First tenants turn up as NYTimes tower climbs.

As the Renzo Piano- designed New York Times Building continues to push its way up into the skyline over Eighth Avenue, prospective tenants are starting to take notice.

The Washington, DC-based law firm Covington & Burling recently signed a 20-year lease for floors 39-43 of the 52-story, green-designed tower that is co-owned by the New York Times Company and Forest City Ratner.

With the building's topping out slated for next month and occupancy expected by Spring of 2007, all eyes are on the speculative tower as developers look to see if the building, which contains many cost-prohibitive features such as low-iron glass and nearly 14-foot ceilings, can be a success.

"I believe the building really does change the game for how speculative office buildings are done," said MaryAnne Gilmartin, executive vice president of commercial development and leasing for Forest City Rather Companies (FCR), which owns floors 28-52 of the building. "It's a true departure from the norm."

What separates the New York Times Building from other projects in town, according to Gilmartin, was Renzo Piano's design, which she says looks to create a "dignified work space" instead of simply working to maximize the floor to area ratio which is seen in other office buildings..

"It starts with these very high ceilings. The slab heights are 13'9". You don't see new buildings going up with ceilings that high," said Gilmartin. "It allows all this light to penetrate."

Helping the light penetrate is costly low-iron glass, also known as Starfire glass, which eliminates much of the blue-green tint associated with most office tower windows. In addition to the low-iron glass, the building's facade will feature a "sunscreen" of ceramic rods that will encase the building several inches to the outside of the glass. The thin, milk-white rods will be placed 14 inches apart along the building's exterior and are designed to absorb heat, thus reducing climate control costs in the building. Four-foot tall sections of glass near eye level on every floor will be free of ceramic rods, allowing for 360-degree views.

To test the ceramic-and-glass curtain wall both for efficiency and to ensure a proper look, the architect set up a 1/4 of a floor in Queens.

"What you could see there and will see as the building rises is that the building will really change color, especially at sunset," Gilmartin said. "The ceramic really absorbs the hues around it."

As the building rises and completion day come nearer, all will soon be able see just how well the facade absorbs hues, and FCR will see just how well the building can absorb tenants. According to Gilmartin, so far, things are going well. "So far, the market has been very positive," she said. "New York is ready for a building of this caliber."

FCR has been partnered with the New York Times on this project since 1997. The Times owns the building's bottom 27 floors, excluding street-level retail space, also owned by FCR.