Best of 2006 Awards

General Motors Building Lobby and Plaza Renovation

AWARD OF MERIT: Adaptive Reuse

The renovation of the General Motors Building lobby and plaza transformed an overlooked corner in Midtown Manhattan into an exciting public place.

"It really took a dead space and gave it life in a very exciting and extraordinary way," one Best of 2006 judge said.

The building at 767 Fifth Ave., which stretches from Fifth to Madison avenues between East 58th and East 59th streets, has high-profile tenants, such as FAO Schwartz, the toy seller, in the retail space and GM in the multi-tenant office portion.

In spite of its prime location, the building's signature plaza on Fifth Avenue, facing landmarks such as the Plaza Hotel and Central Park, had been underused and uninspiring for many years. Macklowe Properties of New York, which bought the 1968 building from the Trump Organization and CONSECO for $1.4 billion in 2003, wanted to change that.

The $38 million, 27,000-sq.-ft. adaptive reuse effort, which began in late 2004, involved the reconstruction of the Fifth Avenue plaza, rebuilding of the Madison Avenue
podium to create new retail space, and replacement of the podium façade with a new glazed curtain wall.

The 50-story tower's high-traffic location and the daily taping of the CBS News

Early Show in the plaza required the project team to carefully coordinate logistics.

With 58th and 59th streets serving as primary traffic routes for the Queensboro Bridge, the team was not allowed to close them during the day, requiring deliveries and construction tasks to take place after normal work hours.

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Among the surprises during construction was the discovery by work crews preparing to demolish the old plaza that some columns and column foundations targeted for removal were in fine shape and could be reused.

Mother Nature added other hurdles. Natural drainage patterns made for a damp, soggy mess far below ground, where the team planned to pour concrete for the new plaza. The team devised a system of temporary water barriers to facilitate waterproofing treatments for the new concrete.

Meanwhile, a blizzard dumped more than 2 ft. of snow in February, delaying plans to lay stone in the plaza. The Fifth Avenue plaza, completed in May, now teems with life, adding a valuable, usable public space across from Central Park's southeastern corner.

Its below-grade space is now home to an Apple Computer retail store, topped at street level by a distinctive 32-ft. cube of glass.

"I think it transformed an incredibly horrible space in New York into something that's really cool," a judge added.

Key Players

Owner: Macklowe Properties

Construction Manager: Bovis Lend Lease

Architect: Moed de Armas & Shannon; Gensler

Civil Engineer: Abel Bainnson Butz

Structural Engineer: Gilsanz, Murray, Steficek

M-E-P, FP Engineer: Jaros Baum & Bolles Consulting Engineers

Structural Steel: Burgess Steel

Plumbing: Par Plumbing

Electrical: High-Tech Electrical Services

Carpentry: Commodore Construction