JP Morgan Files Building Plans For New Midtown Headquarters

MIDTOWN MANHATTAN, NY — Banking giant JP Morgan has filed plans with the city Department of Buildings to construct its massive new headquarters building in Midtown Manhattan.

The new 270 Park Ave. will rise 1,322 feet tall and span 2.5 million square feet, according to plans filed with the city. JP Morgan first announced it would be razing its current headquarters to redevelop the site in February 2018.

Building plans filed this week with the city show that the bank's initial announcement was largely accurate in laying out plans for the new building. The one discrepency with initial plans is the building height. JP Morgan applied for a zoning text amendment in 2018 that would allow the bank to build less public space at the site than required. Diagrams with that application indicated the building could rise as tall as 1,566 feet, but the official building plans filed this week are for a shorter building.

JP Morgan's new headquarters will feature 1.87 million square feet of office space that will allow the finance company to accommodate as many as 15,000 employees at the building.

The City Council voted in May to approve JP Morgan's plans for a new headquarters, making it the first project produced by the city's 2017 rezoning of East Midtown. The city 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.

As part of its public investment, JP Morgan has agreed to fund repairs and improvements at Grand Central Terminal. In addition to funding repairs for Grand Central's Metro-North train shed, JP Morgan agreed to build a new East 48th Street entrance and compensate the MTA if work on 270 Park Avenue disrupt's the transit agency's own work at the station.

JP Morgan filed demolition permits for its current headquarters building in January, according to public records.

The redevelopment is expected to take five years and will generate 8,000 construction-related jobs, officials said. JP Morgan employees who work at 270 Park Avenue, located between East 47th and 48th streets, will be moved to nearby offices during the construction.