660 Fifth Avenue

660 Fifth Avenue is in the Midtown Manhattan neighborhood of New York City, United States. It faces Fifth Avenue to the east, 52nd Street to the south, and 53rd Street to the north. The land lot is mostly rectangular and covers , with a frontage of on Fifth Avenue and a depth of . The 53rd Street frontage measures while the 52nd Street frontage measures . The building is on the same block as the CBS Building, 31 West 52nd Street, The building is assigned its own ZIP Code, 10103; it was one of 41 buildings in Manhattan that had their own ZIP Codes . Upscale residences were constructed around Fifth Avenue following the American Civil War. The lot at 660 Fifth Avenue had previously held the William K. Vanderbilt House, an 1882 châteauesque mansion designed by Richard Morris Hunt for William Kissam Vanderbilt. The mansion had been demolished in 1926 and replaced with a 12-story office building by developer Benjamin Winter. The current office building at 660 Fifth Avenue replaced nine structures, including William K. Vanderbilt II's mansion and Winter's office building. The other structures included some brownstones and a pair of six-story commercial buildings. The site was also occupied by a parking lot just prior to the current building's development. == Architecture ==

660 Fifth Avenue, originally the Tishman Building at 666 Fifth Avenue, was designed by Carson and Lundin and built by its developer, Tishman Realty & Construction. It is one of the remaining office skyscrapers that the firm designed in the mid-20th century in Manhattan. The building is tall and was designed with 39 stories. Other contractors involved in the building's construction were structural engineer Victor Mayper, mechanical engineers Cosentini Associates, and electrical consultants Eitingon & Schlossberg. Facade Original facade The Tishman Building originally had an aluminum curtain wall covering . Described in The New York Times as the world's largest aluminum curtain wall, it consisted of nearly 3,000 spandrel panels, which were installed between windows on different stories. Each panel measured about and weighed . The panels were anodized These panels were mounted on the facade from the inside and then bolted to pieces of steel that had been welded to the superstructure. The effect was meant to resemble medieval armor. Part of the ground-story facade along Fifth Avenue was replaced in 1999 with a glass wall to make the retail space more visible. The vertical aluminum mullions contained embedded pieces of porcelain enamel and white structural glass. The window widths varied from . It was so bright that, from September to November 1959, the system was completely darkened to prevent interference with bird migration. In 2002, the 666 address on the side of the building was replaced with a Citigroup logo after Citigroup became the building's largest tenant. Although similar signage normally would not be allowed in Manhattan, the signage was permitted under a grandfather clause since the original 666 signage was erected before the ban was enacted. While some groups such as the Municipal Art Society took no issue with the signage change, preservationists including Stern condemned it as flaunting and ahistorical. The new facade consists of windows extending the full height of each story, measuring tall and wide. These panels would not contain any mullions. Each panel is cut from a single pane of glass. The glass panels would contain insulation, as opposed to the original facade, which was not insulated. The new facade would also triple the amount of window space at 660 Fifth Avenue. According to owner Brookfield Properties, these would be the "largest unitized windows in North America". The renovation also includes terraces on the three sides facing the surrounding roads. Also included in the construction was of concrete. 660 Fifth Avenue was initially retrofitted with a electric refrigeration plant in the sub-cellar, providing cool air to the ground-level stores, and a steam-turbine refrigeration plant on the roof, serving all other floors. The refrigeration plants were described by The New York Times as having a similar cooling capacity to sixty thousand ice blocks weighing each. In addition, there was a 70-space parking lot in the basement, accessible by an elevator on 53rd Street. A new air-supply system was installed in the early 2020s. When the building was constructed in the 1950s, it had 20 passenger elevators and two freight elevators manufactured by Westinghouse Electric Corporation. The passenger elevators were arranged in three banks and the freight elevators had their own bank. The elevators were controlled electronically, a relatively new technology at the time of construction, and the cabs had light sensors that signaled the doors to close as the last passenger entered or left a cab. The building also had of electrical wiring when it was completed. Atrium and lobby Originally, 660 Fifth Avenue had a T-shaped atrium that opened directly to 52nd Street, 53rd Street, and Fifth Avenue, with glass storefronts inside. The atrium contained a north–south passageway between 52nd and 53rd Streets, which was west of the Fifth Avenue facade and measured wide. In addition, two west–east passageways connected that hallway with Fifth Avenue. The storefronts surrounded the atrium and an additional storefront was between the parallel Fifth Avenue passageways (see ). The atrium, as well as the surrounding sidewalks, were paved with blocks colored in a buff hue. when revolving doors were installed at its entrances. The Fifth Avenue passageways were eliminated in 2000 and became a storefront. 660 Fifth Avenue's original lobby was west of the section of the atrium extending from Fifth Avenue. It measured deep and varied in width from on the eastern wall to on the western walls. Wood paneling was installed in 1998, concealing or replacing the red marble wall surfaces, and the floor surface was replaced with a monochrome granite pattern. The ceiling was originally decorated with a set of horizontal "fins" finished in baked enamel. This artwork was proposed to be removed in 1999 but was ultimately retained. and the work was ultimately disassembled the same year. The building contains an entrance to the New York City Subway's Fifth Avenue/53rd Street station, which is served by the . The entrance initially led to the atrium. During a renovation in 1999, the subway entrance was relocated so it could be accessed directly from 53rd Street. The facade had been designed so the office space could be partitioned into sections with a minimum width of . The restaurant was the first of its kind in Manhattan to open since the Rainbow Room had opened at 30 Rockefeller Plaza in 1934. Top of the Sixes closed in 1996. It was replaced with the Grand Havana Room, a cigar bar private club. The Grand Havana Room was the site of an August 2, 2016, meeting between Paul Manafort, Rick Gates, and Russian-Ukrainian Konstantin Kilimnik. The meeting drew the attention of the Mueller investigation due to Manafort giving Kilimnik polling data at the meeting and asking Kilimnik to pass the data to pro-Russian Ukrainians Serhiy Lyovochkin and Rinat Akhmetov. ==History==

Planning and construction The west side of Fifth Avenue between 52nd and 53rd Streets was initially acquired by department store chain Lord & Taylor in 1945. Starrett & van Vleck would have developed a new Lord & Taylor flagship store on the site, replacing an existing structure at Fifth Avenue and 38th Street. At the time, the existing store did not have enough space for Lord & Taylor's operations, and the company planned to build a skyscraper with a new flagship at the first ten stories. By 1948, there were rumors that Lord & Taylor had abandoned their plans to erect a new flagship, but the company denied the allegations. Dorothy Shaver, president of the store, ultimately canceled the plan in 1952, citing an "abnormally high cost of building and equipping a large store" within Manhattan. Early plans Tishman Realty and Construction acquired the Lord & Taylor site between 52nd and 53rd Streets in November 1954. Tishman reportedly paid $9 million for the site, measuring . The company planned to erect a building of at least 34 stories and at least of space. The Tishman family originally wanted a limestone structure that imitated the design of the buildings at the nearby Rockefeller Center. Carson & Lundin were hired as architects the following month. The architects were simultaneously working on 600 Fifth Avenue at Rockefeller Center. Also included in initial plans was a public arcade between 52nd and 53rd Streets, running west of Fifth Avenue, which would not only draw retail traffic but also allow a public pedestrian shortcut. The arcade would contain an entrance to the Fifth Avenue/53rd Street subway station as well as a connection to Rockefeller Center's underground concourse via 75 Rockefeller Plaza. Carson & Lundin filed plans with the New York City Department of Buildings in June 1955, with the building expected to cost $18 million. Final plans and construction The plans were changed in November 1955 after Tishman acquired the air rights over the adjoining Donnell Library at 53rd Street. Isamu Noguchi was hired to design the lobby in January 1956. At the time, the building was scheduled to be completed in May 1957. Demolition of the last structure on the site commenced in April 1956. Tishman Realty & Construction arranged a $32 million construction loan that May with a consortium of banks led by the Irving Trust Company. Simultaneously, Prudential Financial agreed to purchase the building for $35 million and give Tishman an 88-year leaseback on the property. The last old structure was being demolished and the completion date had been pushed to September 1957. The plans had been changed to provide for an aluminum facade. The first columns of the steel framework were installed in September 1956. The construction attracted a substantial amount of interest. Steelworker Larry Weinmann, a former cartoonist, put cartoon decorations and depictions of the completed building onto the construction fence, and boxes of geraniums with notes of appreciation were placed outside the worksite in 1956. In addition, the building was decorated with a papier-mâché Santa Claus during Christmas 1956, and Easter decorations were placed on the worksite during Easter 1957. The Tishman Building officially opened on November 25, 1957, in a ceremony led by Robert F. Wagner Jr., the mayor of New York City. The building had cost $40 million. The Tishman Building won the Fifth Avenue Association's award for best new commercial building erected on the avenue during 1956 and 1957. The association praised the building's simple form, embossed facade spandrels, steel mullions, and exterior lighting system. Late 20th century 1960s to 1980s 666 Fifth Avenue was relatively unchanged until the mid-1970s, when Tishman Realty was being liquidated and converted into a partnership. The company was described by its president Robert Tishman as having a "negative net worth", and all of its properties had to be sold as a result. That October, the Equitable Life Assurance Society and Tishman agreed in principle that Tishman would sell off most of its office buildings, though Tishman would retain a 48 percent interest in 666 Fifth Avenue and a partial interest in several other buildings. Tishman dissolved in 1976 and the building was sold for $80 million (about $ million in ). In 1986, Integrated Resources Inc. bought the building for $320 million, although the sale excluded the underlying land. Integrated received a $20 million discount on the purchase price for asbestos abatement, part of which was used to remove asbestos from the boiler room. The company planned to finance the building using mostly zero-coupon bonds to account for the fact that, until rent increases were enacted, the building would receive a negative net income. In June 1987, a subsidiary of Japanese realty and development company Sumitomo Realty & Development purchased 666 Fifth Avenue and its underlying land from Integrated for $500 million. At the time, it was believed to be the second most expensive office-building sale in Manhattan history, behind that of 1251 Avenue of the Americas the previous year for $610 million. The sale was finalized in August 1987. 1990s and early 2000s The Top of the Sixes restaurant was closed in 1996, following the expiration of its lease, This was followed in 1998 by the renovation of the building's lobby and lower floors, which included reconfiguring storefronts to accommodate large tenants on multiple levels. Sumitomo planned to remove the Noguchi artwork, prompting protests from preservationists. The firm ultimately spent $1 million to renovate the ceiling installation and another $300,000 to restore the fountain. The subway entrance was also relocated, TMW owned an 80 percent stake while Tishman owned the remaining 20 percent. Tishman Speyer conducted another renovation of the newly refurbished ground floor. The Fifth Avenue entrance was closed and converted into a storefront, and a new lobby was installed at the relocated main entrance on 53rd Street. The Noguchi artwork was also renovated, having suffered from algae accumulation. By June 2003, Credit Suisse First Boston and German firm Commerzleasing und Immobilien were being considered as finalists to acquire 666 Fifth Avenue. The German company agreed to buy TMW's 80 percent ownership stake; this offer valued the building at $725 million. In 2004, Tishman Speyer obtained a $562.5 million, five-year commercial mortgage-backed security (CMBS) senior loan from Lehman Brothers and UBS, which was split into three pari passu notes. The interest-only loan also included a $45 million junior loan in the form of mezzanine capital. At the time, an appraisal valued the property at $730 million since the building was 96.4 percent occupied and generating net cash flows of over $52 million a year. After Charles Kushner was jailed in 2005, his son Jared took over the family company, moving the headquarters from Florham Park, New Jersey, to 666 Fifth Avenue. The building had no official offer price and was never officially marketed for sale, with Rob Speyer calling potential buyers personally. Kushner also received $535 million in mezzanine financing, split into a $335 million senior tranche and a $200 million junior tranche. Kushner obtained an appraisal valuing the property at nearly $3 billion, leading real estate magazine The Real Deal to report that the gap between the appraised valuation and the purchase price was unusually large. The buyers financed the purchase with a $300 million mortgage from Barclays and a $135 million mezzanine loan from SL Green Realty, a real estate investment trust. This allowed Kushner to repay the senior mezzanine loan. By 2010, an appraisal valued the building at just $820 million, less than half what Kushner Companies had paid three years earlier. That April, the Carlyle-led group put some retail space for sale with an asking price of between $600 and $700 million. Zara owner Inditex purchased of retail space for $324 million, a record deal for a U.S. retail property. Carlyle used the profits from the sale to pay off the Barclays loan and the SL Green mezzanine loan. The firm also refinanced the remaining retail space with a $300 million loan from Morgan Stanley. Kushner also agreed to invest another $30 million for leasing the building's vacant space, which comprised 30 percent of the floor area, and rework it to suit tenant needs. The lenders of the $1.22 billion mortgage agreed to reduce the loan balance to $1.1 billion with the remainder placed into a "hope note" that would be repaid when the building's vacancy was reduced. The debt's maturity was pushed to 2019, and the interest rate was reduced. after Kushner complained Barrack was pressuring him about the debt. The Kushner Companies had also contacted the family of Israeli businessman Beny Steinmetz to ask them to invest in the property. From 2014 through 2016, Kushner Companies reportedly held talks with Hamad bin Jassim bin Jaber Al Thani, the Prime Minister of Qatar, as another potential investor. Barrack claimed to have arranged the meetings and said a tentative deal for a $500 million equity investment fell apart after Donald Trump won the 2016 United States presidential election. The building was 70 percent leased, while the average Manhattan office building was 91 percent leased. Anbang talks and proposed replacement In July 2016, Kushner Companies began discussing with the Anbang Insurance Group of China about a potential investment. That November, Anbang's chairman and CEO Wu Xiaohui held a private dinner with Jared Kushner, Charles Kushner, and Laurent Morali at the Waldorf Astoria New York. The meeting came just one week after the 2016 U.S. presidential election, Benjamin Lawsky reportedly introduced Kushner and Wu. According to Chinese corruption expert Minxin Pei, Wu may have wanted political favors from the U.S. government. Anbang and Kushner planned to receive a loan of over $4 billion, as well as $850 million in EB-5 visa program financing. The upper floors would be converted to luxury condominiums, while the Kushners would invest $750 million in the retail space, ending up with a 20 percent stake in the project. The expected final valuation of $7.2 billion would make it the most valuable single property in Manhattan and New York City. Some of the alleged terms of the deal were called "unusually favorable", including an exit for Vornado Realty Trust and retirement of the Kushner organization's remaining debt. The politicians also highlighted Wu's connections to the Chinese Communist Party, as well as those of Chen Xiaolu, another prominent Anbang owner. The failure of the Anbang agreement prompted Zaha Hadid Architects to design a $12 billion, skyscraper on the site, which would have been the world's third most expensive building. Kushner would have reduced the skyscraper to its steel frame and added forty stories. To raise money for the tower, Charles Kushner met with Qatari Finance Minister Ali Sharif Al Emadi in April 2017. The meeting came roughly one month before the Qatar diplomatic crisis began; Jared Kushner reportedly sided with Saudi crown prince Mohammad bin Salman against Rex Tillerson, the U.S. Secretary of State. Kushner Companies denied the allegations that they met with Qatari government officials, Kushner's inability to bring on equity partners or lenders resulted in the cancellation of Hadid's skyscraper. The building's valuation decreased more than $25 million during 2017 after the senior mortgage's interest rate increased from 5.5 percent to 6.353 percent. At the end of 2017, several lawmakers sent a letter to Kushner Companies inquiring whether the company sought money from foreign governments to refinance the property. Due to the large amount of debt owed on the tower, Vornado Realty Trust announced it would sell its 49.5 percent stake in February 2018, and Kushner agreed to buy the stake for $120 million. Brookfield Properties ownership Purchase and renovation In August 2018, Brookfield Properties signed a 99-year lease for the property, with the Kushner family retaining the land. Brookfield paid $1.286 billion for the property, which allowed the senior mortgage to be paid off in full, although the $300 million "hope note" was written-off entirely. The company planned to invest more than $600 million to overhaul the building with a new lobby, facade, and mechanical systems. The purchase attracted controversy since the Qatar Investment Authority (QIA) owned a 9 percent stake in Brookfield Property Partners. A spokesperson for the QIA denied any interest in 666 Fifth Avenue, In February 2019, ING Bank loaned Brookfield Properties $750 million for renovations, and Apollo Global Management also reportedly provided a $300 million mezzanine loan. That April, Vornado sold a 48 percent stake in their retail portfolio, including the retail condominium at 666 Fifth Avenue, to the QIA and Crown Acquisitions. In October 2019, Brookfield announced that a $400 million renovation would commence in late 2020 after the remaining tenants' leases expired. The building would be renamed 660 Fifth Avenue. Kohn Pedersen Fox planned to remove many of the building's interior columns, add double-high ceilings, add four exterior terraces, and replace the building's aluminum cladding with floor-to-ceiling windows. Upon completion of the renovations in 2023, Brookfield expected to achieve rents of over , some of the most expensive office rents in New York City. The following month, Brookfield paid Kadima Realty Associates $8.5 million to terminate their lease early. By June 2020, Brookfield had spent $22.7 million year-to-date to buy out five tenants' leases. Exterior recladding of 660 Fifth Avenue began in February 2021, and the building was renamed that month. One journalist referred to the change of address as "eliminating the Mark of the Real-Estate Beast", and observed that the old address and curtain wall had been among the "last nongeneric aspects of the building". The lower stories and some of the upper stories had been re-clad by January 2022, and only the top seven stories remained to be clad by that April. The new curtain wall had been completed to the roof by July 2022, and the new facade was completed by January 2023. New tenants In May 2022, asset manager Macquarie Group became the first company to lease space in the renovated building, taking six stories; other tenants included 400 Capital Management, which took one story. Uniqlo bought its storefront at 660 Fifth Avenue in August 2024, paying between $340 million and $350 million. The last remaining vacant space was leased to Scotiabank in September 2025. The Wall Street Journal referred to the renovation as an "improbable comeback" for 660 Fifth Avenue, contrasting with the political controversies and precarious financial situation that the building had experienced during the 2010s. ==Tenants==

Office tenants Before the building opened, it was 80 percent leased to office tenants. Initial tenants included conglomerate Foster Wheeler, entertainment company Warner Bros., personal care companies Revlon and Helene Curtis Industries, advertisers Benton & Bowles and Ted Bates & Co, Numerous design firms were hired to customize the offices for tenants; for example, the Warner offices required a two-story theater for 100 people, while Foster Wheeler's engineering personnel were given interchangeable offices. and lingerie firm Bali Company leased space in 666 Fifth Avenue. Financial services provider Mutual of America moved its headquarters into at 666 Fifth Avenue in 1976. The computer-service company Donovan Data Systems, time-share firm Keydata Corporation, theater chain Loews Cineplex Entertainment, and brokers Shearson all leased space in the building in 1979. Oil firm AGIP Petroleum also had space at 666 Fifth Avenue in the 1990s. Several law firms have occupied the building: • Akerman LLP leased on the 19th and 20th floors of the building. In 2019, Akerman announced plans to move out. • Norton Rose Fulbright occupied the building until 2015. • Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe signed a lease for on the 17th through 20th floors in March 1995. Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe left in 2009. • Schiff Hardin signed a lease for on the 16th and 17th floors in November 2010. • Vinson & Elkins renewed and expanded their lease for in 2010. Numerous financial firms have also occupied 660 Fifth Avenue: • The hedge fund Citadel LLC leased in the building in 2024. • Citigroup occupied six floors totaling in the building in 2002. • Colliers International leased on the fourth floor in October 2013. • Mutual of America occupied in the building until 1991. • Millennium Management, LLC, a hedge fund run by Israel Englander, occupied in the building until the end of 2020. • William Blair & Company, an investment bank, occupied until 2018. Some publishers have had offices at 660 Fifth Avenue, including: • Bantam Books occupied on the 24th and 25th floors starting in 1968. It then became part of Bertelsmann's American publishing subsidiary Doubleday, which moved out during 1992. • The headquarters for DC Comics was located at 666 Fifth Avenue before it moved to 1700 Broadway by the 1990s. Retail tenants Initially, Marine Midland Bank operated a branch on the ground floor. Italian airline Alitalia had an office and reservation center on the ground floor, designed by Gio Ponti. By the late 20th century, Ted Lapidus also occupied one of the retail spaces. In November 1997, the National Basketball Association announced plans to open their first-ever store in the southern retail space. The NBA Store was designed by the Phillips Group and took up on the basement through second floors. The NBA Store, which opened in 1998, had a spiraling wooden ramp, a half-sized basketball court, and a basketball-hoop-shaped light fixture, all within a opening measuring high. Brooks Brothers opened a store in the northern retail space in 1998, signing a 15-year lease for at a rent of $5 million per year after Nautica backed out of the space. The Brooks Brothers store had a glass exterior, as well as a selling floor with limestone stairs to the second floor. Around 2000, Hickey Freeman moved into the building, with a new store designed by Robert A. M. Stern, installed within the former Fifth Avenue entrance. to end their lease six years early. The next year, owners also paid the bankrupt Hickey Freeman $11.96 million to vacate seven years early. NBA also moved out of the building in 2010 due to high rent. In 2011, Japanese retailer Uniqlo signed a 15-year, $300 million lease for of space at the base of the building, beating out other potential lessees including Topshop, Nordstrom Rack, and AllSaints. The three-story store, Uniqlo's second in the United States and the largest non-department store retail space on Fifth Avenue, opened in October 2011. Uniqlo's space takes up the ground, second, and third floors. The new Hollister Co. Epic New York flagship moved in during 2010. The storefronts of the Hollister flagship were fitted with a live video feed from Huntington Beach, California, displayed along with wave pools on 179 flat-screen TVs. Swatch signed a 15-year lease in February 2011, valued at $80 million, for the last of retail space in the building. ==In media==

The 1959 documentary film Skyscraper chronicled the construction of 666 Fifth Avenue. The film's director Shirley Clarke described it as a "musical comedy about the building of a skyscraper". Widely praised upon its release, Skyscraper was nominated for an Academy Award in 1960. In her widely read 1964 essay Notes on "Camp", cultural critic Susan Sontag wrote that the building illustrated the difference between kitsch and camp, saying: "Camp taste nourishes itself on the love that has gone into certain objects and personal styles. The absence of this love is the reason why such kitsch items as... the Tishman Building aren't Camp." The Top of the Sixes was also featured in media. The 1990 novel Good Omens includes a scene where Famine (Dr. Raven Sable) is having drinks at the Top of the Sixes. The opening lunch scene for the movie The Wolf of Wall Street was filmed there as well. ==References==