Chase Manhattan commences 1 New York Plaza renovation.

Chase Manhattan commences 1 New York Plaza renovation

In one of the first signs of renewed interest in the financial district's real estate market, ground has been broken on downtown Manhattan's most extensive office building renovation, announced officials of the Edward S. Gordon Company, Inc. (ESG) and Chase Manhattan Bank, N.A.

At a celebration attended by leaders from the business and real estate community as well as by city officials, the two companies announced that work is underway on an extensive rehabilitation project at One New York Plaza, a 2.4 million- square-foot office building purchased by the bank in 1989. Chase made its commitment to completely renovate the building at that time. The Edward S. Gordon Company is the development manager as well as the leasing and managing agent for One New York Plaza.

"We have been in preparation for this day for 18 months -- from the day Chase purchased this outstanding property," said ESG Vice Chairman Martin Turchin. "Chase, by its nature, is more than just an owner; it has extensive experience as a user. Therefore the bank, better than most owners, understands the special needs of large tenants and has carefully designed the immediate renovation and long-term management plans to provide services and systems of the highest quality and most extensive scope."

Architect Swanke Hayden Connell was selected to give the classic, 50-story skyscraper for the interior and exterior renovations. The project will include a new 40,000-square-foot granite plaza, a new lobby, and 44 new passenger elevator cabs controlled by a computer dispatch system which will run 20-percent faster than standard speed.

The retail concourse, with its own separate entrances, will be completely overhauled and a new, state of the art security system controlled from the new concierge desk will provide closed circuit television monitoring of all public areas. A computer card system will business hours.

"Some skeptics may wonder why we are putting substantial money into Downtown Manhattan's real estate market today," said Michael Esposito, chief financial officer of Chase Manhattan, at the event announcing the project. "Clearly, we at Chase Manhattan Bank have long had faith in the New York business community, and that faith has never faltered. We believe the Wall Street area is the unequivocal financial capital of the world, and One New York Plaza is among the most stellar buildings in that area."

Also at the celebration was Deputy Mayor Sally Hernandez-Pinero, who compared the One New York Plaza project to other mega-events held in the city recently.

"On June 9th we celebrated the country's largest outdoor cultural festival at the Puerto Rican Day Parade; on June 10 we witnessed Operation Welcome Home; and today we have |Operation Chase Manhattan Bank: One New York Plaza,' where we celebrate Chase Manhattan's renewed commitment to the future of New York City," said the deputy mayor. "This building and plaza will be refurbished and renovated from top to bottom. When completed, it will be one of the smartest, cleanest, and most competitive sites in this city."

A total of 467,000 prime square feet of space are available for immediate occupancy in the upper floors. Other substantial blocks of space are scheduled to become available in the near future.

The 40,000- to 60,000-square-foot floors offer vast column-free spaces. The building's corners are deeply notched, so up to eight corner offices are possible per floor.