Reduction To Public Space At New 270 Park Faces Pushback: Report

MIDTOWN MANHATTAN, NY — A request from JP Morgan Chase to reduce the amount of public space at its planned new headquarters at 270 Park Avenue did not go over well with a local community board, according to reports.

Community Board 5 voted Wednesday night to reject an application for a zoning text amendment that would reduce the area of public open space at the new headquarters from 10,000 square feet to 7,000 square feet, Curbed reported.

The concession would essentially require the city to "give away something in exchange for nothing, just because," the board's land use committee chair Layla Law-Gisiko said, as reported by Curbed.

Representatives from the architecture firm Foster + Partners said that the reduction in public space is necessary due to the complexities of the development site, which includes underground infrastructure for Grand Central Terminal. The proposed 7,000-suqare-foot space would feature a "glowing room" to add lighting to the space, an urban workspace and seating areas for the public, Curbed reported.

The firm filed a request for the zoning text amendment in November with the city Department of Buildings. 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 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.

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