40 Wall Street - Trump Building - Financial District - by H. Craig Severance

[NY-SAILOR]

I am from Brooklyn, and I haven't been to NY for a couple of years, but one thing that I always wondered is, are they ever going to light up the spire to 40 Wall St like American International Building ? I believe it would make the downtown skyline more magnifisent at night. It just looks invisible at night and it should stand out as well.

[TLOZ Link5]

From time to time we've talked about that as well. We don't know what's up with the lighting for 40 Wall. It's the second-tallest building in the Financial District, and it's never floodlit at night.

[Jack Ryan]

When I was a kid, 70 Pine street was lit like it is now, only alot bluer and 40 Wall always just had a bright red dot of light up in the center of the lantern. The two buildings played off each other perfectly. As I remember, the actual crown was never illuminated. Of course, that was before we were blessed with the likes of 55 Water, New York Plaza and 60 Wall street. Achieving the same effect is now probably impossible. And that is a real loss.

[USSManhattan]

The price of progress....

[JMC]

fellas...you have to remember, a building manager (in this case Trump), simply dosn't illuminate the building because it can or because it should. The fact of the matter is that there's no major anchor tennant here, who can afford the Con Ed bill. I think that Cadwalader leases the most space...they're a law firm, they're not going to pay to keep the lights on! AIG and Citigroup and Bear and the like can AFFORD illumination...lawyers are not wealthy tenants, relatively speaking...

[finnman69]

As far as i know Donald never considered lighting the top although it's a fantastic idea. He comissioned Richard Baeher to do renderings of the tower with a gold spire.


http://www.kilroymetal.com/IMAGES/Gallery/40_Wall_St_2.jpg

[TLOZ Link5]

I'd still like to see an actual floodlighting scheme. The gilded top looks tacky.

[emmeka]

its very hard to escape tack when using gold.

[JonY]

It's a real shame that this beautiful structure isn't either lit/flood lit
@ night.

Construction completed in 1930, it stands 71 floors above ground @
928ft / 283.4m.

Style known as Neo-Gothic.

More pics during the day:

The wonderful entrances (Also known as The Trump Building):

___http://www.wirednewyork.com/skyscrapers/40wall/40wall_gold_flag_s.jpg__http://www.wirednewyork.com/skyscrapers/40wall/40wall_chase_plaza_s.jpg

__________________http://skyscraperphotos.com/cit/dny03/b/igny335.jpg__http://skyscraperphotos.com/cit/dny02/d/igny293.jpg

...and the great crown/spire:

_____________________http://skyscraperphotos.com/cit/dny02/d/igny294.jpg__http://skyscraperphotos.com/cit/dny03/c/igny368.jpg

[JonY]

BTW Can any forumers @ least find a pic of the actual 40 Wall Street office tower (not the crown and/or spire) lit @ night.

I've done numerous searches over the last 1 1/2 hours without succes :(

[TLOZ Link5]

Note the gilded rosettes. They weren't very noticeable until Trump acquired the building in 1995.

It would be nice if the tower were converted to apartments, like Trump planned when he first bought the building. Maybe he'll do it this time around.

[JMC]

In "The Art of The Comeback," Trump discuss how he swept this gem out from under some German family...they owned the land, but not the building..or some funky arrangement like that.

[kliq6]

with all the conversions dowtown who would want more, i mean will any building stay commercial or is the future of Lower Manhattan just one big residential neigborhood and all business in Jersey City, im sorry that already happened

[emmeka]

Wow, optimism.....

[kliq6]

what can i say useto work in liberty plaza, my company like almost all in and around the site located after the attck in midtwon or Jersey City and has no reason to move back. They have done nothing to improve the area actually they ripped up more roads afterwards for no reason and made the place worse

[TLOZ Link5]

I highly doubt that any large office complex like 1LP will become apartments. But skinny prewar towers like 40 Wall and the Woolworth Building? At the very least partial conversions.

Like it's been said before, envisioning Downtown strictly as a business district is tunnel vision. You can convert about a million square feet of prewar office space for apartments averaging 2,000 square feet, and you'll have 500 apartments large enough for families to live in. And there's about 100 million square feet of office space downtown, post-9/11.

[Jack Ryan]

40 Wall has always been one of my favorite skyline buildings. Not only is it the quintessential skyscraper but also has quite a history. It lost it's bid for tallest in the world to William Van Alen's Chrysler building when Van Alen secretly assembled a 175-foot spire and poked it through a hole in the dome after 40 Wall was too far along to be changed. Also, on May 20,1956 a twin engine Army Air Force C-45 slammed into the 58th floor, killing all five on board.

[emmeka]

i have always loved the oxidised copper on the top, thats one of the things that i like about the WFC as well.

[finnman69]

Donald was considering apartments for a fleeting moment. But consider this. He picked up a 72 story 1.1 million sf building for literally $1.5 million. He now gets rents in the $30 dollar range. It would be bad economic sense to rent apartments and lose money.

Gilding the crown could be very nice. Look at the crown building and NY Life. Gorgeous!

[emmeka]

No.

Yuck.

[Gulcrapek]

Tonight, the lantern on the crown was lit.

[TLOZ Link5]

You mean the red light? Isn't it normally? It's hard to see it from uptown because effing One Chase Manhattan blocks the view.

[Gulcrapek]

No, a bright, yellowish light.

[sirhcman]

Just a few pics I snapped off last May when I was in Manhattan...Anyone got any pics of the lighting?

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v216/sirhcman/nyc/trumpwall.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v216/sirhcman/nyc/trumpwall2.jpg

[Bob]

The massing of this building is terrific. Unlike that adjacent POS, 60 Wall.

[TLOZ Link5]

They don't build them like they used to.

[kz1000ps]

thanks flourescent lighting and air conditioning! Mixed use towers (with residential units on top) are our only hope for seeing towers with the proportions we like ever again. And to imagine that (going by history) office tenants are going to want larger and larger floor plates. Not to get off track, but are we forever doomed to 50-60 story towers as the general height for a big (yet not enormous) projects because of diminishing returns? Or is there a design solution that just isn't applicable to today's market demands?

[Derek2k3]

Efficiency’s Mark: City’s Glitters a Little Less

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/02/nyregion/02lights.html?_r=1&hp=&adxnnlx=1225556836-1SuC8qjA36YRCnqbDuc%20Wg&pagewanted=all

By KEN BELSON
Published: November 1, 2008

[JSsocal]

Maybe they should just get more employees to work the night shift.:D

[tone99loc]

Thanks for the link Derek - That was an interesting article...

[DarrylStrawberry]

today.

[HoveringCheesecake]

Rare angle I stumbled upon a while ago.

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3645/3593339976_c5d7c41a0e_o.jpg
http://www.flickr.com/photos/matmcdermott/3593339976/

[James Kovata]

What an incredible view. From what building was the photo taken?

[lofter1]

Notice that gawdawful postmodern mass to its left (east) in post 31?

[ZippyTheChimp]

1 Chase Manhattan Plaza

[HoveringCheesecake]

Notice that gawdawful postmodern mass to its left (east) in post 31?

Whaaaat. I kind of like 60 Wall Street.

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2168/2266583127_ff45ddbf74_o.jpg
http://www.flickr.com/photos/23889458@N08/2266583127/

[ablarc]

Whaaaat. I kind of like 60 Wall Street.
Candidate Number One for New York's Worst Building.

[HoveringCheesecake]

Care to explain?

-nevermind, talked about it in the real estate forum

[newhannibal]

http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6139/5982873759_4421f7726c_b.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/ryanbudhu/5982873759/)
The Symmetry of 40 Wall Street (http://www.flickr.com/photos/ryanbudhu/5982873759/) by RBudhu (http://www.flickr.com/people/ryanbudhu/), on Flickr

[londonlawyer]

As great as this tower is, 45Wall sucks. It's a market-rate rental, so it could be emptied easily. I hope it's razed in a few years.

[scumonkey]

Incredible shot- crystal clear! (what lens did you use?)

[newhannibal]

Used a Canon 70-200 f/4 IS. Its the sharpest non-prime lens I have!

Edit: I took one of the AIG Building (70 Pine) and will post eventually.

[scumonkey]

http://t1.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcRWQNzJyBKus9VD_yPWWcUR_L8qwy6JN C7-qNjf9NvXau3SZutk
one more time...
that's some piece of glass!

[mariab]

newhannibal that's a beautiful shot. The detail is just amazing. I think I can see an empty coat rack in one of the windows. Near the front corner of the building on each side at the bottom of the pic, highlighted in blue, it looks like the ESB is carved into the middle.

[bigchet]

Got to admit this is one of Trumps best buildings, great design.

[Merry]

Stunning shot, newhannibal. What a thrill it would be to be able to stand on that balcony next to the pyramid.

I couldn't find anything, so does anyone know what's in the pyramid? Just wondered because of the lights, or are they purely for decorative illumination?

[RoldanTTLB]

Don't know, but I can try to find out. My company moves to the 34th floor on Friday. Pics to come next weekend. I hear I can see the harbor from my office.

[Merry]

^ Wow, you lucky duck! Thanks, Roldan, looking forward to the pics and possible info :).

[RoldanTTLB]

Preview from this morning. More to come Sunday (I think).

http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6009/6011947005_3183dfaabf_b.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/7799907@N05/6011947005/)

[Music Man]

http://images.cheezburger.com/completestore/2011/2/13/48ee6561-5419-435c-99a5-0ffdd8419b99.jpg

;)

[Common Sense]

That has got to be the worst building in NYC and I think its fairly new. The architect looks at that and is proud?

[Merry]

LOFL! Before I'd scrolled down far enough to see your post, I was thinking exactly the same thing, Music Man!

I agree, Common Sense. There wasn't any of that when the architect dreamed it up (finished in 2009).

Just thinking, though, would it look a bit better without the mustard?

[HoveringCheesecake]

Yes, yes it would. What a sad building. (le Beaver)

[RoldanTTLB]

It may be an ugly building (it is), but I certainly have a great view of it! The sadder part of the building is actually how poor it addresses the street at the base. It's hard to see how ugly it is from the bottom because of the warren of streets downtown here. Anyway, I'll be taking more photos from around the office this afternoon. Hopefully I can get them up tonight.

[HoveringCheesecake]

It may be an ugly building (it is), but I certainly have a great view of it! The sadder part of the building is actually how poor it addresses the street at the base. It's hard to see how ugly it is from the bottom because of the warren of streets downtown here. Anyway, I'll be taking more photos from around the office this afternoon. Hopefully I can get them up tonight.

How nice is that Duane Reade in the lobby? It opened just as I left town. Looked pretty nice.

[infoshare]

It may be an ugly building (it is), but I certainly have a great view of it!

You can always keep the shades down; particularly if they are black-out shades. If you do not already have them the best treatment for that window would be a 'solar' shade that is translucent; you still get the view - but it is muted.

Enjoy the new office space - looks like class 'A' space. Cheers.

[RoldanTTLB]

Took too many pictures. See link:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/7799907@N05/sets/72157627262740747/

(http://www.flickr.com/photos/7799907@N05/sets/72157627262740747/)Preview:
http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6128/6023055156_8c44f93347_b.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/7799907@N05/6023055156/)

[RoldanTTLB]

And as for what's in the roof, I can safely say the answer is me:

http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6200/6025144581_c03ba080a4_b.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/7799907@N05/6025144581/)

[HoveringCheesecake]

Now you're just rubbing it in! :eek:

[newhannibal]

Amazing, how is the interior layout of those top floors?

[RoldanTTLB]

Surprisingly small (maybe 3-4k sqft). The stairs, as you can see, are over on the east edge of the building up the middle from what I can tell. Only 3 elevators go to the top floors (although it's a bank of far more in the lobby). I will go higher next time, but ran into some obstructions I didn't have time to navigate. Floors 55-60 (at least) are vacant right now. All of them have nearly 360 degree views with the stairs and elevator blocking the middle of due east (but there are windows on that side, as you can see from the set).

[Merry]

40 Wall Fortunes Rise Again

By LAURA KUSISTO

http://si.wsj.net/public/resources/images/NY-BK905_TRUMP_G_20120122171744.jpg

Donald Trump has avoided what could have been a big problem for one of his most valuable office buildings in New York, partly by taking advantage of the downtown's transformation away from being a citadel for the financial industry.

In 2009, with the city in the depths of the downturn, Mr. Trump was facing a daunting 600,000 square feet of leases expiring in 40 Wall St., the landmark 1.3 million square-foot tower. The Trump Organization succeeded in leasing most of the empty space partly by reaching out to nontraditional Wall Street tenants such as Huron Consulting, the Harry Fox Agency, Duane Reade's corporate offices and engineering firms Weidlinger Associates and Leslie E. Robertson Associates.

Trump's Dealmaking Pushes Building Value to $400M (http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970204624204577177552462568814.html?m od=googlenews_wsj#)

Meanwhile, the Trump Organization was aggressive in giving tenants what they wanted: low rents and incentive packages. "We had to bend a little bit more, and we could steal a tenant when we were in competition with a better building," said Jeffrey Lichtenberg, of Cushman & Wakefield, the landlord's agent.

About 200,000 square feet of space remains unoccupied, but the flurry of deals in the past six months marks the latest chapter in the story of 40 Wall, one of Mr. Trump's most successful investments. He purchased the Art Deco skyscraper for less than $10 million about 15 years ago, when the city was struggling in the recession of the early 1990s.

Today the 72-story property is worth at least $400 million, according to experts who based their assessment on recent sales of other downtown buildings.

At the same time, the new leases at 40 Wall reflect the metamorphosis of downtown. Creative and professional services tenants took more than 4.2 million square feet of new space downtown between 2005 and the first half of 2011, according to a report by the Downtown Alliance. In contrast, financial services tenants took just 1.6 million square of new office space. "We used to be much more reliant on Wall Street, but now it's more architecture firms, engineering firms," says Donald Trump Jr., 34 years old, who is overseeing the leasing of the building for his father.

Located just down Wall Street from the New York Stock Exchange, 40 Wall has seen both good times and bad times over the decades and has had several colorful owners.
The skyscraper was completed in 1930 in just 11 months, in a race to build the world's tallest building. It was quickly surpassed by the Chrysler Building. During the go-go days of the 1970s, it was full of white-shoe investment and law firms.

In the 1980s, 40 Wall became embroiled in a famous real-estate battle as one of four properties that had been secretly purchased by former Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos. For years after Mr. Marcos's 1986 ouster, a court battle raged over who owned the building.

By the early 1990s, that battle had been resolved. But 40 Wall fell on hard times with dozens of floors being abandoned and the property falling into disrepair. It enabled Mr. Trump to swoop in at a price that today brings tears to his competitors' eyes.

The low price also enabled Mr. Trump to stay competitive over the decades. During the late 1990s, Mr. Trump poured $35 million into renovating it and quickly landed a new batch of elite financial services tenants, including Bear Stearns, American Express Co. and CNA Financial Corp. Starting rents averaged $28 per square foot.

Lately, rather than hold out for high rents, the Trumps have aggressively made deals. While recent asking rents are in the $33- to $50-a-square-foot range, actual starting rents have differed little from a decade ago: $27 per square foot, according to multiple people familiar with the matter.

"They acted more aggressively than other landlords with similar product," says Michael Cohen, president of Colliers International Tri-State, who represented SS&C Technologies Inc., a software provider to the financial services industry, in a recent 12,000-square-foot deal.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970204624204577177552462568814.html?m od=googlenews_wsj

[Bob]

Glad to see this building is being fully used. It's a beauty.

[HoveringCheesecake]

Glad to see this building is being fully used. It's a beauty. No kidding, you beat me to it. I'm not a fan of Trump, but he certainly has done justice to this building. I can only hope AIG gets the same kind of treatment in the coming decade.