By: Benyamin Davidsons
The Financial District is one of Manhattan’s main corridors still ailing from the pandemic and remote-work trends. As reported by the NY Post, the ailing district is heartened by 60 Wall St’s ambitions to remodel the 47-story tower at 60 Wall Street is vacant, with 1.6 million square-feet of space lying in wait.
Paramount Group, the property manager, recently launched a marketing and leasing campaign as it completes a $250 million renovation. The 745-foot tall building, formerly known as the J.P. Morgan Bank Building or Deutsche Bank Building, was completed in 1989, built for JP Morgan. The building was later owned by Deutsche Bank, which sold it to Manhattan-based Paramount Group in 2007. In 2017, Paramount sold most of its equity in the building to Singapore sovereign wealth fund GIC, keeping only 5 percent equity in the tower but staying on as property manager.
The building is hardly the only one in FiDi with high vacancies. Overall, FiDi is facing office vacancies of 27 percent in the East portions of the neighborhood, and 34 percent in the west portions, as per Cushman & Wakefield data, which excludes the World Trade Center area of the neighborhood. All eyes now are on 60 Wall Street, wondering if the investment will pay off, and whether big companies will sign leases for the revamped office space. “It’s sink or swim for downtown depending on Paramount signing tenants.
Even one large lease will change perceptions of downtown’s office market,” one broker, who isn’t involved in the building, told the Post.
Paramount Group, led by CEO and president Albert Behler, is one of few in the neighborhood strong enough to tackle the situation. The company boasts a global portfolio of over 13.8 million square-feet, with most of the emphasis in Manhattan. Notable Class A office buildings in Midtown Manhattan held and managed by the company include: 1301 Avenue of Americas (45-story office building), 1325 Sixth Ave (34-story), 712 Fifth Ave (52-story), and 1633 Broadway (48-story).
Indeed, the improvements at 60 Wall Street in Lower Manhattan are impressive. Per the Post, above the podium level, the “reimagined” tower will still mostly resemble the original Kevin Roche/John Dinkeloo design that combined neoclassical, Greek revival and postmodern elements, meant to accentuate its size and height. The office space boasts mostly column-free floors, featuring 13- to 16-foot ceiling heights and fantastic views. The base of the building is where most of the changes can be seen. The privately-owned public space (POPS) between Wall and Pine streets is being transformed into a triple-height atrium with a skylight and with an impressive 100-feet-tall “green wall.”
A grand staircase and elevators will connect with the No. 2 and 3 subway lines below. The lobby, originally built to impress, remains an iconic display of 1980s excess. A 30,000 square-foot tenants’ amenity space is being added. Also, some of the office floors are getting terraces added. There are also multiple infrastructure and sustainability upgrades being done, including an enhanced ventilation system that utilizes virus-blocking, MERV 15 filtration. Paramount is marketing 60 Wall as “Wall Street But Not As You Know It.”
“Tenant demand is continuing to improve and the demand centers around the highest quality, best located assets. 60 Wall Street was designed well ahead of its time, incorporating elements of today’s new construction, such as high ceilings, virtually column free space, robust infrastructure and spectacular views,” said Paramount executive vice-president and head of real estate Peter Brindley.
