Q&A with WTC/Rockefeller Center Architect: How Rooftop Venues Boost Building Value (and Revenue!)

Bisnow: Why would a landlord want to install a rooftop venue?

Richard: On a commercial level it's a huge plus to the project. It leverages the value for the rent that they can get when it’s not a public venue, but a private venue for the building. It’s a great value because it leverages every floor in the building.

Bisnow: What properties can we expect to follow this trend in 2016?

Richard: The older vintage, the Class-B building office spaces and some even Class-C office space, they're trying to leverage value or their property more than ever. They lend themselves more naturally to allowing these amenities because of the less obstructions that they have to achieve it.

Bisnow: What exactly attracts tech tenants to this kind of space?

Richard: The tech industry is always looking to have a visual, cutting-edge perspective on things because it reflects themselves and their entertainment to their clientele. They are able to cut more deals with their investors and the developments that they're doing [because] it creates that environment that allows people to be more humanistic.

Those tech companies hire individuals who are Millennials and younger individuals and because we put an infrastructure of telecommunication within the building, WiFi from their own space, it gives them the ability to be inspired by their work.

Bisnow: What’s your favorite part about this trend?

Richard: I think it's the challenge to provide for a client the highest value out for their rooftop for the least amount of cost. I get excited with [how I can use a] nominal amount of money on this space and increase the value on the 20 floors below.

Earlier this year, 1 World Trade Center opened up with an impressive and state-of-the-art observation deck, a fancy new perk expected to attract 3 million visitors a year.

The opening comes on the heels of the Empire State Building's massively successful rooftop, helping spike revenues from $40M in '04 to $111.5M last year.

One of the architects behind 1 WTC is Montroy Andersen Demarco's Richard DeMarco. Bisnow got a chance to speak with Richard about the rooftop trend, why they attract trendy tech tenants and how they boost your building's overall value. 

Bisnow: Can you tell me about the rooftop for 1 WTC and how it came to be?

Richard: It’s a great collaboration with the Port Authority and the Durst Organization. There were two parts for me that were really exciting.

I’ve gone up there several times, I just admire seeing the expressions on their faces when they see something that they've never ever seen before, starting with the elevator experience and then the reveal, which is when you get off the elevator you go into a space where you get the interactive media.

The actual walls lift up out of the way and you're given a view out the window outside the observation deck, which is the main reason why you're there.