270 Park Avenue Replacement May Rise 1,500 Feet

MIDTOWN MANHATTAN, NY — New plans filed with the city Department of City Planning reveal details about JP Morgan's planned new headquarters building on Park Avenue.

The finance giant filed plans for a zoning text amendment that would alter the amount of public space that JP Morgan would be required to develop for its new headquarters. The filing includes rendering of two possible outcomes for the development.

JP Morgan is hoping to reduce the amount of public space it's obligated to build from 10,000 square feet to 7,000 square feet, according to the public documents. The zoning text amendment would allow developers to build an enclosed public space on Madison Avenue. Should the amendment be denied, JP Morgan plans to build an outdoor public space on East 47th Street.

How the city rules on the proposed change in zoning rules will also affect the tower's overall height. If JP Morgan is permitted to build only 7,000 square feet of public space, the tower will be 1,400-feet-tall compared to 1,566-feet-tall.

The City Council rezoned the East Midtown office district in 2017 to allow commercial developers the ability to upgrade the area's aging office building stock. In exchange for greater density, developers are required to develop investments to public space and infrastructure. JP Morgan's 270 Park Ave. redevelopment will be one of the largest new projects allowed by the rezoning.

The two outcomes are depicted in the following renderings:

JP Morgan Chase announced its plans to build a new 2.5 million-square-foot headquarters in February.

Construction work on the new headquarters is expected to begin in 2019, city officials said in a press release. The work is expected to take five years and will generate 8,000 construction-related jobs, officials said. People who work at 270 Park Avenue, located between East 47th and 48th streets, will be moved to a nearby office during the construction.

The East Midtown rezoning area spans 78 blocks from the east side of Third Avenue to west side of Madison Avenue between East 39th to 57th streets.

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