Paramount Plaza, also1633 Broadway and formerly theUris Building, is a 48-story skyscraper in theMidtown Manhattan neighborhood ofNew York City. Designed byEmery Roth and Sons, the building was developed by theUris brothers and was renamed for its owner, the Paramount Group, by 1980. Paramount Plaza occupies a site bounded byBroadway to the east,51st Street to the north, and50th Street to the south.
The building has a slab-likemassing, rising straight from street level to the roof, 669 ft (204 m) above ground. Thefacade is covered in dark glass and carries the name of German companyAllianz near the roof. There is a sunken plaza on the eastern side of the building, leading to the50th Street station of theNew York City Subway, as well as a pedestrian corridor and driveway under the western side. The driveway and corridor lead to the building's twoBroadway theaters: the 1,900-seatGershwin Theatre on the second floor and the 650-seatCircle in the Square Theatre in the basement.
The Uris Buildings Corporation leased the site of theCapitol Theatre in 1967 and proposed a skyscraper on the site. The two Broadway theaters were included in exchange for additional floor area, and the building opened in August 1971. The building went into foreclosure in May 1974, just two years after it was completed, and the Paramount Group bought a majority ownership stake in the building in 1976.J.C. Penney andSears initially took up much of the building's space, though the subsequent tenants came from a wider variety of fields, including law and finance. The retail space and plazas have been renovated multiple times during the building's history. The Paramount Group and several banks jointly owned the building until 2011, when Beacon Capital Group acquired a partial ownership stake; Paramount assumed full ownership in 2015.
In the early 20th century, Paramount Plaza's site was occupied by low-rise buildings such as Kerrigan's Cafe.[6] This was replaced by theCapitol Theatre, a movie palace built in 1919.[7][8] The theater originally had 5,300 seats, but subsequent renovations reduced it to 1,325.[9] The six-story theater building contained offices as well.[8] By the late 1960s, the Capitol was one of Broadway's last major movie palaces, as many of the other movie palaces in the area had been demolished, including theRoxy and theParamount.[10] Next to the theater was a four-story building with a branch of theNew York Bank for Savings.[8]
Under normalzoning regulations, the maximumfloor area ratio (FAR) for any building on the tower's site was 15, but the developers received two bonuses of 20 percent each, bringing the FAR to 21.6. The developers had to includeprivately owned public spaces at the building's base for the first bonus, and they built new theaters for the second bonus.[14] The Gershwin and Circle in the Square Theatres were built under a 1968 regulation that allowed office buildings to include alegitimate theater in exchange for additional floor area.[15][16] The inclusion of the theaters allowed the Uris Buildings Corporation to add four more stories than would typically have been allowed.[17]
At the base of Paramount Plaza runs a promenade that connects 50th and 51st Street. The promenade measures 28 ft (8.5 m) tall and 50 ft (15 m) wide, with a terrazzo floor and advertisements on the walls.[15] The promenade also functions as an entrance to the Gershwin and Circle in the Square theaters, and it does not have any stores.[14][15] There aremarquees for the theaters' entrances on both 50th and 51st Streets.[18] A separate, parallel driveway for vehicles is immediately to the west;[14][18] it can fit three lanes of traffic.[18] There are also 200 parking spaces.[17]
The facade is made of tinted gray glass, separated by vertical aluminummullions.[6] The name of German financial services companyAllianz is affixed to the top of the building on all four sides.[19][20]Paul Goldberger criticized the building as having brought "nothing more than Third Avenue banality to a part of town that, whatever its social problems, has always been visually spectacular."[21]
The building originally contained two sunken plazas,[6] which counted toward the building's zoning bonuses. Both plazas had ornamental fountains, which were removed in the 1990s. These sunken plazas were among the few such examples in the city; others exist atCitigroup Center,1221 Avenue of the Americas, and formerly at1345 Avenue of the Americas and theGeneral Motors Building.[14] The plazas were accompanied by retail spaces that, due to their location, were hard to rent out.[14][22] A 2000 study of privately owned public spaces in New York City ranked 1633 Broadway's plazas as "circulation" and "hiatus" spaces, which were not as unwelcoming as "marginal" spaces but also did not attract visitors from across the city or the neighborhood.[23]
The southern sunken plaza has an entrance to the50th Street station of theNew York City Subway,[14][22] served by the1 train.[24] The theme restaurantMars 2112 had opened within the northern sunken plaza in November 1998[25] and closed in January 2012.[26][27] It contained aUFO-like elevator, a "Mars Bar", a "Space Arcade", and a three-story Crystal Crater.[28][26] After Mars 2112 closed, a glass retail cube was installed in the northern part of the plaza.[29] The cube, designed byMdeAS Architects, serves as an entrance to a double-level retail space in the basement, which spans 39,588 sq ft (3,677.8 m2).[30]
According to theNew York City Department of City Planning, Paramount Plaza has agross floor area of 2,438,059 sq ft (226,503.1 m2) and is divided into 47 ownershipcondominiums.[3] Paramount Plaza has 42 elevators and eight escalators.[11] The Uris Building did not renumber its 13th floor out of superstition, as other high-rises did; this led theNew York Daily News to call it "the only New York skyscraper to call the 13th floor the 13th floor".[31] Some offices were fitted with additional decorations; for example, accounting firm Touche, Ross, Bailey Smart added curving staircases between two of its five floors.[32]
Paramount Plaza has two Broadway theaters: the Gershwin Theatre and the Circle in the Square Theatre. Paramount Plaza's two venues, along with theMinskoff andAmerican Place theaters, were constructed under the Special Theater District amendment of 1967 as a way to give their respective developers additional floor area.[15] The Gershwin opened in 1972 as the Uris Theatre and contained 1,900 seats. Located at the second floor, the Gershwin was designed byRalph Alswang[33][34] in what was described as anArt Nouveau style.[33][35] Escalators and a staircase lead from the ground floor to the Gershwin Theater's second-floor lobby,[33][36] which contains theAmerican Theater Hall of Fame.[36][37] The Gershwin's seats are spread across two levels: an orchestra and a smaller mezzanine.[33][38] The stage was designed with a flexible layout and could be disassembled or extended forward.[33][39] The Gershwin was the first commercial theater in the U.S. to have a completely automated rigging system.[38][40] TheNederlander Organization operates the theater.[41][42]
The Circle in the Square Theatre contains 650 seats and is in the building's basement.[43] It was designed by Allen Sayles, with a lighting system designed byJules Fisher.[43][44] The Circle operates its own venue, which was originally known as the Circle in the Square–Joseph E. Levine Theatre.[45][46] The space was originally meant as an off-Broadway house with fewer than 500 seats, but the Circle's artistic directorTheodore Mann and its managing director Paul Libin increased the capacity by relocating columns and replaced steps with ramps. The top of the auditorium contains soundproof panels, which minimized noise frompolice horses when the theater opened.[47] The Circle contains athrust stage, with seats surrounding it on three sides.[47][48] It is one of two Broadway houses with a thrust stage; the other isLincoln Center'sVivian Beaumont Theater. Because of the stage's unconventional design, theatrical critics negatively reviewed it, while directors had difficulty staging productions there.[49]
After World War II, development of theaters around Times Square stalled, and the area began to evolve into a business district.[50] In 1966, the year before plans for the Uris Building were announced, companies had signed leases for 7×10^6 sq ft (650,000 m2) of office space in Manhattan, the highest level in several years. The amount of office space being developed at the time was not sufficient to meet demand.[51] The Uris Buildings Corporation bought an option in April 1967 to acquire the Capitol Theatre and the land around it from the theater's owner,Loews Cineplex Entertainment.[10][52] At the time, Uris was considering replacing the theater with an office building but had made no definite plans.[10]
In September 1967, Uris leased the Capitol site for 100 years and announced it would build an office tower and a Broadway theater on the site of the Capitol Theatre. The building was to have 1.65×10^6 sq ft (153,000 m2) across 51 stories, with a plaza on the eastern 60 percent of the site.[8] The Broadway theater would have 1,500 to 2,000 seats.[8][53] In October 1967, theNew York City Planning Commission (CPC) proposed the Special Theater District Zoning Amendment, which gave zoning bonuses to office-building developers who included theaters.[54][55][56] The proposed legislation would directly allow theaters in One Astor Plaza and the Uris Building,[57][58] which would be the first completely new Broadway theaters since the Mark Hellinger Theatre was completed in 1930.[59][60][a] The CPC approved the theater amendment that November,[57][62] and theNew York City Board of Estimate gave final approval to the proposal the next month.[63][64]
The Uris Buildings Corporation agreed in February 1968 to build a second theater, the Circle in the Square Theatre, in the basement upon the CPC's request. The new theater was originally supposed to be an experimental theater with 300 to 375 seats,[65][66] but this was then increased to 650 seats.[67] In April 1968, the CPC scheduled a public hearing to determine whether the Astor and Uris theater permits should be approved.[68] Six parties testified in favor;the Shubert Organization, the largest operator of Broadway theaters, was the only dissenting speaker.[69] The CPC approved the theaters over the Shuberts' objections,[60][70] as did the Board of Estimate.[71] The Capitol was closed on September 16, 1968, to make way for what is now Paramount Plaza.[72][73] That month, Uris made a tentative deal withJames M. Nederlander and Gerard Oestricher to operate the Uris Theatre, the larger of the building's two theaters.[74][75] To fund the building's construction, Uris borrowed $62 million from a consortium of banks led byIrving Trust.[76][77][78]
Much of the space had been rented by November 1969.[79] Among the early tenants with several floors of space were accounting firm Touche, Ross, Bailey Smart;[80][81] automotive appliance manufacturerBendix International;[82] and theNew York Telephone Company.[83] Even so, the inclusion of theaters inside the Uris Building raised construction costs, even as office tenants were scarce.[84] By 1970, a combined 5×10^6 sq ft (460,000 m2) of office space was being developed along Broadway in Midtown, much of which stood vacant due to a slowdown in office leasing.[85] That December, the city's Department of Air Resources issued summonses to several contractors at the Uris Building after the department found that contractors were sprayingasbestos fireproofing in violation of environmental laws.[86]Sears, Roebuck and Company sought to lease much of the building's remaining office space, but the deal initially failed in mid-1971.[87]
The building officially opened in August 1971.[76][77][78] A theatrical hall of fame for the Uris Theatre was announced in March 1972, as the building was being completed.[88][36] The Circle in the Square Theatre in the basement opened for inspection on October 2, 1972,[45] and had its first performance on November 15.[45][89] The Uris Theatre on the building's second floor opened on November 19 of that year.[17][18] In one of the city's largest office transactions in several years, Sears, Roebuck and Company leased eleven stories for its sales division in January 1973,[90][91] moving in the next year.[92] City officials praised the lease, which was expanded in November 1973 to 15 stories, as part of a revitalization of the Times Square neighborhood.[93] Meanwhile, afterPercy Uris had died in 1971, his brotherHarold began negotiating to sell off all his company's assets, including 1633 Broadway.[94] By late 1973,National Kinney Corporation had bought a majority stake in the Uris properties.[95]
The Uris Buildings Corporation failed to pay the construction loan, which was due at the end of December 1973 and was extended multiple times.[76][77] Uris decided not to extend the loan because it would not provide additional funding to cover operating andcarrying costs.[77][78] At that time, 12.5 percent of office space in Manhattan was vacant,[b] higher than the 5-percent rate that the real-estate community generally accepted.[77] The vacancy rate at the Uris Building was 30 percent.[77][96] Irving Trust and the other lenders launched foreclosure proceedings in March 1974, the first time in a decade that a new office building in New York City had been foreclosed upon.[77] Two months later, the lenders paid nearly $69 million for the bankrupted building.[76][97] Harold Uris had opposed the foreclosure proceeding, saying: "Hell would freeze over before I would have let a Uris building go under like that."[98]
AfterJ. C. Penney leased 450,000 sq ft (42,000 m2) of space that August,[99] only five percent of the space was still vacant.[100] However,Newsday reported in December 1975 that the building had a 10 percent vacancy rate, even though its owners had spent millions of dollars on renovations.[101] Other tenants at the time included theCity University of New York.[102] Irving Trust sold the building in October 1976 to a private investment group.[103] The buyer, Metropolitan Realty Investments, paid $80 million;[104] it represented the Otto family of Germany, which operated in the United States under the Paramount Group name.[28][105] Sears announced in 1978 that it would relocate most of its 2,000 employees at the Uris Building to theSears Tower in Chicago.[92][106] The next year, theUnited States Postal Service announced it would move a regional headquarters into part of the former Sears space,[107][108] andJames Talcott Factors Inc. also leased some space.[109]
By 1980, the structure was known as Paramount Plaza;[110] the city government classified the new name as a vanity address.[111] At that time, Sears had moved its remaining employees out of the building.[112] Two years later,Lüchow's restaurant leased space in one of the sunken plazas.[113][114] Among the building's other office tenants during the decade wereNew American Library[115] and theFederal Mediation and Conciliation Service.[116] In 1987, J. C. Penney indicated that it intended to move all of its New York City employees to Dallas, freeing up a large amount of office space at Paramount Plaza;[117] the relocation was completed by 1994.[118] Landscape architect Thomas Balsley redesigned the building's public plaza in the late 1980s, as the plaza had been fairly unsuccessful despite the presence of retail tenants. Balsley added landscaping and benches to the ground-level portion of the plaza, and he added fountains, staircases, and new lighting and floor surfaces to the sunken plazas. The redesign took more than two years.[22]
Paramount Group hired a consultant in late 1995 to study uses for the building's retail spaces. Subsequently, the stores were renovated and leased to three tenants in the late 1990s. Mars 2112 leased the northern plaza, Cosi Sandwiches leased a ground-floor storefront, and fitness clubEquinox took space in the concourse and sub-concourse.[28] Law firmKasowitz, Benson, Torres & Friedman leased space at 1633 Broadway for its global headquarters in 2000,[128][129] and financial firmFleetBoston also rented three stories.[130] Other tenants included theBank of America, which had a trading floor there.[131] During that decade, Paramount Plaza contained a business center shared by several small tenants.[132] By the late 2000s, Paramount Group was marketing some of the building's office space for short-term lease.[133]
In 2010, financial services companyAllianz announced it would move its North American headquarters to 1633 Broadway,[20][134] receiving the right to place its name atop the building's roof.[20]Industrial and Commercial Bank of China also leased space that year,[135][136] as didCarnegie Hall.[137] The next year, Paramount Group partnered with Beacon Capital Group to acquireMerrill Lynch & Co., Bank of America, and Morgan Stanley's 49 percent ownership stake. The deal valued the building at $2 billion.[138][139] Paramount increased its ownership stake from 51 to 75 percent, with Beacon owning the remaining 25 percent.[139] Paramount then marketed a partial ownership stake in the building.[140] Additionally, the owners hired Phillips Group in 2011 to renovate the lobby.[141][142] Music conglomerateWarner Music Group leased six floors in 2013,[143][144] and Kasowitz Benson Torres renewed its lease the same year.[128][129]
Paramount continued to own the structure in partnership with Beacon until 2015, when Paramount bought Beacon's 25 percent stake for $478.3 million.[145] The same year, toy storeFAO Schwarz was negotiating to lease some retail space in 1633 Broadway, but the deal failed.[146][147] Paramount then announced plans to replace the northern sunken plaza with a glass retail cube.[29] In late 2015,Landesbank Baden-Württemberg gave Paramount a $1 billion loan for the building,[148] which was finalized the next February.[149][150] Deloitte announced in early 2016 that it would vacate a 212,000 sq ft (19,700 m2) section of the building.[151] Several office tenants signed leases in the late 2010s, including theClinton Foundation,[152][153] newspaper companyGannett,[154] database companyMongoDB,[155][156] and investment manager New Mountain Capital.[157][158]
The building was refinanced in November 2019 for $1.25 billion,[159][160] a move that raised $140 million for Paramount.[161] The next April, Paramount indicated it would enter a joint venture with an unnamed investor to sell a 10 percent stake in 1633 Broadway.[145][162][163] The sale was completed the next month[164] at a price of $240 million.[165] This provided extra cash for the firm[166] amid a decline in office leasing due to theCOVID-19 pandemic in New York City.[165] In February 2022, Taiwanese restaurant chainDin Tai Fung leased the retail space in Paramount Plaza's glass cube;[167][168] however, the restaurant's opening was not announced until 2024.[169] Amid fears that many of Paramount Plaza's tenants could leave or pay lower rents once their leases expired,Fitch Ratings reduced thecredit rating of Paramount Plaza's mortgage in 2024.[161] By the end of that year, Paramount Plaza was 95% occupied, and Paramount Group had spent $230 million on building upgrades to date since 2010.[170] Paramount Global began looking to sublease 253,000 square feet (23,500 m2) at Paramount Plaza in 2025 after downsizing its workforce.[171][172]
^The Hellinger was initially a movie theater and did not become a Broadway venue until 1949. TheLunt-Fontanne Theatre andPalace Theatre were converted from movies to Broadway theaters afterward, but both theater buildings are physically older than the Hellinger.[59] The last venue to be built as a Broadway theater, operating continuously in that capacity, was theEthel Barrymore Theatre, completed in 1928.[61]
^30×10^6 sq ft (2,800,000 m2) of space was vacant, out of 250×10^6 sq ft (23,000,000 m2) total.
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^abcdefKayden, Jerold S. (June 11, 2018)."1633 Broadway – Paramount".Privately Owned Public Space (APOPS).Archived from the original on April 23, 2021. RetrievedApril 3, 2022.
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