450 Park Avenue (also known as Franklin National Bank Building) is an office building on

Park Avenue Park Avenue is a wide New York City boulevard which carries north and southbound traffic in the boroughs of Manhattan and the Bronx. For most of the road's length in Manhattan, it runs parallel to Madison Avenue to the west and Lexington Avenu ...

Midtown Manhattan Midtown Manhattan is the central portion of the New York City borough of Manhattan and serves as the city's primary central business district. Midtown is home to some of the city's most prominent buildings, including the Empire State Buildin ...

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

. The building has 33 floors and is tall. 450 Park Avenue has a steel skeleton with concrete floors. The exterior is dominated by black granite and glass. The building was designed by

Emery Roth & Sons Emery Roth ( hu, Róth Imre, July 17, 1871 – August 20, 1948) was an American architect of Hungarian-Jewish descent who designed many of the definitive New York City hotels and apartment buildings of the 1920s and 1930s, incorporating Beaux-A ...

and developed by Peter Sharp. Adjacent to the building is a public plaza, a

privately owned public space Privately owned public space (POPS), or alternatively, privately owned public open spaces (POPOS), are terms used to describe a type of public space that, although privately owned, is legally required to be open to the public under a city's zoni ...

, with benches.

History

In June 2002, 450 Park Avenue was purchased by

Taconic Investment Partners Taconic Investment Partners is a real estate developer in New York City. They have been involved in projects such as Essex Crossing, American Bank Note Company Printing Plant, 111 Eighth Avenue (where they have their offices) and Coney Island. T ...

. That company spent around $13 million on renovating the lobby, replacing the elevators, and redesigning public areas. Five years later, in June 2007, Somerset Partners bought 450 Park Avenue for $509 million, or . This made it the highest price per square foot paid for an office building at the time in the United States. To pay for the building, Somerset Partners signed a $175 million loan. In mid-2008, Somerset Partners also moved its head office to the building. On October 30, 2010, a brand of the

Phillips de Pury Phillips, formerly known as Phillips the Auctioneers (briefly as Phillips de Pury), is a British auction house. It was founded in London in 1796, and has head offices in London and in New York City. It was owned by the Mercury Group, a Russian ...

auction house opened on the first three floors of 450 Park Avenue. The first auction was held on November 8 of that year. The auction house covers an area of almost . In February 2014, 450 Park Avenue was sold to Crown Acquisitions and

Oxford Properties Oxford Properties is a Canadian multinational corporation, with operations in real estate investment, development and property management. Its portfolio includes office, retail, industrial, multi-residential, life sciences and hotel assets. Esta ...

for $545 million.

Location

450 Park Avenue is located in

between East 56th Street and East 57th Street. There are four

New York City Subway The New York City Subway is a rapid transit system owned by the government of New York City and leased to the New York City Transit Authority, an affiliate agency of the state-run Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA). Opened on October 2 ...

stations in the immediate vicinity of the tower: (), (), (). and (). 450 Park Avenue borders two buildings, including

432 Park Avenue 432 Park Avenue is a residential skyscraper at 57th Street and Park Avenue in Midtown Manhattan in New York City, overlooking Central Park. The tower was developed by CIM Group and Harry B. Macklowe and designed by Rafael Viñoly. A part of ...

to the southwest and a branch of Turbull & Asser to the west. On the other side of East 57th Street is the Davies Building and on the other side of

is 445 Park Avenue. Other striking buildings in the immediate vicinity of 450 Park Avenue are

Trump Tower Trump Tower is a 58-story, mixed-use skyscraper at 721–725 Fifth Avenue in the Midtown Manhattan neighborhood of New York City, between East 56th and 57th Streets. The building contains the headquarters for the Trump Organization, as well ...

Four Seasons Hotel New York Four Seasons Hotel New York is a luxury hotel in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, that opened in 1993. The luxury hotel stopped booking paying guests in March 2020 at the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, instead offering free housing for medical ...

Sony Tower 550 Madison Avenue (formerly known as the Sony Tower, Sony Plaza, and AT&T Building) is a postmodern skyscraper at Madison Avenue between 55th and 56th Streets in the Midtown Manhattan neighborhood of New York City. Designed by Philip Johns ...

, and the

General Motors Building A general officer is an Officer (armed forces), officer of highest military ranks, high rank in the army, armies, and in some nations' air forces, space forces, and marines or naval infantry. In some usages the term "general officer" refers t ...

References

External links

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Emporis - Franklin National Bank Building
Accessed on 4 July 2014
SkyscraperPage.com - Franklin National Bank Building
Accessed on 4 July 2014 {{Park Avenue Emery Roth buildings Midtown Manhattan Office buildings completed in 1972 Office buildings in Manhattan Park Avenue Skyscraper office buildings in Manhattan