Solow Building

The Solow Building is a skyscraper located at 9 West 57th Street in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, built in 1974 and designed by Gordon Bunshaft of Skidmore, Owings and Merrill. It is located just west of Fifth Avenue between 57th and 58th Streets, next to the Bergdorf Goodman Building and the Plaza Hotel. The building was developed by Sheldon Solow, who named the building after himself and continued to manage and own the building until his death.

Solow Building
The Solow Building from 5th Avenue and 59th Street
General information
TypeCommercial offices
Location9 West 57th Street
New York City, New York
Completed1974
OwnerSheldon Solow
Height
Roof689 ft (210 m)[1]
Technical details
Floor count50
Floor area1,399,997 sq ft (130,064.0 m2)
Lifts/elevators34
Design and construction
ArchitectGordon Bunshaft
Skidmore, Owings & Merrill
DeveloperSolow Building Corporation
Structural engineerWeidlinger Associates
References
[1] [2]

At 50 stories and 689 ft (210 m) in height,[1] it is the 71st tallest building in New York. For decades, the building's only nearby competitor in height was the GM Building, located one block north and east. However, since the completion of 432 Park Avenue in 2015, other skyscrapers along nearby Billionaires' Row have risen considerably higher.

Floors above the 23rd floor offer an unobstructed view of Upper Manhattan and a complete view of Central Park and The Plaza Hotel. The building is home to many hedge funds and private equity firms with rents of over $100 per square foot ranking among the most expensive in the city. A July 2016 appraisal valued the building at over $3.4 billion, making the property one of the most valuable office buildings in Manhattan.[3]

Tenants
Facade

Rental fees at the Solow Building are amongst the most expensive in Manhattan.[4] The Solow Building Company occupies a permanent lease of the top floor. Notable tenants include Chanel (44th fl.) and private equity firms Sycamore Partners, Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co. (42nd fl.), Apollo Management (43rd/48th fl.), Silver Lake Partners (32nd fl.), Providence Equity Partners (49th fl.), and Highland Capital Management (38th fl.).

Several law firms and hedge funds occupy a majority of the remaining space, including Ruane, Cunniff & Goldfarb (50th fl.), Och-Ziff Capital Management (40th fl.), Tiger Global Management (35th fl.), Highbridge Capital Management (27th fl.), and Coatue Management (25th fl.). The corporate offices of Avis Budget Group (37th fl.) are also located in the building.[5][6][7] Bombardier Inc. signed a lease agreement for 14,000 square feet on the 49th floor.

Architecture and design

The concave vertical slope of its facade is similar to another of Bunshaft's creations, the W.R. Grace Building, which was also built in 1974. The initial, rejected design of the Solow building was used in the design for the Grace Building.[8] The sloping facade also evokes the Chase Tower in Chicago.

Amenities

The building features an underground parking garage, retail space (on the north side bordering 58th Street), an underground space occupied by the Brasserie 8½ restaurant, a 2-floor trading area on floors 2-3, a newsstand in the lobby, and 24 high-speed elevators subdivided into sets of floors.

The first floor of the building houses a private gallery of billionaire Sheldon Solow's art collection, including works by Franz Kline, Henri Matisse, and Alberto Giacometti, among others. Though managed under the non-profit Solow Art and Architecture Foundation, the gallery is perpetually closed and not open to the public.[9]

In 1971, Avon Products rented 21 floors, soon increased to 25 floors. The building was shortly being referred to as "the Avon building" (a title that persists and can still cause confusion). Williams Real Estate, the broker that brought Avon to the deal, sought the commission that they thought had been promised. Cushman & Wakefield, which held a contract with Solow as the building's exclusive rental agent, claimed that they were also owed a commission. Solow refused to pay either, so both sued. After a long jury trial in State Supreme Court, Solow was ordered to pay commissions of $150,000 to Cushman & Wakefield and $1.7 million to Williams, the largest such award in New York real estate history.[10][11] An interesting moment in the trial came when architect Gordon Bunshaft explained the key role played by neoprene gaskets around large glass plates in creating the building's sleek look.[12]

Sculpture
"The Red 9" in front of the Solow Building by Ivan Chermayeff

The large red sculpture of the digit 9 in front of the building was included in the project as a response to the complaints that the building's sloping reflecting walls revealed unappealing sides of older neighbors that had been previously obscured. The brightly colored sculpture was designed by graphic artist Ivan Chermayeff.[13]

See also

References
  1. "Solow Building". CTBUH Skyscraper Center.
  2. "Solow Building". Skyscraper Center. CTBUH. Retrieved June 8, 2017.
  3. "JPMCC 2016-JP3 Structural & Collateral Term Sheet". SEC. September 14, 2016. Retrieved July 31, 2019.
  4. Melouney, Carmel (July 29, 2013). "Leases for Prime Manhattan Office Push Higher". Wall Street Journal. ISSN 0099-9660. Retrieved May 7, 2020.
  5. GM Building takes lead in commercial rents. The Real Deal, July 2006
  6. Vacancies at a Fancy Address, 9 West
  8. "W. R. Grace Building". Emporis. Retrieved August 31, 2010.
  9. Court of Appeals decision in Williams v. Solow, 1976.
  10. "Broker Wins Big Judgment on Commissions," New York Times, November 4, 1973.
  11. Carter Horsley, "9 West 57th Street," The City Review, December 25, 2003.
  12. Poulin, Richard (2012). Graphic Design and Architecture, A 20th Century History: A Guide to Type, Image, Symbol, and Visual Storytelling in the Modern World. Rockport Publishers. p. 170. ISBN 978-1-61058-633-7. Retrieved June 12, 2020.

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