flexiblefullpage
billboard
interstitial1
catfish1
Currently Reading

20 Times Square: Conquering Times Square

Reconstruction Awards

20 Times Square: Conquering Times Square

The 20 Times Square mixed-used project at the corner of 47th and Seventh Avenue is indicative of the great lengths Building Teams will go in order to maximize real estate and media opportunities in Times Square.


By David Barista, Editorial Director | November 13, 2018

The project involved saving the street-facing portions of the Cecil B. DeMille building to maintain its billboard rights. Photo: Ralph D’Angelo/CIG Digital.

No other place in the country generates more advertising revenue from building façades than Times Square. A single billboard can command upwards of $4 million per advertiser per year. Using the latest digital signage technology and creative building redevelopment plans, building owners and developers jockey for the primo positions to capture eyeballs along this famed commercial intersection.

The 20 Times Square mixed-used project at the corner of 47th and Seventh Avenue is indicative of the great lengths Building Teams will go in order to maximize real estate and media opportunities in Times Square. The project involved redeveloping portions of the historic Cecil B. DeMille building, pouring new foundations for the entire site, and then erecting a 42-story luxury hotel, retail, and entertainment tower on the compact, 16,000-sf property.

Demolishing the DeMille building would have been the easy route, but it would cost the developers precious billboard real estate. For new construction, the city requires a setback at 60 feet in height. This would have nearly halved the 110-foot-tall street wall that wrapped the DeMille building. To save its street wall height, the team would have to qualify for a special Alteration 1 permit.

 

20 Times Square exterior facade

 

The solution entailed demolishing 70% of the existing building, leaving a 10-story, L-shaped configuration along 47th Street and Seventh Avenue. The team took painstaking measures to save the street-facing structure of the DeMille, a plan that met the city’s requirement for saving at least 25% of the existing floor levels. It included: temporary shoring and bracing of the existing structure until the permanent foundations could be poured; removal of the small Pig & Whistle pub building and an accompanying party wall shared by the adjacent New York Hotel (different owner); the discovery of misplaced columns and undocumented structural framing that required re-engineering on a weekly basis to maintain the shoring/bracing; and the install of vibration monitors and telltales to monitor movement of the existing “L” structure during construction.

The combination of a complex project, with numerous unforeseen issues, on a tight site, in one of the world’s busiest intersections made 20 Times Square the “most taxing, yet exhilarating” project in the 40-year career of CNY’s President Kenneth Colao. The risks “were very material.”

 

Bronze Award Winner

BUILDING TEAM CNY Construction (submitting firm, CM) Maefield Development (owner) The Witkoff Organization (developer) Platt Byard Dovell White (architect) Adamson Associates Architects (interior architect) Severud Associates (SE) Cosentini Associates (MEP) DETAILS 378,000 sf Total cost Confidential Construction time 2015 to 2018 Delivery method CM at risk with GMP

 

CLICK HERE TO GO TO THE 2018 RECONSTRUCTION AWARDS LANDING PAGE

Related Stories

Reconstruction Awards | Jan 6, 2021

University of Pennsylvania’s Stemmler Hall forgoes retrofit in favor of complete renovation

The Edward J. Stemmler Hall project has won a Bronze Award in BD+C’s 2020 Reconstruction Awards.

Reconstruction Awards | Dec 29, 2020

The reenvisioned Sazerac House: A delectable cocktail that's just perfect for the Big Easy

The 51,987-sf Sazerac House is an interactive cocktail museum, active distillery, corporate headquarters, and event venue, all under one roof, next to the historic French Quarter of New Orleans.

Reconstruction Awards | Dec 18, 2020

Can converting a landmark office to a clinic raise up a downtrodden Philadelphia neighborhood?

BD+C’s Reconstruction Awards recognize the adaptive reuse of the Kensington Trust building.

Reconstruction Awards | Dec 18, 2020

Spokane Riverfront Park U.S. Pavilion project creates a refreshed gathering place in Spokane

The project has won a Bronze Award in BD+C's 2020 Reconstruction Awards.

Reconstruction Awards | Dec 16, 2020

Voters resuscitate an abandoned high school in northern California

A 2014 bond issue provided financing to seismically stabilize and modernize Historic Alameda High School, a 2020 Silver Reconstruction Award winner.

Reconstruction Awards | Dec 14, 2020

Wyoming Capitol Square renovation project is all about the details

The Wyoming Capitol Square project has won a Gold Award in BD+C's 2020 Reconstruction Awards.

Reconstruction Awards | Dec 12, 2020

A famed dome of a historic glasshouse is revived to its rightful glory

Scaffolding played a critical role in the repair and restoration of the Enid A. Haupt Conservatory’s Palm Dome at the New York Botanical Gardens, a Gold winner of BD&C’s 2020 Reconstruction Awards

Reconstruction Awards | Dec 8, 2020

A synagogue in Toronto is renewed while preserving its history

Holy Blossom Temple is a Platinum winner in BD+C’s 2020 Reconstruction Awards.

boombox1
boombox2
native1

More In Category


Giants 400

BD+C Awards Programs

Entry information and past winners for Building Design+Construction's two major awards programs: 40 Under 40 and Giants 400



halfpage1

Most Popular Content

  1. 2021 Giants 400 Report
  2. Top 150 Architecture Firms for 2019
  3. 13 projects that represent the future of affordable housing
  4. Sagrada Familia completion date pushed back due to coronavirus
  5. Top 160 Architecture Firms 2021