270 Park Avenue Tops Out

Although the event on Monday drew out New York Governor Kathy Hochul, New York City Mayor Eric Adams, Lord Norman Foster, and other VIPs involved on the project, the steel beam lifted into place does not reach to the 1,388-foot top of the supertall skyscraper. Reports indicate that the beam marks the highest floor of the 60-story tower — the structure for the tower's roughly 135-foot (41m) crown still needs to be erected.

In terms of numbers, a press release for the ceremony draws attention to the tower's height — a height that makes it the tallest building in New York City now under construction — but also the amount of US-made steel in the structure (93,600 tons), the square footage of the tower (2.5 million square feet), and the number of Chase employees who will fill that area (14,000). Lest we forget the 52-story tower designed by SOM in the 1950s that Lord Foster's supertall design needed to demolish — for the record books, the largest intentional single-building demolition — the same press release indicates that “outdated facility” was designed “for about 3,500 employees.”

Regardless of all the demolition waste created as part of the 270 Park Avenue replacement, Norman “How Much Does Your Building Weigh?” Foster touts the skyscraper's eco-efficiency in the firm's own press release: “It does more with less – more public space, fresh air, light and views – and less carbon through electric, green energy.” The public space he mentions is 2.5 times greater than the previous iteration, while the green energy he is referring will be supplied by hydroelectric operations run by Brookfield Renewable, per an agreement the company made with the bank in 2020. The building is expected to open by the end of 2025.