60 Wall Street sold for half a billion dollars

[Edward]

From New York Post (http://www.nypost.com)

DEUTSCHE QUIETLY CLOSES ON 60 WALL

By STEVE CUOZZO

December 27, 2001 -- Realty Check


A deal that quietly closed over the holidays is bringing a giant bank's headquarters to within a 10-minute stroll from Ground Zero. So why no fanfares and drum rolls?

Deutsche Bank just completed its purchase of the 47-story 60 Wall Street (http://www.wirednewyork.com/60wall_street.htm) *tower from J.P. Morgan Chase, reports online database CoStar - climaxing Deutsche's long quest for a new Manhattan headquarters.

CoStar reports the sale price as $610 million. A different real estate source estimated it at $650 million. Neither figure could be independently verified.

The two banking giants went to contract last June - the first move in eons of a big financial firm from Midtown to Downtown. But maybe more remarkable is that the Sept. 11 attack did not knock the sale off track.

"There was no hesitation that I saw," said Insignia/ESG Vice-Chairman Robert Alexander who repped Deutsche with ESG's David Maurer-Hollaender. But, "events were catastrophic enough to give anyone pause," and it would have been a mistake to take the deal for granted.

"Deutsche didn't have to close," Alexander said. "They could have walked away from their $40 million deposit - not that big a piece of change for a bank their size."

Yet neither the city nor publicity-shy Deutsche has made much noise over the deal. By comparison, American Express' decision to return to the World Financial Center was trumpeted far and wide.

The 60 Wall sale price included everything in the tower, such as Morgan's electronic infrastructure and furniture. Deutsche will enjoy a sales tax exemption on the equipment under terms with the city's Industrial Development Agency.



The view on 60 Wall Street (http://www.wirednewyork.com/60wall_street.htm) Building (J. P. Morgan Bank Headquarters), from Broad Street. To the right is the American International Building (http://www.wirednewyork.com/skyscrapers/aib/default.htm).

http://www.wirednewyork.com/images/jp_morgan_broad.jpg

[Edward]

From New York Post (http://www.nypost.com)

January 1, 2002

Ta da: According to city records, the final price paid by Deutsche Bank to J.P. Morgan Chase for 60 Wall Street's 1.64 million square feet of bricks, mortar and land is: $609.887 million or just over $372 a foot.

The check for approximately $650 million covered an all-in price for furniture, fixtures, and phones.

[CityGod5]

That's one of my favorite post-modernism towers. *Excellent pic.

[redbrick]

60 Wall St looks really good in that picture.

[Edward]

NEW YORK TIMES
http://www.nytimes.com/2002/12/06/nyregion/06DEVE.html

December 6, 2002
Deutsche Bank Is Moving to Lower Manhattan Tower
By CHARLES V. BAGLI


Deutsche Bank announced to great fanfare yesterday that it would move its national headquarters and 5,500 employees to the beleaguered streets of Lower Manhattan.

At a news conference on Wall Street with bank officials, Gov. George E. Pataki and Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg hailed Deutsche Bank's commitment to the city and granted the German financial company $34.5 million in cash from the World Trade Center job retention program financed by federal aid.

"Deutsche Bank joins a host of other corporations whose commitments to Lower Manhattan are critical as we continue to work together in the public and private sectors to rebuild our city," Mr. Pataki said.

Despite the fanfare, Deutsche Bank committed to moving to Lower Manhattan in April 2001, when it struck an agreement to buy the downtown tower at 60 Wall Street for about $600 million as part of a plan to move its New York headquarters from Midtown. The 47-story skyscraper, which was owned by J. P. Morgan Chase, is considered in real estate circles to be the best office tower in Lower Manhattan because it was built recently, in the 1980's, as Morgan's headquarters building, with fully equipped trading floors.

After the attack on the World Trade Center and as recently as a few months ago, the bank had quietly offered to sell or lease the tower to other companies, according to two real estate executives.

Rohini Pragasam, a spokeswoman for Deutsche Bank, denied that the tower had been put on the market "this year."

But one of the real estate executives said the bank had little choice but to occupy the tower, after spending $600 million to buy it.

"The decision to stay was the result of the failure of the other options" to sell or lease the tower to someone else, the executive said.

Whatever the case, Charles A. Gargano, chairman of the Empire State Development Corporation, said that the bank had made a 10-year commitment to keep at least 6,500 employees in New York City, including 5,500 in Lower Manhattan. Mr. Gargano's agency has been negotiating with Deutsche Bank over the move since last summer.

"This bodes well for Lower Manhattan," Mr. Gargano said. "We need these long-term commitments."

Deutsche Bank got the $34.5 million grant from a program designed to retain jobs and attract new companies downtown. After the attack on the trade center, companies like Lehman Brothers and Morgan Stanley abandoned the area, moving more than 10,000 jobs to Midtown and New Jersey.

Over the last year, the city and state have granted a total of $210 million to 62 companies, schools and law firms with more than 200 employees that have stayed in Lower Manhattan. But critics have questioned the wisdom of handing out the money to companies that many people say were never in danger of leaving. American Express, for instance, got $25 million after it moved back into office space it owned at the World Financial Center.

"If people are really thinking about moving, they won't take the grants," said Benjamin F. Needell, a lawyer for Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom in an interview earlier this year. "It's not enough money."

In any event, Deutsche Bank said it will move its headquarters to 60 Wall Street, where it currently has about 1,000 employees in the 1.6 million square foot tower. The bank's offices at 4 World Trade Center were destroyed during the attack.

Ms. Pragasam said that Deutsche Bank had not determined the fate of a second downtown building it owns, at 130 Liberty Street, which was severely damaged in the attack on the trade center. But several people who have talked to the bank said it would not return to the 41-story tower, which it believes will have to be demolished. The bank has filed a $600 million claim with its insurance company, which has offered a much lower sum.

[Eugenius]

Anyone know what will happen to DB's current headquarters at W52nd st. between 5th and 6th? *It would be ironic if JPMorgan Chase moved there.

[Agglomeration]

The Deutsche Bank's moving into 60 Wall Street is summarized in this boardroom meeting:

Deutsche Bank CEO: Does anybody have any objections to moving into 60 Wall Street? I wanna hear them now.

First Executive: Hey, we spent so much money on a big building for Lower Manhattan so why are we looking for other areas?

Second Executive: Aren't we supposed to continue with our promise to help rebuild Lower Manhattan after all these tax breaks?

First Executive: Well after all those tax breaks Bloomberg offered the others to stay in that building, they didn't accept it, Other than us.

Third Executive: Well, no one except us came to see 60 Wall Street. JP Morgan Chase moved out a few months ago. That leaves us with plenty of room in that building, doesn't it?

Second Executive: Well there ain't no room in that 130 Liberty Street joint. The ripped up steel facade and sick mold on the walls has turned the place into a hellhole.

Finally the Deutsche Bank CEO says to the group: Ahh, screw it, we bought the big tower for $600 million bucks, we might as well move in all our computers, paper, and fax machines, bank notes, sexy long-legged secretaries, and make ourselves comfy. And so I propose that we move into 60 Wall Street. Who's with me?

Everyone raises their hands to say yes.

[Alonzo-ny]

60 Wall's cousin in Mexico.

http://www.emporis.com/images/6/2004/08/294890.jpg

[ablarc]

^ My God, it's even uglier than the original!

[lofter1]

Pinky mauvish "stone" is rarely a good idea for a skyscraper.

And combined with blue it reeks of 1986.

[stache]

Don't you secretly yearn to wear a loose fitting jacket with giant shoulder pads?

[kz1000ps]

Gordon Gekko would absolutely love it.

[Bob]

One of the ugliest intrusions ever. Sorta like an unwanted and uninvited guest who shows up at a party! This thing might fit in (and that's a stretch) in Mobile, or Oklahoma City.

[HoveringCheesecake]

Lofter brought this up in another thread, but I must say I totally do not understand the hate regarding this building. Is it just the faux columns towards the top?

[BrooklynRider]

Yes. It is the faux columns and then everything above them to the roof and below them to the ground.

[Derek2k3]

It's cheesy. It belongs somewhere down South, like Dallas or Hotlanta.

[RandySavage]

I personally don't have any strong feelings (positive or negative) about 60 Wall.

New York has had several architectural eras. My favorite - and I believe the most aesthetically worthy - was the "Late Classic" phase of the 1920s-40s:
http://www.thenewseaport.com/images/FE/chain233siteType8/site202/client/photoGallery/222/4_1929_aerial_big.jpg

When Internationalism took over in the 1950s-1970s, a lot of ungainly buildings were put up, including the hideous Water Street Wall (One & Two New York Plaza, 55 Water, etc.), which shattered the graceful spires, natural facades and mountain-like composition of Downtown.
http://www.nationalgeographicstock.com/comp/04/500/1083713.jpg

However, the rise of the WTC with its incredible size, symmetry and power (although not attractive buildings on an individual basis) gave a new identity and energy to the skyline - easing the loss of classic New York. They were so dominating that they made all other buildings/styles in the vicinity irrelevant - the only place the eye would go would be to the Twin Towers (and occasionally to Woolworth).
http://www.nationalgeographicstock.com/comp/06/460/671088.jpg

Then came Post-Modernism, of which 60 Wall is an example. The era included Pelli's World Financial Center, which went a long way to restoring the mountain dynamic of Lower Manhattan:
http://www.nationalgeographicstock.com/comp/04/017/388651.jpg



With the dominance of the World Trade Center and the mishmash of International, Classic and Post-Modern buildings, I think 60 Wall was a fairly innocuous addition - not nearly as good as WFC but not doing any more damage to the aesthetics than had already been done by One New York Plaza, 55 Water and their ilk:
http://www.nationalgeographicstock.com/comp/04/500/1082846.jpg

After 9/11, without the anchoring mass of the WTC, I do feel like the Lower Manhattan skyline in its current form is awkward and unbalanced. 60 Wall doesn't help that problem. But with late-modern additions at the new WTC I think it will regain its dominance.
http://www.nationalgeographicstock.com/comp/04/500/1082876.jpg

In short, I think 60 Wall is decent, but far from a great work. I like that is not a giant black box (like US Steel), doesn't have a flat top and is fairly tall. It is strong and powerful, but it's also fat and doesn't acknowledge it neighbors very well. I find the columns at the top gimmicky and don't care for its color scheme.

Where would you rank it among its post-modern peer group of:
-WFC
-Worldwide Plaza
-AT&T Building
-Lipstick Building
-Carnegie Hall Tower

[RandySavage]

Was it irony or tribute that the neo-classic building 60 Wall replaced also featured columns in its crown (National City Co. Building on far right of below):

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3484/3763967708_e423839294_b.jpg

[HoveringCheesecake]

Yes. It is the faux columns and then everything above them to the roof and below them to the ground.

Really, the roof bothers you? With all of the flat boxes in the area it's the roof that bothers you? Alright, I guess.

RandySavage pretty much wrote what was stuck inside my head.

[lofter1]

It's a hog.

[kz1000ps]

I too don't understand the hate for the building, but I will say that it looks like the go-go-Gekko '80s more than anything else in the city.

[HoveringCheesecake]

I too don't understand the hate for the building, but I will say that it looks like the go-go-Gekko '80s more than anything else in the city.

Exclusive shot of the inside:

[antinimby]

It is your typical 1980's post modernism.

I also think that people generally don't like mansard roofs (or hints of one) for whatever reason on modern buildings. See the Elysian in Chicago and how it is bashed on SSP.

[lofter1]

Mansard roofs on a building this size tend to be a bit overpowering -- there's too many mechanicals hidden away inside and the mass up top looks heavy, rather than like a crown.

[RandySavage]

I performed a little digital magic to make 60 Wall (and 1CMP) disappear from this pic and show what this view might look like. Base photo by rfcgraphics.com:

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4028/4287744320_0e55b582c1_o.jpg

[Derek2k3]

If you didn't tell us, few of us would have noticed. The first thing I caught was the Visionaire wasn't built yet.

[BrooklynRider]

It's like a very fat aunt trying to squeeze between two kids on the sofa.

[fioco]

I think the architect had a villa in Tuscany. Sixty Wall Street looks like a column from the Siena duomo with a french mansard roof. Barf.

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/d7/Siena.Duomo.pulpit02a.jpg/634px-Siena.Duomo.pulpit02a.jpg

[Derek2k3]

I guess it would be counterintuitive to illuminate the mansard roof after installing solar panels. Any way, kudos to Deutsche Bank -Citigroup take note:

http://www.banking-on-green.com/img/12_01_26_grb_solar_panel.jpg
Michael Beck


January 25, 2012
Deutsche Bank completes roof-mounted solar project at Americas’ headquarters

Deutsche Bank today announced the completion and operation of a 122.4 kW solar photovoltaic (PV) system at its Americas’ headquarters in New York, located at 60 Wall Street. The roof-mounted array will reduce the Bank’s electricity consumption from the grid and will decrease carbon emissions by 100 metric tons per year.

60 Wall, a 50 story, 745 foot tall skyscraper, is occupied solely by Deutsche Bank. The PV System, which is located on the inclined south and east portions of the roof is the largest solar PV array in Manhattan and is currently the highest elevated solar PV flat panel array in the world, topping off at 737 feet above the ground. The installation was designed by professional engineers and has been approved by local governmental authorities.


Solar panels on roof at 60 Wall

“We are firmly committed to being a leader in sustainability and innovation,” said Seth Waugh, CEO of Deutsche Bank Americas and Member of the Group Executive Committee.. “This project is one part of a comprehensive global program to reduce the Bank’s consumption of fossil fuels and shift to more renewable sources of energy. Our goal is to neutralize the Bank’s global CO2 emissions by 2013.”

Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg said, “New York City has the most ambitious sustainability plan in the world in part because we’re working with private sector partners to reduce our carbon emissions, rely on cleaner energy sources, and meet the goals of our long-term sustainability program, PlaNYC. Deutsche Bank’s landmark achievement builds upon our shared work to build a greener, greater New York.”



The 60 Wall Street initiative is the third solar project in North America completed by Deutsche Bank, including the two-phase installation of a 1.267 megawatt solar PV system at its Piscataway, NJ, office. Deutsche Bank’s Piscataway solar electric system completed in 2011, has delivered a net-zero electric building. A fourth project of a 1.5 megawatt system is underway at Deutsche Bank’s Parsippany, NJ facility with planned completion later this year.

Demonstrating its commitment to sustainability, Deutsche Bank has increased its use of clean electricity from seven percent to 65 percent globally over the last four years. In the US and Canada, 100% of its purchased electricity is generated from wind power. The Bank was recognized as a corporate pioneer and founder of the WindMade™ label, the first global consumer label that identifies products made with wind energy.




Photos here:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/deutschebank/6788395629/sizes/l/in/photostream/

http://www.banking-on-green.com/img/IMG_20110701_144936.jpg

http://www.banking-on-green.com/img/IMG_20110818_153003.jpg


http://www.flickr.com/photos/deutschebank/

Deutsche Bank New York - Solar PanelsDeutsche Bank has installed what is currently the largest solar photovoltaic system in Manhattan and the highest elevated solar photovoltaic flat panel system in the world on the roof of its Americas Headquarters at 60 Wall Street.

You can read more about Deutsche Bank and Sustainability here: www.banking-on-green.com
Read more about Deutsche Bank in the USA here: www.db.com/usa/

[vanshnookenraggen]

Great idea. Maybe they can do the same at Worldwide Plaza.

[HoveringCheesecake]

That's awesome.