The Durst Organization Discusses $130 Million Investment in 1155 Avenue of the Americas

The Durst Organization recently completed a massive, $130 million renovation at 1155 Avenue of the Americas. Tom Bow, Executive Vice President of Commercial Leasing for The Durst Organization, spoke to Commercial Observer’s Partner Insights team about the big change.

“We did a top-to-bottom renovation to create a property that tenants can use to attract and retain the talent they need in today’s competitive work environment,” said Bow.

The company built 1155 Avenue of the Americas, which was designed by Emery Roth and Sons, in 1984. “When The Durst Organization builds a building, we look at how it will perform over generations,” said Bow. “However, we never rest on the laurels of how we built it day one. Technology changes, the marketplace changes, and the demands of tenants change. So, at this building, we took advantage of a large vacancy to reposition and make it competitive in today’s market.

Bow said that the dramatic modifications Durst made to the building included taking advantage of some unused FAR.

“We were able to create 8,000 feet of brand new space, The Apex, atop the building,” he said. “It’s available for a tenant who leases several floors at the top of the tower. It’s 8,000 square feet of column-free space, with 13-foot glass panels and 15-foot ceilings.” The rooftop space also features a wrap-around terrace of approximately 4,000 square feet. It’s currently the largest available rooftop opportunity on the market in midtown Manhattan with outdoor space.

The renovation placed nine-foot floor-to-ceiling glass into the building’s four chamfer corners, resulting in sun-drenched floors and picturesque views of Bryant Park, the Empire State Building, and 30 Rockefeller Plaza. Dark tinted casement windows were also replaced on every floor with clear Low-E glass. As a result, the building also gained a new facade that Bow said “looks seamless, as if it was done on day one.”

“Our boutique office floor plates range from 16,500 to 22,500 square feet. These floors are optimal for private equity firms, law firms, and visionary tech firms. A 100,000-square-foot available block of space in the base of the building also features an impressive 6,000-square-foot terrace that fronts Avenue of the Americas — ideal for viewing the Thanksgiving Day parade.”

Durst also consolidated the entrances of the building to create a large and expanded entrance on 44th Street and designed a triple-height-space lobby flooded with light from the south and oriented toward Bryant Park.

The building’s mechanical infrastructure also saw considerable upgrades. “We put in new elevators, destination dispatch controls, and cabs. All the materials in the lobby have been updated to create a light and gracious entrance with a clean aesthetic,” Bow said. “We put in a new building maintenance system, new bathrooms throughout the building, and new HVAC fans on each floor.”

Finally, the renovation brought the building to full LEED Silver v4 EBOM (Existing Building: Operations and Maintenance) status, making it one of the first two buildings in New York City to achieve this.

“This is a benefit for tenants because we can operate our buildings for less than our competitors, which means our operating costs are lower for our tenants,” said Bow. “This also allows a tenant, with a few enhancements, to achieve a LEED certification at the building for their own space.”