Long-plagued Midtown office tower will be reborn as 660 Fifth Avenue: See new looks
All renderings credit Brookfield Properties
The office tower formerly known as 666 Fifth Avenue has shed both its superstitious address and its controversial connection to the Kushners. Brookfield Asset Management bought the 99-year ground lease for the 41-story Midtown office building between 52nd and 53rd Streets in 2018 from Kushner Cos., announcing the following year a $400 million overhaul designed by Kohn Pedersen Fox Associates. Brookfield has now released new renderings of the 660 Fifth Avenue project, which will have a new glass facade and floor-to-ceiling windows, a new lobby and retail spaces, and new outdoor terraces when it’s completed in 2022.
The office tower was built in 1958 as the Tishman Building (Tishman Realty and Construction built it). It was notable for its metal panel exterior wall that was originally lit by famed lighting artist Abe Feder. When the building opened, it was 80-percent leased to high-end tenants like Warner Bros., Revlon, Foster Wheeler, and several advertising agencies.
Fast forward to 2007, when Jared Kushner had recently taken over the family business from his father, and Kushner Cos. purchase the building for $1.8 billion. At the time, it was the most expensive building ever sold in Manhattan, but the then-26-year-old Jared had to borrow $1.75 billion to finance it.
As 6sqft previously explained:
Facing major debt, Kushner Cos. brought in Vornado Realty Trust, which purchased a stake in the building for $80 million and the assumption of half the property’s $1.2 billion mortgage in 2011. The company even floated an idea to bring a 1,400-foot-tall luxury hotel-condo tower designed by the late Zaha Hadid. Vornado rejected that plan, optioning for more “mundane” renovations instead.
In 2018, Kushner Cos. bought the remaining stake in 666 Fifth Avenue from Vornado Realty Trust and ultimately sold it to Brookfield for $1.3 billion.
Seeking to shed the controversial 666 address, Brookfield announced early on that they’d be repositioning the building as 660 Fifth Avenue. More than that, though, it will take on a completely new and modern look thanks to Kohn Pedersen Fox Associates. Most notably, the uninsulated, metal facade will be replaced with a new, state-of-the-art insulated glass wall that includes floor-to-ceiling glass windows. These will be the largest unitized windows in North America and will nearly triple the window area for the office space.
Other big changes for commercial tenants will be new double-height office spaces and interconnected floors, as well as exterior rooftop space on the 8th, 10th, 11th, and 15th floors. In addition, the new incarnation of the building will focus on sustainability, cutting carbon emissions by 54 percent.
And another big change that’s likely coming is the name of the building, as the repositioning includes the opportunity for a tenant to have its name on the building.
RELATED:
- Brookfield unveils $400M redevelopment of 666 Fifth Avenue
- Kushner Cos. will buy remaining stake in 666 Fifth Avenue from Vornado for $120M
- Problems at 666 Fifth Avenue tower linked to Jared Kushner’s White House role
All renderings credit Brookfield Properties
