JPMorganChase Opens New Midtown Manhattan Headquarters

Multinational banking institution JPMorgan Chase & Co. (JPMorganChase, JPMorgan) recently celebrated the grand opening of its newly reconstructed headquarters building on Park Avenue in New York City.

Soaring nearly 1,400 feet high in the Midtown Manhattan skyline, the new 270 Park Ave. reportedly created 8,000 construction jobs across 40 local unions for its completion.

“For more than 225 years, JPMorganChase has been deeply rooted in New York City,” said Jamie Dimon, chairman and chief executive officer at JPMorgan Chase & Co. “The opening of our new global headquarters is not only a significant investment in New York, but also a testament to our commitment to our clients and employees worldwide. By creating world-class environments where our employees can thrive, we are strengthening our ability to serve our clients and communities — locally and globally — for generations to come.”

Project partners included: Tishman Speyer as the developer manager; Jaros, Baum & Bolles as mechanical and services engineers; Severud Associates as structural engineer; Foster + Partners as lead architect for the building’s design; Skidmore, Owings & Merrill, Gensler and STUDIOS for interior design; and JRM Construction Management, Structure Tone Building Group, and McKissak, Turner and Valez for interior space fit-out.

Designed to accommodate 10,000 employees and thousands of daily guests, the new JPMorgan headquarters building incorporates more than 2.3 million square feet of trophy-grade Manhattan office space. It also features: flexible workspace; a generous dining and gathering space; smart technology for touchless interactions and flow; outdoor terraces; a health and wellness center; column-free floor plates; above-standard ceiling heights; a curated art program; and a state-of-the-art client center at the top.

Created to achieve LEED Platinum V4 certification and WELL Health-Safety Rating, the building is fully powered by renewable hydroelectric energy from an upstate New York plant. As such, it incorporates a water storage and reuse system, in addition to triple-pane glazing, automatic solar shades, as well as several other state-of-the-art, sustainable building features.

“This new all-electric tower is hydro-powered to minimize its carbon footprint,” said Norman Foster, founder and executive chairman of Foster + Partners. “The unique, cantilevered structure — clad in bronze — delivers two and a half times the amount of public space at the base (including a garden) than its predecessor. The unparalleled range of venues and leisure activities, coupled with tall spaces offering generous natural light and high levels of fresh, filtered air (twice that required by building codes), combine to set new standards of wellbeing. It is the workplace of the future designed for today.”

What 270 Park Ave. Displaced

In order to accommodate the additional height of the new supertall in the NYC skyline, JPMorgan Chase acquired 680,000 square feet of air rights from Grand Central Terminal and an additional 50,000 square feet from St. Bartholomew’s Episcopal Church.

Construction famously required the demolition of the Union Carbide Building, a 52-story skyline staple that was the only one of its kind on Park Avenue when it was completed in 1960. Designed by Natalie Griffin de Blois of Skidmore, Owings & Merrill, the post-war modernist tower held a 50-year record for the tallest building designed by a woman. In 2019, it became the largest intentional demolition.

An icon of the International Style of modern architecture, the Union Carbide Building was a pioneer of innovative structural and environmental engineering design due to the creative approaches used to address the constraints of the site:

• Built over railroad tracks leading out of Grand Central Terminal, the tower could not have a basement under most of its bulk, and the building’s column-footings had to be poured between active rail tracks.
• All columns were set on vibration pads to counteract the vibrations of the more than 500 trains that ran through there each day.
• Building design allowed for the installation of an underground pedestrian passage to Grand Central.
• The Union Carbide Building also pioneered an innovative ceiling system that integrated lighting, air conditioning, and connections for movable partitions.

What 270 Park Ave. Delivered

The soaring new tower at 270 Park Ave. was the first major development under the East Midtown Rezoning — a plan approved by the city in 2017 that aimed to promote Midtown East as a global leader in business districts by incentivizing the creation of more than 6 million square feet of modern office space across nearly 80 blocks around Grand Central.

An imposing monument of modern corporate and technology expansion, the new tower at 270 Park Ave. features a tiered design in a nod to many of the city’s classic “wedding cake” skyscrapers. While solidifying the company’s philosophy and beliefs around the definition of the modern workplace, this project also sought to set new standards of its own, for sustainability, wellness, and engineering through:

• NYC’s largest all-electric skyscraper with net-zero operational emissions and 100% powered by renewable energy
• Intelligent building technology implemented through sensors, AI, and machine learning systems to predict, respond, and adapt to energy needs
• Advanced water storage and reuse systems that reduce usage by more than 40%
• Recycling, reus,e and upcycling of an impressive 97% of materials from the demolition of the previous building
• Drawing upon Harvard research linking fresh air to improved cognitive function, the property features advanced HVAC systems that continually clean outdoor air and double the amount of fresh air that’s brought in, as compared to the standard-specified minimum outdoor air ventilation rate
• Lighting design ensures 30% more daylight and circadian lighting for a healthier indoor environment
• The state-of-the-art structural system steel frame was built throughout three years by more than 300 ironworkers from Local 40, in addition to hundreds of essential engineers, crane operators, and construction professionals
• The innovative, fan-column structure and triangular bracing allow the high-rise to touch the ground lightly across the entire block, which made room for 2.5 times more outdoor space on the ground level of Park and Madison avenues than the previous building, as well as for wider sidewalks, a large public plaza, and other amenities open to the residents, workers and visitors of the neighborhood