrysler would give it a run for its money. The "seven sisters" (or whatever they're called) in Moscow probably wouldn't, since they're probably not as well-kept.

just glad they didn't turn it into lofts.

Quote:

Originally Posted by mhays (Post 2869042)

Probably. Chrysler would give it a run for its money. The "seven sisters" (or whatever they're called) in Moscow probably wouldn't, since they're probably not as well-kept.

with all the cash flowing into construction in russia, it's only a matter of time before they are deemed the empire state, chrysler and woolworth buildings of moscow and become the hottest spots in the city.

Quote:

Originally Posted by GVNY (Post 2867313)

What an awesome building. Probably the world's greatest skyscraper?

It's up there with the Chrysler and Empire State, but doesn't surpass those towers. The Empire State is still the world's greatest if I have anything to say about it. However, the Woolworth just may be Downtown's greatest. I can't think of anything right now that beats it.

I agree that the ESB is the greatest overall especially when historical context is taken into account.

The American International Building would give the Woolworth competition as the greatest downtown skyscraper.

Perhaps the Woolworth is the greatest gothic skyscraper ever (and the Chicago Tribune is the 2nd greated gothic skyscraper). The fact that it was the world's tallest from 1913-1929 does guarantee its noteworthyness.

Quote:

Originally Posted by DecoJim (Post 2869822)

agree, disagree, agree, and agree. I've never been a huge AIB fan. It is certainly a beautiful skyscraper, but I put Woolworth on a completely different level.

Quote:

Originally Posted by DecoJim (Post 2869822)

The American International Building would give the Woolworth competition as the greatest downtown skyscraper.

The fact that it was the world's tallest from 1913-1929 does guarantee its noteworthyness.

That's specifically one reason the Woolworth stands out more...

^ Great pics. So few show it that closely.

Quote:

Originally Posted by KevinFromTexas (Post 2973566)

^ Great pics. So few show it that closely.

It might not be the tallest (it was world's tallest at one time), but definitely one of the city's classic skyscrapers.

empire state building is the mot amazing skyscraper and will never be beat by anything no matter how tall in my opinion

Quote:

Originally Posted by davee930 (Post 2974515)

empire state building is the mot amazing skyscraper and will never be beat by anything no matter how tall in my opinion

The Empire State Building is the mot amazing skyscraper?

We are talking about the Woolworth Building, not the ESB. I have to agree, the Woolworth Building is truely, one of the best buildings ever built.

http://www.nyc-architecture.com/SCC/...h_Building.jpg http://www.nyc-architecture.com/SCC/SCC19A.jpg http://www.nyc-architecture.com/SCC/019A4.jpg http://www.wirednewyork.com/landmark...worth_bb_s.jpg

I used to love how it was perfectly framed by the Twins.

http://www.mri2000.com/images/photog..._wtc060111.jpg

The Woolworth is such a great one. When I first got into architecture and skyscrapers it was one of the buildings that made me appreciate older buildings. Empire State Building, Chrysler Building, Woolworth Building and Metropolitan Life Building have to be my favorites in New York, though it's a damned hard pick considering the options. :)

Quote:

Originally Posted by KevinFromTexas (Post 2975199)

I go back and forth on my favorites in Manhattan. I still think the Empire State is the greatest skyscraper ever built (considering when it was built). But I think nothing says "New York skyscraper" more than the Chrysler Building, even if the ESB is more famous in name. To this day, a lot of people (including New Yorkers) still don't know which is which though...:yes:

Quote:

Originally Posted by Slugbelch (Post 2975229)

http://img153.imageshack.us/img153/5258/2sg9.jpg

http://img177.imageshack.us/img177/4352/be032364of6.jpg

The glory days....

yep. You can actually see several WTB's in that top pic. Even the rare Singer.

Incredible photos up there.

Singer Building, Flatiron, Radiator Building, Waldorf Astoria, The Plaza, 40 Wall, Street, American International, Lincoln Building, New York Life. I have more favorites, but geez, I could sit here all day making a list. :haha: Again, it was always the oldies that made me appreciate New York.

I love Woolworth! It just might be my favorite skyscraper of all.

The pictures in this thread have been a real treat.

I'm all for the renovation. I miss the days when skyscrapers have been much more than simple overregulated cash makers - when they were much more intricate on the interior, whether that intricacy meant signature glamour (like what they're trying to restore) or demand-driven grit (like barber shops on top of this beauty).

For some reason I have never been a big fan of Woolworth. Maybe it's the awkward massing that's very inappropriate for the graceful soaring tower that so many claim it is. maybe I'm just disappointed that it's on the fringe of Downtown, and getting it inside a very dense cluster would be pretty difficult (though doable). Maybe it's because the technically simple, though very ornate and delicate, sloped green roof on top of its soaring vertical white lines just looks too prosaic. however, I have always had and will have enormous admiration of the great craft that the architects put in its decoration, something that is no longer done and something that I don't see making a return.

One of the best buildings in the world. Cass Gilberts best piece of work.

OK you guys convinced me -- I'm gonna buy a place in the Woolworth Building.

Lecom -- I know what you mean -- the bulk of the base is kinda awkward -- The Woolworth is definitely meant to be seen from the front. But none the less I love it.

Woolworth Building

:tup: One of my favorites along with Empire State, Chrysler, and 30 rockefeller center (GE Building).
They don't make them like that anymore!
http://farm1.static.flickr.com/82/24...e441215ecd.jpg

Entrance
http://farm1.static.flickr.com/123/3...fc7388e1c9.jpg

Lobby
http://farm1.static.flickr.com/137/3...58fca14df8.jpg

Wonderful photos of one of my favourites of all time.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lecom (Post 2980228)

https://community.emporis.com/files/.../03/343730.jpg

A gem by any standard.

Nice detail...

Lobby
http://farm1.static.flickr.com/137/3...58fca14df8.jpg[/QUOTE]

I never have seen the inside.its gorgous!

Quote:

Originally Posted by ynotjetlag (Post 2980373)

http://farm1.static.flickr.com/82/24...e441215ecd.jpg

Need to get some black&whites of this one...great shot

The Woolworth has been my favorite skyscraper ever since I first laid eyes on it in person. I think the renovation sounds great as it will add to the health and longevity of the building.

http://curbed.com/archives/2007/10/0...eover.php#more

Curbed Inside: The Woolworth Building's Makeover

October 9, 2007
by Lockhart

http://curbed.com/uploads/2007_10_wool1.jpg
[Near the top of the Woolworth Building. Be very afraid.]

Cass Gilbert's legendary Woolworth Building, completed in 1913 at 233 Broadway, has somehow withstood the test of time—barely. Beset by cut-rate lobby renovations, bad terra-cotta patchings, and the economic need to squeeze as much rent as possible out of an aging office building, the old lady is showing her age. Which is why the news that the top 25 floors of the Woolworth Building would be made over into "the financial district's first office tower with a country club's exclusivity—and perhaps its extraordinary membership fees," as the NYT put it, exploded across our retinas with the glare of a thousand suns. A commercial country club for the hedge fund set? In the Woolworth Building? Really?

Well, yes, actually. Those were the words of Randy Gerner, a principal at GKV Architects, the firm overseeing the Woolworth's high-end makeover. How about coming over for an exclusive look at the work so far? he asked. Well hell yes, we replied, as soon as we realized we'd not only get to look at floors closed to the public for years, but even make it all the way to the wraparound rooftop cupola at the very top of the building's 62 habitable floors. And so we did.

http://curbed.com/uploads/2007_10_wool2.jpg
47th floor elevator bank.

Our tour began on the 47th floor, high above where the renovation begins. They're fully gutting floors 30 through 62, while firms on lower floors, like that open to the public this past weekend at Open House New York, remain open. Gerner and Co. won the project after outlining this vision to the owners, but Gerner's fondness for the Woolworth building is clear—as was that of our other tour guide, the building's unofficial historian, Roy Suskin.

http://curbed.com/uploads/2007_10_wool3.jpg
View upwards from 47.

The upper floors at this point are almost fully gutted, with a hole being carved through each of them for a new elevator. Here, we're looking up from the 47th floor through the floors above. At this level, there's about 5000 to 6000 square feet of rentable space; as the building narrows, upper floors have far less. They'll be used for amenity space, which we assume will include lapdances. And yes, they're remaking Woolworth's private swimming pool in the basement for use as well.

http://curbed.com/uploads/2007_10_wool4.jpg
At the 50th floor.

http://curbed.com/uploads/2007_10_wool5.jpg
Ascending from the 50th floor.

http://curbed.com/uploads/2007_10_wool6.jpg
Collected detritus.

http://curbed.com/uploads/2007_10_wool7.jpg
The slot cut for the new elevator to-be.

http://curbed.com/uploads/2007_10_wool8.jpg
Wall of windows on the climb towards the 62nd floor.

http://curbed.com/uploads/2007_10_wool9.jpg
From here, a spiral staircase leads further up.

http://curbed.com/uploads/2007_10_wool10.jpg
As the paint chips away, signatures from the original Woolworth construction team are viewable anew.

http://curbed.com/uploads/2007_10_wool11.jpg
Hallway just below the cupola.

http://curbed.com/uploads/2007_10_wool12.jpg

http://curbed.com/uploads/2007_10_wool13.jpg
The spiral staircase to the top.

http://curbed.com/uploads/2007_10_wool14.jpg
And out into one of the most stunning wrap-around views of New York City you'll ever see.

The terrace, which will become a private observatory deck for tenants, was opened to the public until the start of World War I. It's been closed since. We'll have many more views from here, and the outdoor terrace on the 43rd floor as well, later this week.

^extremely cool tour!

cheers to one helluva building! great threat, awesome buidling and beautiful pics.

"The terrace, which will become a private observatory deck for tenants, was opened to the public until the start of World War I. It's been closed since. We'll have many more views from here, and the outdoor terrace on the 43rd floor as well, later this week."

I was gonna say - if the only photo of the view from the top was that little peek at the end, there was gonna be h#ll to pay!

"I never have seen the inside.its gorgous!"

If you ever get a chance, when they reopen - even to step inside for a quick glance before security chases you out, do it. It's absolutely exquisite.

http://curbed.com/archives/2008/02/2...ilding.php?o=9

Curbed Inside (Out): The Woolworth Building

Friday, February 22, 2008, by Lockhart

Back in the hazy days of July 2007, we toured the upper floors of the Woolworth Building, architect Cass Gilbert's downtown masterpiece that's graced the skyline since 1913. At the time, we promised pictures from two excursions outside the building—one, a trip to the 63rd floor observation deck in the crown of the building, closed to the public since the dawn of World War II; the second, a look at the broad, terra-cotta clad balcony on the 43rd floor. Both were, in their own way, astounding. We decided to wait to publish these pictures until our photogallery tool was ready to roll—and now that it is, what better day than a snowy, cold February Friday to journey 792 feet in the sky?

http://curbednetwork.com/cache/galle...051b1ca8_o.jpg

http://curbednetwork.com/cache/galle...0a27704a_o.jpg

http://curbednetwork.com/cache/galle...9fc8567c_o.jpg

http://curbednetwork.com/cache/galle...2c0b7fc1_o.jpg

http://curbednetwork.com/cache/galle...98387ebb_o.jpg

http://curbednetwork.com/cache/galle...7c7136c0_o.jpg

http://curbednetwork.com/cache/galle...e240a664_o.jpg

Wow! The Singer Building too. Those pre-depression pictures are fascinating.

jodelli

What happened to the building across the street from the Woolworth in this picture? (the one in front of City Hall)

http://www.nyc-architecture.com/SCC/...h_Building.jpg

Quote:

Originally Posted by mthq (Post 3481819)

What happened to the building across the street from the Woolworth in this picture? (the one in front of City Hall)

http://www.nyc-architecture.com/SCC/...h_Building.jpg

...it's the City Hall Post Office.
Considered as old fashioned and a eyesore, it was demolished just before the New-York World fair.

http://www.nyc-architecture.com/GON/GON022-A01.jpg

http://www.nyc-architecture.com/SCC/...OOLWORTH22.jpg

http://www.nyc-architecture.com/SCC/SCC19-woolwr3.jpg

Timeless building! One of my early favorites!

Quote:

Originally Posted by Victor Horta (Post 3481876)

http://www.nyc-architecture.com/SCC/...OOLWORTH22.jpg

A lot of classics in that photo...

I love this building, it's nice to see floors I haven't previously seen, I also like seeing the original construction materials. Just imagine those bricks being laid almost a century ago, and the man who did it.

Here is my favorite image of the Woolworth Building.

http://img443.imageshack.us/img443/7...wrthlq2ph6.jpg

Opening night from Brooklyn: April 24, 1913....with exterior floodlights.

....and this one, without the floodlights on the exterior.

http://img443.imageshack.us/img443/2...avoritene4.jpg photographer unknown

and a cool comparison graph with the liner Olympic (sister ship of Titanic).

http://img443.imageshack.us/img443/8...owoolwonu5.jpg

The Woolworth is just one of my favourite scapers and no doubt on of the most fascinating buildings in the world!

So Gothamist!

Ha, this building gets majorly fucked up in the Cloverfield movie lol

Even I must acknowledge the preeminence of the Chrysler Building as the most glorious skyscraper ever erected, a general opinion I have always agreed with (though disguised earlier within this particular thread).

However, the Woolworth Building, with its splendid ornamentation and extraordinary history (the loftiest skyscraper in the world, paid full in cash), is indeed one of the loveliest manifestations of a natural physical form for a soaring building.

Additionally, its towering base, previously derided in this thread as overbearing, maintains a height which I believe brought uniformity, harmony and architectural understanding to the burgeoning lower Manhattan skyline of the 1910s. The criticisms against the massing of the building, I feel, are further weakened by the Gothicized vertical bands that happily marry the base to its thinner, taller extension.

Quote:

Originally Posted by ethereal_reality (Post 3484760)

Here is my favorite image of the Woolworth Building.

http://img443.imageshack.us/img443/7...wrthlq2ph6.jpg

Opening night from Brooklyn: April 24, 1913....with exterior floodlights.

That's a great shot of the Woolworth.

That particular photograph has always seemed a bit phony to my eye; Woolworth airbrushed into a shining pinnacle?

fantastic shots of the opening night.

On 24th April, 1913 electricity and electric light played an important part in the official inauguration of the Woolworth Building, then the world's tallest skyscraper. The construction included 87 miles of electric flex, 80,000 light bulbs and its own power plant containing four separate generator engines.

As a publicity stunt the President of the United States, Woodrow Wilson, agreed to flick a switch at his desk in the White House in Washington that would turn on all of the lights at once, restoring daylight to the Broadway District.