Extell Development Company is moving forward on its first office building in East Harlem in New York City. Known as Harlem Headquarters, this nine-story building, whose construction is scheduled to begin next year and be ready for fitouts by the end of 2022, will offer 441,600 sf of Class A office space. The development includes a 7,500-sf roofdeck terrace and a 40,851-sf community center.
Gensler designed Harlem Headquarters with 56,000-sf floor plates that can be divided into three zones, so layouts can be customized for tenants, says Rose Disarno, Associate and Design Lead at Gensler’s New York office. Each space will have access to its own terrace outside.
Extell is touting Harlem Headquarters’ “smart design,” which Disarno explains includes a solar array installed on the roof and MIRV-14 filters installed throughout the building, whose façade will be insulated to exceed New York’s 2016 requirements.
Leasing is expected to begin sometime this fall, with Cushman & Wakefield serving as the building’s marketing agent. Disarno believes that the Harlem Headquarters’ roofdeck will be a “critical” amenity as employees return to offices on a fuller-time basis. The building is also adjacent to several subway stops, and eventually is expected to have access to the Metro Line rail line that stretches to the city’s surrounding suburbs.
Extell did not disclose the construction cost for Harlem Headquarters, whose Building Team includes Monadnock (GC), GMS (SE), AKF (MEP and lighting), Philip Habib + Associates (CE), IBA Consultants (façade), Bright Power (renewable energy), Matthews Nielsen Landscape Architects (landscaping), Longman Lindsey (acoustics), and JM Zoning (zoning).
Extell had been exploring opportunities to develop property in East Harlem for a while, according to its chairman and founder Gary Barnett. In April 2014, the company acquired the property where Harlem Headquarters will be built, located at 125th Street and Lexington Avenue, for $39 million from a partnership known as East Abyssinian Triangle.
Large floor plates within Harlem Headquarters (above) will accommodate tenant customization. Each tenant will have access to outdoor terraces (below).
ONE DOOR CLOSES, ANOTHER OPENS
Harlem Headquarters will feature 30,000 sf of ground-floor retail, and Disarno says there’s been some talk about luring a grocer as one of the tenants. A grocery would be a welcome addition to this development, which sits on a site that once encompassed a 68,000-sf Pathmark that, when it opened in 1997, was this community’s first supermarket. Hunter College’s New York Food Policy Center estimated that the Pathmark was serving 30,000 customers a week before it closed in November 2015, following the bankruptcy filing that previous July by its parent company The Great Atlantic & Pacific Tea Company, better known locally as A&P.
A site on New York’s Lower East Side where another Pathmark closed in 2012 is where Extell, in the spring of 2019, completed construction on One Manhattan Square, an 800-ft-tall, 80-story residential high rise with 815 condos designed by Meyer Davis, the studio behind Oscar de la Renta’s flagship retail boutiques.
An acre of private gardens and quiet spaces that overlook New York's East River and Manhattan Bridge is one of the amenities at One Manhattan Square, an 80-story condo high rise. Images: Evan Joseph
One Manhattan Square features one of the largest private outdoor gardens in New York City, more than one acre—45,000 sf—and designed by The Netherlands-based West 8 Urban Design and Landscape Architecture. The gardens are situated on a gradual incline that overlooks the East River and Manhattan Bridge. This amenity is further evidence of how landscape architecture and biophilia are becoming central to designs for various typologies.
Related Stories
Office Buildings | Jan 18, 2018
*UPDATED* Amazon narrows list of possible HQ2 locations down to 20 cities
The company expects to invest over $5 billion in construction and grow HQ2 to include as many as 50,000 jobs.
Office Buildings | Jan 3, 2018
Activating the workplace
Here's how active work stations impact how you think, perform, and feel.
Office Buildings | Dec 19, 2017
How do we measure human performance, and what does it mean for the workplace?
There are many new tools and methods that are beginning to look more comprehensively to evaluate organizational well-being.
Office Buildings | Dec 15, 2017
How environmental graphics can inspire culture and creativity in the workplace
Once you secure outstanding talent, how do you keep the creative juices flowing and help employees feel more connected to their company’s culture?
Office Buildings | Dec 14, 2017
San Francisco’s first WELL v1 Certified project has been completed
The space emphasizes WELL’s vital concepts of air, water, nourishment, light, fitness, comfort, and mind within the workplace.
Mixed-Use | Dec 12, 2017
A new live/work neighborhood is about to get under way in Omaha, Neb.
Walkability and recreation will be key features of West Farm.
Office Buildings | Dec 1, 2017
Telecommunications company’s remodeled headquarters makes use of its unique H shape
lauckgroup designed the new headquarters space.
Office Buildings | Nov 6, 2017
Battle for 50K: Amazon HQ2 pushes cities to rethink urban development
In using an open RFP process with a tight timeline, Amazon created a frenzied, almost hackathon-like atmosphere that it hoped would spark next-level creativity when it comes to urban redevelopment.
Adaptive Reuse | Oct 23, 2017
A tableware storage space is reset to accommodate an investment firm’s headquarters in Raleigh, N.C.
This adaptive reuse establishes more direct visual and physical connections to a growing city.
Office Buildings | Oct 20, 2017
Hybridization of the co-working experience
Exploring potential innovations for the co-working industry.