Designed by the firm ofFoster + Partners with an estimated construction cost of $3 billion, theskyscraper rises 1,388 feet (423 m).[6][7] Formally topped off in November 2023 and occupied beginning in August 2025, the tower replaces the 52-storyUnion Carbide Building, built in 1960 and demolished in 2021.[8][9] The older building was originally the headquarters of American chemical companyUnion Carbide.[10]
Located inNew York City'sMidtown Manhattan neighborhood, 270 Park Avenue occupies the entire city block bounded byMadison Avenue to the west, 48th Street to the north,Park Avenue to the east, and47th Street to the south.[11][12] The lot measures about 80,000 square feet (7,400 m2) with afrontage of 200 feet (61 m) on each avenue and 400 feet (120 m) on each street.[11] There is a public plaza at ground level.[13]
To comply with city legislation, which bans the use of natural gas in all new buildings constructed after 2027, the structure is powered entirely by hydroelectric energy. Ninety-seven percent of materials from the old building werecreatively reused, recycled, or otherwise diverted from landfills,[30][31] and the new building uses mostly recycled steel in itssuperstructure.[32] A writer forThe Architect's Newspaper stated in 2024 that, although 270 Park Avenue was advertised as havingzero-energy operations, the building's construction had involved large amounts ofembedded emissions.[33]
Lower stories
Just outside the building are public plazas facing Madison and Park Avenues.[30] Within the Madison Avenue plaza is the stone artworkA Parallel Nature byMaya Lin, which is designed to resemble the bedrock under Manhattan.[13][34]Ken Smith designed a small garden next to Lin's artwork.[32] Thesoffit under the building, overhanging the plaza, consists of circular lights similar in design to those ofMarcel Breuer's945 Madison Avenue building further uptown.[29]
There are 24 massive columns at the base,[35] which carry the building above an 80-foot-high (24 m) lobby.[30] The lobby includesGerhard Richter's painted-aluminum artworksColor Chase I andColor Chase II.[36][37] Within the lobby isWind Dance, a large bronze flagpole designed by the building's architectNorman Foster;[36][32] air is expelled from the flagpole's pinnacle, holding up anAmerican flag.[37]Refik Anadol's artworkLiving Building usesartificial intelligence to illuminate the light fixtures around the elevator banks in specific patterns.[36][32] The lobby walls are made oftravertine and arefluted.[38]
Upper stories
Above the lobby is a series ofsetbacks to the west and east, tapering to a pinnacle.[30][29] The setbacks create seven rectangular masses of varying sizes, a shape also used in other postmodernist buildings.[29] The building has 2.5 million square feet (230,000 m2) of usable space.[32] The interior fits 15,000 employees and contains a food hall, a penthouse conference center, a fitness center, and large spaces illuminated by natural lights.[30] The floor plates can be configured in several layouts.[39] The floor plate are large, column-free spaces; this required constructing largetrusses under each floor plate, which used more material compared to a similarly-sized building with interior columns.[38][29]
At night, the building is illuminated by a piece oflight art,Leo Villareal'sCelestial Passage.[36][37] This work consists of 181,200 panels measuring 1 by 6 inches (25 by 152 mm) across, which can be illuminated a different color. Portions of the light fixture extend along the sides of the building, running approximately 750 feet (230 m) from the 29th floor to the spire, and the facade above the top two setbacks is covered by lights on all sides.[40] The building can illuminate in different patterns but, by law, must be shut off by midnight.[29][41] The lights can be seen inBrooklyn andQueens across theEast River, but are not visible from the inside.[41]
History
Planning
The base under construction (June 2021)
The view from 48th Street (May 2022)
The view from Park Avenue (August 2023)
In February 2018, JPMorgan announced it would demolish the formerUnion Carbide Building to make way for a structure that was almost twice as tall. This was the first major project to be announced as part of theMidtown East rezoning in the 2010s.[42][21][27] The former building became the tallestvoluntarily demolished building in the world at the time, overtaking the previous record-holderSinger Building that was demolished in 1968.[43] The replacement 1,388-foot (423 m), 70-story headquarters would have space for 15,000 employees.Tishman Construction Corporation will be the construction manager for the project.[21]
To build the larger structure, JPMorgan purchased hundreds of thousands of square feet ofair rights from nearbySt. Bartholomew's Episcopal Church as well as fromMichael Dell'sMSD Capital, the owner of the air rights above Grand Central Terminal.[44][45] In October 2018, JPMorgan announced that British architectural firmFoster + Partners would design the new building. The plans for the new building had grown to 1,400 feet (430 m), though the zoning envelope allowed for a structure as high as 1,566 feet (477 m).[46] However, this also raised concerns that the taller building would require deeper foundations that could interfere with theMetropolitan Transportation Authority'sEast Side Access tunnels and theGrand Central Terminal's rail yards, which are directly underneath 270 Park Avenue.[47]
In May 2019, theNew York City Council unanimously approved JPMorgan's new headquarters.[48][49] In order to secure approvals, JPMorgan was required to contribute $40 million to a district-wide improvement fund and incorporate a new 10,000 square feet (930 m2)privately owned public space plaza in front of the tower. After pressure from ManhattanBorough PresidentGale Brewer and City Council memberKeith Powers, JPMorgan also agreed to fund numerous upgrades to the public realm surrounding the building, including improvements to Grand Central'strain shed and a new entrance to the station at 48th Street.[49][50] The MTA had planned to repair the Grand Central Terminal train shed's concrete and steel as part of the 2020–2024 MTA Capital Program.[51][52] The first portion of the train shed to be repaired was underneath 270 Park Avenue, since the agency wished to conduct the repair work alongside new developments where possible.[52]
Construction
In July 2019, JPMorgan signed an agreement with MTA in which the bank guaranteed that the demolition of 270 Park Avenue would not delay work on East Side Access.[53] That month, scaffolding was wrapped around the tower and podium structure on theMadison Avenue side of the building, the first step in an anticipated 18-month demolition effort.[54] But by late December 2020, only the podium structure had been demolished. Still, parts of the new superstructure were assembled on the Madison Avenue side,[55] and the following month saw the assembly of the new structure's first steel beams.[56] Demolition of the main tower was complete by April 2021; the entire demolition effort wrapped up in June.[57][58]
The view from Park Ave (November 2023)
The view from park Ave and 48th St (March 2024)
The view from Park Ave and East 47th St (May 2024)
Union Carbide Building
This allowed workers to begin building support columns in the base across the entire site.[8][59] By the end of the year, cranes and construction elevators had been built.[60] In April 2022, JPMorgan CEOJamie Dimon announced that he would further consolidate the company's New York City offices at 270 Park Avenue, since half of the staff would be able to work from home at least part of the time.[61][62] In the first five months of 2023, construction reached the first two setbacks and rose above the height of the Union Carbide Building.[63][64][65] Work was temporarily suspended after a construction worker fell to his death from the 12th floor on March 24, 2023.[66][67] As of 2023[update], the building was estimated to be completed in 2025.[30][31] By late September construction had reached the fourth of the five tiers.[68]
There was a topping-out ceremony for the building on November 20, 2023.[69][70] This involved a beam being welded in place at the top of the fourth tier, with "the crown to be topped out toward the very end of the year".[71] In December 2023,New York YIMBY predicted that the building would be architecturally topped-out by the following month;[72] this had occurred by February 2024.[73] Outside cladding work proceeded on the base columns as well as the walls, the Park Avenue side being done before the Madison Avenue side.[74] In late August the facade work reached the top of the structure.[75] By the end of 2024 the tower crane had been removed although the construction elevator remained in place on 48th Street, with interior and exterior work continuing in preparation for occupancy in 2025.[76] The superstructure and facade was essentially completed by April 2025.[77] JPMorgan began moving employees to the building on August 25, 2025,[78] as part of a multi-phased relocation into the building.[79] The skyscraper was planned to formally open that October,[80][79] and it had a formal opening ceremony on October 21, 2025.[81] In total, it had cost somewhere between $3 billion to $4 billion.[5][41]
Reception
270 Park Avenue viewed from One Vanderbilt in March 2024
During construction, the planned tower received mixed reception. Architectural criticAlexandra Lange described the under-construction 270 Park Avenue in 2022 as "a Son ofHearst Tower grafted on top of creepy legs."[82][83] Christopher Bonanos ofCurbed characterized the tower's base as supporting "all that heft balance, quixotically, on ballerinas' toes."[35] Reese Lewis of theBrooklyn Rail was critical of its development, criticizing its economic – rather than functional – motivation.[84]
Upon itsgrand opening in 2025, its size, scale, and cost received attention;[85][86]The Architect's Newspaper said that "the critical response was mostlymeh".[29]Bloomberg News said that 270 Park Avenue's presence expanded a cluster of neighboring buildings occupied by JPMorgan:277 Park Avenue,245 Park Avenue, and383 Madison Avenue.[87]The Wall Street Journal listed the tower among the publication's "best architecture of 2025", saying that the design evoked 1920s-era towers.[13]The Guardian described it as an "eco obscenity" and "affront to the New York skyline", with its writerOliver Wainwright criticizing its heavy use of structural steel.[38]Crain's New York called the new tower a "financial temple" within the city;[88] theFinancial Times labeled the skyscraper a "fortress" and a "monument to American finance";[89] andArtReview likened the building to a tank that "makes everything in its vicinity appear under threat".[90]
Jack Murphy ofThe Architect's Newspaper stated that 270 Park Avenue's design and symbolism were highly debated in a similar manner to the viral 2015 debates over the colors of "the dress".[29]Dezeen, while praising the building's massing, materials, and structure, said that its construction required the demolition of the Union Carbide Building, something it deemed wasteful.[91]Architectural Record similarly lamented the Union Carbide Building while praising the new tower's offices as futuristic.[92] Christopher Hawthorne, writing forThe Punchlist newsletter, said it was ironic that Skidmore, Owings & Merrill had designed both the Union Carbide Building and the interior of the new tower.[29][93]
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Media related to270 Park Avenue (2021–present) at Wikimedia Commons
