4 Times Square

4 Times Square is on the eastern side of Broadway, between 42nd Street and 43rd Street, at the southern end of Times Square in the Midtown Manhattan neighborhood of New York City, New York, U.S. The land lot is trapezoidal and covers . The site has a frontage of on Broadway and a depth of . 3, 4, and 5 Times Square and the Times Square Tower comprise a grouping of office buildings that were developed at Times Square's southern end in the late 1990s and early 2000s. The northern portion of 4 Times Square's site had been occupied by George M. Cohan's Theatre and the Fitzgerald Building before 1938, then by the Big Apple Theatre and a Nathan's Famous. The Nathan's space was originally a Toffenetti restaurant, which opened in 1940. Designed by Walker & Gillette, the Toffenetti restaurant had 1,000 seats; the Nathan's opened in the Toffenetti building in 1968. ==Architecture==

The building was designed by Fox & Fowle and developed by the Durst Organization. WSP Cantor Seinuk was the structural engineer, while Tishman Construction was the main contractor. mechanical engineer Cosentini Associates, photovoltaic contractor Kiss + Cathcart Architects, lighting contractor Fisher Marantz Renfro Stone, and cladding contractor Heitmann & Associates. The building measures to its architectural tip and to the top of the antenna mast. The main roof is only high. The design incorporates many environmentally efficient features. In particular, Fox & Fowle had been chosen for its experience designing ecologically sustainable buildings. The building's high energy usage limits the extent of the energy savings; Suzanne Stephens wrote for Architectural Record that the inclusion of such features was "a little like opening up a smoke-enders clinic on a tobacco farm". Form The building is part of the 42nd Street Development Project and, thus, could bypass many city zoning rules such as those relating to floor area ratio (FAR). Bruce Fowle of Fox & Fowle estimated that the building had a FAR of 35, while The New York Times stated that the FAR was only 31. The massing of the building contains several setbacks, which were not mandated by zoning ordinances but were included to make the building's design fit in with its setting. The 43rd story contains a glass setback with a cavetto-shaped cornice. Stephens wrote that the building contained a combination of neo-Modernist and traditional design elements. While the building is divided into a base, shaft, and pinnacle similar to older skyscrapers, the design of the facade was more varied. After the broadcast equipment atop the World Trade Center's towers was destroyed during the September 11 attacks in 2001, the main transmitters for radio stations WKTU, WNYC-FM, and WPAT-FM and the backup transmitter for WSKQ-FM were transferred to 4 Times Square. This allowed WKTU, WNYC-FM, and WPAT-FM to build main transmitters at the Empire State Building without disrupting existing FM tenants there. Below that are two antennas for VHF broadcasts: one for low-VHF broadcasts and the other for FM radio stations. In addition, the mast has been used as a backup site for FM stations such as WKTU, WNYC, WPAT, WSKQ, WHTZ, WAXQ, WWPR, WLTW, and WCAA. The arrangement was meant to fit in with the livelier character of Broadway and the more restrained character of 42nd Street and Bryant Park. This led multiple media sources to compare the facade to the two-faced god Janus. In general, the lower stories have low-reflective glass to increase transparency, while the upper stories have highly reflective glass that deflects heat. In a 1996 press release, Fox & Fowle described the character of the masonry facade as presenting "a more composed personality appropriate to the context of Midtown Manhattan". which is named One Five One after its street address of 151 West 42nd Street. The entrance originally contained glass doors and was flanked by stone blocks. The glass facade, which wraps around the west elevation and part of the south elevation, is designed to blend in with the surrounding signage. There are ten signs, which could be rented to advertisers; when the building was constructed, the signs were projected to earn $7 million per year. The signs were included as part of Robert A. M. Stern's 42nd Street Now! master plan, The 37th through 43rd stories of the south and east elevations have photovoltaic (PV) panels. These were installed in place of some of the spandrels that separate windows on different floors. The PV modules are placed on a thin glass pane that is then laminated on both sides. The PV panels were included because they were inconspicuous and only cost more than conventional spandrels. Originally, the architects had planned for of PV panels. Nasdaq MarketSite at the bottom of the Condé Nast Building at night The eight-story cylindrical facade of 4 Times Square's northwest corner, on Broadway and 43rd Street, contains Nasdaq MarketSite. The facade was part of the building's original design and was included before Nasdaq had leased the space. At street level is a three-story glass facade, which contains a view of the studio inside. Above the studio, the facade consists of a giant LED display, variously cited as measuring The display is allowed because 4 Times Square is exempt from the zoning rules regarding signs. It is thick and is interrupted by thirty square windows. The windows are arranged into five rows, which illuminate a portion of Condé Nast's space. creating a gap of about between the sign and the actual facade. the top-story signs are protected because they are in the 42nd Street Development Project. The signs were subsequently replaced by the number "4" during the mid-2000s. Since 2013, the top of the building has contained four illuminated panels with the name of clothing retailer H&M, a retail tenant at the base. Mechanical and environmental features Fuel cells The building is partially powered by two fuel cells that are capable of each. They are installed on the fourth floor. The two cells could provide 50 percent of the exterior signs' nighttime power needs but a minuscule amount of the daytime needs. As part of an agreement with Consolidated Edison (Con Ed), which operates much of New York City's power-supply system, the cells must be turned off during a power failure, such as the Northeast blackout of 2003. Fox & Fowle originally planned to include eight fuel cells, which would have been capable of generating of power annually, including all of the exterior signs' power needs. Furthermore, each cell cost $600,000. At the time, many buildings still used fossil fuels for power generation, and natural gas created much less pollution than other fossil fuels. Tenants could also independently adjust the heating and air-conditioning systems in their offices. and the previous foundations were also reused. Inside, 4 Times Square has of space. There are also security checkpoints with turnstiles. The building was designed with of retail space on the lowest three stories. When the building opened, the retail space was occupied by a three-story ESPN Zone entertainment restaurant, operated by The Walt Disney Company. The ground floor had an American grill called the Studio Grill; the second floor had the Screening Room, a sports-viewing area with television screens; and the third floor had the Sports Arena, which included a small practice facility and an arcade video game area. Since 2013, the old ESPN space has contained a three-story H&M clothing store. The space had a 72-seat auditorium, a public exhibit area, and a pair of broadcast studios below the large LED sign. An exhibit on the second floor was designed as the "MarketSite Experience", displaying items about MarketSite's history. Condé Nast cafeteria Frank Gehry designed an employee cafeteria on the fourth floor for Condé Nast. The cafeteria was Gehry's first New York City project; prior to designing the space, Gehry had had difficulty gaining any major commissions. Gehry had been friends with Condé Nast CEO Samuel Irving Newhouse Jr., who offered to hire Gehry for the interior design of Condé Nast's offices, a role that Gehry declined. When the cafeteria opened in 2000, it was directed by Sean J. Killeen and a staff of 53. The space was given several nicknames, such as "the Commissary" and "the Aquarium". The main cafeteria covered and could fit more than 250 people. Next to the main cafeteria were four smaller dining rooms The private dining rooms could fit 70. The New York Daily News said that James Truman, Condé Nast's editorial director, "spent months thinking about nothing else" during the design of the cafeteria. The cafeteria reportedly cost $30 to $35 million. Most of the seats were initially in 39 upholstered-leather booths with yellow elliptical wooden tables. Each booth is divided by angled glass partitions that measure tall, wide, and about thick and weighing apiece. The panes are held in place by metal grommets at the top and bottom. The floors were resurfaced in white oak; the leather seats and tables were replaced; and the titanium walls were covered with curving sheetrock and plaster. A set of test kitchens was turned into a reception area for an adjacent conference room. Seating capacity was increased to 300 during the renovation. When designing the building, Fox & Fowle tried to maximize the amount of space illuminated by natural light. The company's flagship magazines Vogue and Vanity Fair had their own stories, while The New Yorker had floors 20 and 21; the rest of the space had corporate offices. Along the outer edges of each story, each publication's offices were connected by an "art corridor" decorated with works of art. Only five percent of offices were directly adjacent to windows,--> == History ==

Planning The Durst family had started acquiring property on the city block bounded by Broadway, Sixth Avenue, and 42nd and 43rd Streets in 1967, when Douglas Durst's father Seymour Durst bought a building that housed White's Sea Food Restaurant. Seymour Durst planned to redevelop the area east of Times Square with office skyscrapers, but he canceled these plans in 1973 amid a declining office market. Several other failed proposals followed for the block. Four towers designed by Philip Johnson and John Burgee were to be built around 42nd Street's intersections with Broadway and Seventh Avenue; the largest of those would have been a 56-story building at the northeast corner of 42nd Street and Broadway. These towers would have been redeveloped by George Klein of Park Tower Realty, though the Prudential Insurance Company of America joined the project in 1986. Furthermore, as part of the West Midtown special zoning district created in 1982, the New York City government had allowed new buildings in Times Square to be developed with an increased floor area ratio. To ensure the area would not be darkened at nightfall, the city passed zoning regulations that encouraged developers to add large, bright signs on their buildings. The Durst Organization opposed the redevelopment for 15 years, citing concerns over the subsidies that were to be given to the developers, which in turn would decrease the value of the Dursts' buildings. Durst himself had acquired a small portion of what would be Park Tower and Prudential's office building, part of 20 lots on the same city block that he owned by February 1990. The Dursts' opposition, along with Prudential and Park Tower's inability to secure tenants for the proposed buildings, led government officials to allow Prudential and Park Tower to postpone the project in 1992. By then, Prudential had spent $300 million on condemning the sites through eminent domain. and the ESDC's zoning guidelines remained in effect. Durst proposal Seymour Durst ultimately died in mid-1995 before any building was developed on the block. Durst acquired a $215 million mortgage loan on three other buildings to fund the proposed skyscraper. After a slight delay, Prudential's board voted to sell the site to Durst in February 1996. Durst proposed a skyscraper on the expanded site. Fox & Fowle was hired to design the building; at the time, it was one of four companies that were allowed to design green buildings in New York City. This led media sources to debate whether the building was a speculative development. taking up floors 4 to 23, Condé Nast had selected 4 Times Square because of the environmentally-efficient features planned for the structure. and its construction prompted the development of other office buildings in the area. 4 Times Square and its three neighboring developments would collectively add almost of office space. All four projects were being marketed with a Times Square address, which until the early 1990s had not been popular in the city's real estate market. The project was to receive $10.7 million in tax relief and Durst was to receive a $4 million tax exemption every year. Skadden Arps's commitment was part of an increase in leasing in buildings around Times Square. By March 1997, though the building's site had not been fully excavated, 87 percent of the office space had already been leased. Rainforest Cafe tentatively agreed to lease a storefront in the street level and basement that July. Since most of the office space had been taken by Condé Nast and Skadden Arps, the Durst Organization decided to distribute CDs to promote the retail space and the signs atop the building. The promotional CD contained a photo gallery of Times Square's history, details of 4 Times Square's green-building features, and a map of planned hotels and stores nearby. The Durst Organization received a $340 million construction loan in mid-1997. The loan was issued by a syndicate of banks led by the Bank of New York. The superstructure had risen to 30 stories by the February 1998, Around that time, Nasdaq was considering leasing a marketing center and TV studio at 4 Times Square. By mid-1998, it had agreed to lease the space and add an LED sign around the cylindrical northwest corner. Disney leased three stories of retail later that year for the ESPN Zone entertainment restaurant. Several incidents occurred during construction, leading the city's tabloid newspapers to describe the construction site as "jinxed". A construction crane fell onto a building on 43rd Street in January 1998, and a piece of aluminum dropped from the northern facade that April, though no one was hurt in either incident. That June, a carpenter was crushed to death by an elevator. The most severe incident occurred on July 21, 1998, when a construction elevator fell onto the nearby Woodstock Hotel, killing an 85-year-old woman and injuring twelve other people. The surrounding area was closed to the public and many residents and businesses were displaced; the area could not be reopened until netting was installed around the collapsed scaffold. After the scaffold was disassembled, the surrounding segment of 43rd Street was reopened a month after the collapse, though Woodstock Hotel residents did not return until that October. The July 1998 construction collapse delayed construction by two months. The construction crane was being disassembled by February 1999; at the time, it was the eighth-tallest structure in Manhattan. The next month, as the building was being completed, falling debris from the construction site injured three pedestrians. Usage Opening The first Condé Nast employees began moving into the building on June 21, 1999, when almost 200 employees from Brides, House & Garden, and ''Women's Sports and Fitness'' moved to the structure. The overall reaction among Condé Nast employees was positive, though some were critical of the building; one editor would not preview the building prior to the move, while another expressed concern about the construction incidents. At the building's opening, Durst also faced two class-action lawsuits from nearby business owners as a result of the construction incidents in 1998. These were both dismissed in July 1999 because the business owners did not suffer physical damage. In addition, Nasdaq and Condé Nast had disagreed over the proposed LED sign since the beginning of 1999, leading the two companies to seek an arbitration proceeding. Condé Nast claimed that the sign would block the windows of its art department and that it protruded too far from the facade. In response, Nasdaq said the sign was within the terms of its own lease and that, in any case, Condé Nast's graphic-arts department did not need natural light. 2000s The building's fourth-floor cafe opened in April 2000 By late 2001, Nasdaq was contemplating relocating its offices (which had been damaged in the September 11 attacks) to 4 Times Square, where only of office space was vacant. Several radio stations had also been forced to move to 4 Times Square after the attacks, prompting the addition of an FM antenna for WNYC in March 2002. The Duane Reade pharmacy chain leased the remaining ground-floor space and part of the basement in mid-2002. A judge issued a restraining order preventing mortgage holder Cigna from declaring the building in default until April 2002. The restraining order was extended to May; a few minutes before the extension was set to expire, it was extended again to September. The lack of insurance led Moody's Investors Service to reduce the credit rating of the loan on 4 Times Square. Following the passage of a terror-insurance law in November 2002, Durst said he was amenable to buy a cheaper terror-insurance policy. Cigna and Durst had reached a settlement by late 2003, when the credit rating of the property loan was upgraded after Durst obtained terror insurance. The old mast was disassembled and the new mast was constructed starting in March 2003. During construction, a temporary one-bay antenna was mounted atop 4 Times Square. The equipment was completed in 2006. By then, the signs atop the building were not being used by any advertiser and contained the number "4". 2010s to present The ESPN Zone restaurant closed in June 2010 following the 2008 financial crisis. Around that time, Condé Nast signed a lease to relocate to the new One World Trade Center when that building was completed. The retail space remained vacant for over two years and, following a failed negotiation with Express, Inc., H&M agreed to lease the majority of the retail space in late 2012. H&M announced in August 2013 that it would install panels with its logo atop the building, Condé Nast moved to One World Trade Center between November 2014 and January 2015. After the relocation, preservationists expressed concern that the Condé Nast cafeteria would be destroyed, since Skadden Arps had its own cafeteria. In early 2015, the Durst Organization indicated it would preserve the cafeteria but would have to find a tenant for it. the expansion included a 10th-story event space with a terrace that would be able to accommodate 400 people. During the late 2010s, the Durst Organization renovated the building's main entrance and lobby for $140 million. the dining room was opened to all of the building's tenants. The Durst Organization also installed beehives on the building's roof to create honey for the dining room. The building's two major tenants had occupied nearly all the office space, and their departure would leave the building almost vacant. All of the old Condé Nast space had been leased by April 2019. Durst then refinanced the building with $900 million from JPMorgan Chase and Wells Fargo. The refinancing came after $650 million of commercial mortgage-backed securities, issued by UBS, had matured. The Durst Organization also planned to rebrand the building as 151 West 42nd Street. receiving $146 million from the transaction. ==Tenants==

Most of the space at 4 Times Square was occupied by Condé Nast and Skadden Arps prior to 2015. Afterward, their former spaces have been occupied by a variety of companies: • SS&C Technologies, a financial technology company, signed for in January 2016. The company added in 2019, taking up all of floors 5, 6, and 7. • Fross Zelnick Lehrman & Zissu, a law firm, leased on one full floor in September 2016. • RSM US, an accounting firm, signed a lease to take the entirety of floors 10 and 11, as well as part of floor 12, in January 2017. • HedgeServ Corporation, a financial technology firm, signed for on floor 8 in August 2017. • National Cable Communications signed for on floor 11 and part of floor 12 in January 2019. • Analysis Group, an economic consulting firm, leased on floor 23 and part of floor 22 in January 2019. • Nasdaq leased for its headquarters in February 2018, then expanded to in May 2019 by leasing the entirety of floor 28. • Vevo, a video hosting service, leased on floor 25 in June 2019. • Vidaris, a consulting firm, leased on floor 24 in July 2021. • Mitsubishi International, a conglomerate, leased on floors 34 and 35 in July 2021. • Venable LLP, a law firm, leased on floors 48 to 52, as well as on a concourse, in October 2021. • Varagon Capital Partners, an asset management firm, leased in March 2022. • Chicago Trading Company leased in July 2022, occupying the last full-floor spaces available. == Critical reception ==

When construction of 4 Times Square began in 1996, Paul Goldberger wrote for The New York Times, "While the building is far from modest in size, [Fox & Fowle's design] is significantly improved from the original plans by Philip Johnson and John Burgee." For the same newspaper, Herbert Muschamp wrote that the building "is not monstrously out of scale" with other contemporary developments. After the building was completed, Suzanne Stephens wrote that the decorative elements on the glass facades "seem unnecessary" from a purist point of view, though she added that decorative features in the Empire State Building and Chrysler Building were similarly criticized upon their respective completions. Muschamp said of the different facades of the building: "it wants to be at once a background building and a foreground building, both star and chorus". The Nasdaq MarketSite facade on Broadway and 43rd Street was also critiqued; Jacobs described it as a "glowing 140-foot-high soda can". Muschamp said the cylindrical facade would "make a dandy giant soda can, film spool, aerosol spray, or a current issue of House and Garden". ==See also==