55 Water Street

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Coordinates: 40°42′12″N 74°00′33″W / 40.7032°N 74.0091°W / 40.7032; -74.0091

55 Water Street
General information
Status Complete
Type Office
Construction started 1969
Completed 1972
Height
Roof 687 ft (209 m)
Technical details
Floor count 53
Floor area 3.5 million square feet (325,000 m2)
Design and construction
Owner Retirement Systems of Alabama
Architect Emery Roth & Sons
Lee S Jablin, Harman Jablin Architects
Developer Uris Brothers
Structural engineer The Office of James Ruderman

55 Water Street is a 687 ft (209m) tall skyscraper in Lower Manhattan, New York City. It was completed in 1972 and has 53 floors. Emery Roth & Sons designed the building, which is tied with 277 Park Avenue as the 40th tallest building in New York City. When it was completed it was the largest office building in the world, and is still the largest in New York by floor area. In an arrangement with the Office of Lower Manhattan Development, it was built on a superblock created from four adjoining city blocks, suppressing the western part of Front Street. From 1973 to 1983 the Whitney Museum of American Art maintained a branch museum in the building. Space was rented for a token fee and the operating cost was being paid for by several Wall Street corporations. On the north side of the tower is a 15-story wing with a sloping facade and terraces facing the river. In front of the wing is an elevated plaza, known as the Elevated Acre, which is reachable by a high escalator ride. The 4,800 m² plaza was designed by M. Paul Friedberg & Assocs., and has same red brick tiles as his Jeannette Park to the south of the tower. The building, its plazas and Jeannette Park have been renovated and redesigned by Lee S Jablin, Harman Jablin Architects.[1] It was originally planned as a series of high-level public spaces along East River, to be connected with walkways running above the street level.

It was the last major building built by Uris Brothers.[2]

It is the headquarters of EmblemHealth.[3] HIP Health Plan of New York, which became a part of EmblemHealth, moved there with 2,000 employees in October 2004. It was the largest corporate relocation in downtown Manhattan following the September 11 attacks.[4]

Standard & Poor's, a rating agency company, also is headquartered here.[5]

See also

References

Notes
  1. ^ New York Times, May 24, 2000, "Putting a Shine on a Memorial Long Forlorn", David W. Dunlap.
  2. ^ http://www.emporis.com/application/?nav=company&lng=3&id=103168
  3. ^ "LARGE EMPLOYER GROUP APPLICATION." EmblemHealth. Retrieved on August 12, 2011. "EmblemHealth, 55 Water Street, New York, New York 10041 HIP Insurance Company of New York, 55 Water Street, New York, NY 10041 Group Health Incorporated, 441 Ninth Avenue, New York, NY 10001"
  4. ^ "HIP CELEBRATES OPENING OF NEW HEADQUARTERS IN LOWER MANHATTAN RELOCATION OF 2,000 EMPLOYEES TO 55 WATER STREET REPRESENTS LARGEST CORPORATE RELOCATION TO LOWER MANHATTAN SINCE 9/11." HIP Health Plan. October 12, 2004. Retrieved on August 12, 2011.
  5. ^ "Office Locations." Standard & Poor's. Retrieved on August 12, 2011. "Corporate 55 Water Street New York New York "

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