Brookfield Place (New York City)

Coordinates: 40°42′47″N 74°00′56″W / 40.71306°N 74.01556°W / 40.71306; -74.01556

Brookfield Place, as it appeared in April 2011. One World Trade Center is being constructed in the background, behind the Brookfield Place towers.

Brookfield Place, originally known as the World Financial Center, is a shopping center^[1] and office-building complex located across West Street from the World Trade Center site in the Battery Park City neighborhood of Manhattan, New York City. Overlooking the Hudson River, Brookfield Place has been home to offices of various companies including Merrill Lynch, RBC Capital Markets, Nomura Group, American Express and Brookfield Asset Management, among others. In 2014, the complex was given its current name following the completion of extensive renovations.

Ownership and structure

200 Vesey Street

Brookfield Place is owned by Toronto-based Brookfield Office Properties,^[2] except for the spaces occupied by American Express, which is owned by the American Express Company. Brookfield Place also serves as the United States headquarters for Brookfield Office Properties, which has its headquarters located in 250 Vesey Street.^[3][4] Brookfield Place also has its own zip code, 10281. The building's original developer was Olympia and York of Toronto, Ontario, Canada.^[2]

The buildings are:

• 200 Liberty Street, formerly One World Financial Center, (1986)^[5] height 577 feet (176 m), 40 stories
  • Leasable area: 1,628,000 square feet (151,200 m²)
  • Rooftop: truncated square pyramid
• 225 Liberty Street, formerly Two World Financial Center, (1987), height 645 feet (197 m), 44 stories
  • Leasable area: 2,491,000 square feet (231,400 m²)
  • Rooftop: round dome
• 200 Vesey Street, formerly Three World Financial Center, (also known as American Express Tower) (1985), height 739 feet (225 m), 51 stories
  • Leasable area: 1,200,000 square feet (110,000 m²)
  • Rooftop: pyramid
• 250 Vesey Street, formerly Four World Financial Center, (1986), height 500 feet (150 m), 34 stories ("North Tower")
  • Leasable area: 1,800,000 square feet (170,000 m²)
  • Rooftop: ziggurat
• Winter Garden Atrium (1988) a 45,000 square feet (4,200 m²) glass domed pavilion housing various plants, trees and flowers, also shopping areas, cafes (located between buildings 2 and 3) Rebuilt after terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001.
  • Leasable area: 295,000 square feet (27,400 m²)
• One North End Avenue, also known as the New York Mercantile Exchange building (1997), height 253 feet (77 m), 16 stories
  • Leasable area:500,000 square feet (46,000 m²)

History

As viewed from the World Trade Center in August 1992

Designed by César Pelli,^[6] with Adamson Associates, the World Financial Center complex in Lower Manhattan was built by Olympia and York between 1982 and 1988 ^[7] on landfill used to build Battery Park City.^[8] The fill material came from dirt excavated during the building of the World Trade Center, as well as garbage, dirt and debris.

In the September 11, 2001 attacks, Three World Financial Center had a massive piece of steel shot into its east side, and other debris severely damaged the lobby and lower floors causing the building to be in danger of collapse. It has since been fully restored and significant repairs were made to the other buildings in the complex. The Winter Garden had received major structural damage to the glass and steel frame but was ceremonially reopened on September 11, 2002.^[9]

The World Financial Center underwent a $250 million renovation and expansion project in conjunction with the construction of a new east-west passageway linking the complex with the World Trade Center site.^[10] The main elements of the project include a transit pavilion to be built as an extension of the existing Winter Garden building, on the West Street end. Preliminary plans had called for the demolition of the Grand Staircase, which until 2001 was the main focal entry point to the Winter Garden and the waterfront, as it connected to the Vesey Street pedestrian bridge adjacent to the original World Trade Center. The Grand Staircase has also been used as an amphitheater; thus, the plans for demolition had outraged residents, who promptly appealed for its preservation in the latest redevelopment plans. The transit pavilion opened in fall 2013 and is expected to have an address at 100 West Street.^[11]

Within the existing complex, available space in the lower floors of the office towers of the World Financial Center are undergoing conversions and expansion to accommodate new retail. One notable example is 2 World Financial Center: a European-style marketplace and a dining terrace opened in Fall 2013. The space between 3 and 4 WFC, at 225 Vesey Street, which used to contain retail, expanded to accommodate in‑line retail and high end fashion retail, according to the plans and renderings. With some restaurants and retail temporarily closed due to construction, a new food truck court has been in operation since early 2012 on North End Avenue. Various food trucks that operate around New York City, serving a variety of foods, service the World Financial Center/Battery Park City area five days a week during lunch hours.^[12] A new 2,000 food court comprising existing restaurants, such as Le District and Hudson Eats, and new restaurants, was built, and opened in stages between November 2014 and March 2015; the food area is projected to generate about $12 million of revenue annually.^[13][14] Overall, the intent is to drive more tourism in the area with the retail and the new access to the passageway under West Street. It is also being developed as a catalyst to integrate and drive development in the Battery Park City area, of which the World Financial Center sits promptly in between the largely residential neighborhood.^[15]

Brookfield bought the adjacent One North End Avenue building, headquarters of the New York Mercantile Exchange, in 2013, for US$200 million, and integrated it into the complex.^[16] Following expansion, the entire World Financial Center complex was renamed Brookfield Place, in conjunction with similar complexes in Toronto, Calgary, and Perth owned by Brookfield. The name change took place in 2014.^[17]

Gallery

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Brookfield Place (New York City) (category)

• Official website