News
OCTOGENARIAN!
March 3, 2011
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| Yesterday was also a monumental day for 500 Fifth Avenue, which celebrated its 80th birthday with cake and cupcakes for its tenants. The 500 Fifth team from Colliers International makes the grand slice: tenant coordinator Brandice Reyes, executive managing directorHarry Blair, building manager Chris Oliveto, director Sean Kearns, and assistant building manager Luke Cusack. The Art Deco masterpiece is now home to tenants like Icap Realty Advisors, Lucas Group, Ryan Labs, Cathay Pacific, Marriott, and Georgetown University. Its most visible tenant is clothier Zara, a flagship lease that won a 2008 REBNY Retail Deal of the Year award. |
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| Harry and Sean show us a photo of the building’s construction, datedJuly 15, 1930. (And what a difference in the skyline—notice the absence of Rockefeller Center toward the right?) Some fun tidbits we learned: the tower was designed by Shreve, Lamb and Harmon, which also designed the Empire State Building, 521 Fifth Ave, and 14 Wall St. The developer was Walter J. Salmon, who had completed adjacent 11 W 42nd St in 1928, and the buildings had been connected. The building was constructed in only 300 days, with as many as 1,100 workers involved on a given day, and at the time of construction, sat on the second most valuable piece of land in Manhattan. (Number one: we're guessing first base line at Yankee Stadium, constructed 1923.) Happy Birthday, and many more! |
