270 Park Avenue (2025–present)

Overview

270 Park Avenue

architectural style	Structural Expressionism Neo-Art Deco
location	270 Park Avenue, New York, NY 10017, U.S.
alternate names	JPMorgan Chase Tower
status	Completed
construction start date	April 8, 2021
completion date	August 25, 2025
opened date	October 21, 2025‡R1R‡
floor area	2,500,000 sqft‡R2R‡
floor count	60
references	‡R3R‡
building type	Office building
height	1388 ft
architect	Foster + Partners
structural engineer	Severud Associates
main contractor	Tishman Construction
engineer	Jaros, Baum & Bolles (MEP)
architecture firm	AAI Architects, P.C.
mapframe-wikidata	yes
coordinates	40.756°N, -73.976°W

270 Park Avenue, also known as the JPMorgan Chase Tower, is a supertall skyscraper on the East Side of the Midtown neighborhood of Manhattan in New York City. Since October 21, 2025, it has served as the global headquarters of JPMorgan Chase, the largest banking institution in the United States.[4][5] It is the sixth-tallest building in New York and the 35th-tallest building in the world.

Designed by the firm of Foster + Partners with an estimated construction cost of $3 billion, the skyscraper rises 1,388 ft.[6][7] Formally topped off in November 2023 and occupied beginning in August 2025, the tower replaces the 52-story Union Carbide Building, built in 1960 and demolished in 2021.[8]

History

Planning

In February 2018, JPMorgan announced it would demolish the former Union Carbide Building to make way for a structure that was almost twice as tall. This was the first major project to be announced as part of the Midtown East rezoning in the 2010s.[39][40][25] The former building became the tallest voluntarily demolished building in the world at the time, overtaking the previous record-holder Singer Building that was demolished in 1968.[41] The replacement 1,388 ft, 70-story headquarters would have space for 15,000 employees. Tishman Construction Corporation will be the construction manager for the project.[40]

To build the larger structure, JPMorgan purchased hundreds of thousands of square feet of air rights from nearby St. Bartholomew's Episcopal Church as well as from Michael Dell's MSD Capital, the owner of the air rights above Grand Central Terminal.[42][43] In October 2018, JPMorgan announced that British architectural firm Foster + Partners would design the new building. The plans for the new building had grown to 1,400 ft, though the zoning envelope allowed for a structure as high as 1566 ft.[44] However, this also raised concerns that the taller building would require deeper foundations that could interfere with the Metropolitan Transportation Authority's East Side Access tunnels and the Grand Central Terminal's rail yards, which are directly underneath 270 Park Avenue.[45]

In May 2019, the New York City Council unanimously approved JPMorgan's new headquarters.[46][47] In order to secure approvals, JPMorgan was required to contribute $40 million to a district-wide improvement fund and incorporate a new 10,000 sqft privately owned public space plaza in front of the tower. After pressure from Manhattan Borough President Gale Brewer and City Council member Keith Powers, JPMorgan also agreed to fund numerous upgrades to the public realm surrounding the building, including improvements to Grand Central's train shed and a new entrance to the station at 48th Street.[47][48] The MTA had planned to repair the Grand Central Terminal train shed's concrete and steel as part of the 2020–2024 MTA Capital Program.[49][50] The first portion of the train shed to be repaired was underneath 270 Park Avenue, since the agency wished to conduct the repair work alongside new developments where possible.

Construction

In July 2019, JPMorgan signed an agreement with MTA in which the bank guaranteed that the demolition of 270 Park Avenue would not delay work on East Side Access.[51] That month, scaffolding was wrapped around the tower and podium structure on the Madison Avenue side of the building, the first step in an anticipated 18-month demolition effort.[52] But by late December 2020, only the podium structure had been demolished. Still, parts of the new superstructure were assembled on the Madison Avenue side,[53] and the following month saw the assembly of the new structure's first steel beams.[54] Demolition of the main tower was complete by April 2021; the entire demolition effort wrapped up in June.[55][56]

Reception

During construction, the planned tower received mixed reception. Architectural critic Alexandra Lange described the under-construction 270 Park Avenue in 2022 as "a Son of Hearst Tower grafted on top of creepy legs."[81][82] Christopher Bonanos of Curbed characterized the tower's base as supporting "all that heft balance, quixotically, on ballerinas' toes."[33] Reese Lewis of the Brooklyn Rail was critical of its development, criticizing its economic – rather than functional – motivation.[83]

Upon its grand opening in 2025, its size, scale, and cost received attention;[84][85] The Architect's Newspaper said that "the critical response was mostly meh".[27] Bloomberg News said that 270 Park Avenue's presence expanded a cluster of neighboring buildings occupied by JPMorgan: 277 Park Avenue, 245 Park Avenue, and 383 Madison Avenue.[86] The Wall Street Journal listed the tower among the publication's "best architecture of 2025", saying that the design evoked 1920s-era towers.[12] The Guardian described it as an "eco obscenity" and "affront to the New York skyline", with its writer Oliver Wainwright criticizing its heavy use of structural steel.[87] Crain's New York called the new tower a "financial temple" within the city;[88] the Financial Times labeled the skyscraper a "fortress" and a "monument to American finance";[89] and ArtReview likened the building to a tank that "makes everything in its vicinity appear under threat".[90]

Jack Murphy of The Architect's Newspaper stated that 270 Park Avenue's design and symbolism were highly debated in a similar manner to the viral 2015 debates over the colors of "the dress".[27] Dezeen, while praising the building's massing, materials, and structure, said that its construction required the demolition of the Union Carbide Building, something it deemed wasteful.[91] Architectural Record similarly lamented the Union Carbide Building while praising the new tower's offices as futuristic.[92] Christopher Hawthorne, writing for The Punchlist newsletter, said it was ironic that Skidmore, Owings & Merrill had designed both the Union Carbide Building and the interior of the new tower.[27][93]

270 Park Avenue (2025–present)

Site

Architecture

Lower stories

History

Planning

Construction

Reception

See also

External links

References

Upper stories