The building was built for the
New York Telephone Company and was completed in 1975. The building originally appeared windowless but had several (some with glass) running up the building. As it approached completion,
The New York Times architecture critic
Paul Goldberger decried it as the "most disturbing" of the phone company's new switching centers because it "overwhelms the Brooklyn Bridge towers, thrusts a residential neighborhood into shadow and sets a tone of utter banality." In the 1990s and 2000s,
Verizon switching operations included a small
DMS-100 telephone exchange and a
Switching Control Center System. The building's
CLLI code, its identification in the telecommunications industry, was NYCMNYPS. The Pearl Street CS2K
softswitch was the recipient of voice traffic from decommissioned legacy switches in the city.
2000s Prior to 2002, the building featured the logo of New York Telephone and Bell Atlantic; that year, the sign was replaced with the logo of Verizon. In September 2007 it was announced that
Taconic Investment Partners had purchased the building from
Verizon, which leased back floors 8 through 10. Taconic bought the 1.098-million-square-foot building () for $172.05 million, which amounted to $185 a foot when property was selling in Manhattan for $500 a foot. Other appeals of the building were its 16- to ceilings and
floor plans as well as the naming rights. Sabey had initially intended to partner with YoungWoo & Associates but instead hired National Real Estate Advisors as its development partner. John Sabey, president of the company, said Intergate.Manhattan would appeal to "new scientific, academic and medical research centers" in addition to data center tenants. In 2012,
The Daily Telegraph ranked 375 Pearl Street as the 20th "ugliest building in the world". Starting in 2016, the building was renovated. The limestone walls on the top 15 stories were removed and replaced with plate glass panels to improve the building's aesthetics and attract traditional office tenants. Leasing of the office stories had started in January 2016. Sabey placed the 15th through 30th stories for sale in 2018 for over $300 million. The space was instead leased to tenants like the
New York City Police Department and
Rafael Viñoly Architects. Viñoly Architects bought the floors that it occupied in July 2020. Sabey and National Real Estate Advisors refinanced the building in June 2021.
Wells Fargo and
JPMorgan Chase gave the owners a $220 million fixed-rate loan as well as a $30 million mezzanine loan. ==Tenants==