Recently, we had the opportunity to tour the redevelopment of 70 Pine, a landmarked Art Deco skyscraper in Lower Manhattan that is nearing completion on a three-year conversion from office to luxury rental (and extended stay hotel) by Rose Associates. Built in 1932, the 66-story building was originally the headquarters for the Citi Services Building. At 952 feet, 70 Pine is the eight tallest building in New York City. The gorgeous lobby of the 66-story building, an interior landmark, has been closed off to the public since 1976, when the building was purchased by AIG.
Leasing has already begun on an initial offering of 89 apartment units, with three model units available to visit, and we’ll be covering the exciting things coming to the 70 Pine lobby, which will be publicly accessible, apartments, and lower level retail in our next feature. For now, here is our exploration to the upper level glass observatories, which will be converted into a restaurant and lounge, and the building’s spire.
The limestone building was built in the setback style, a requirement of the New York City zoning law before 1961, with aluminum detailing at the very top and along the numerous public and private terraces. The observatory, as of the 1939 WPA Guidebook was accessible as a public amenity, but by 1966 was no longer listed as such in an updated guide. The Museum of the City of New York has some wonderful vintage photographs of the observatory on the 66th floor, as well as the rest of the building in its heyday.
We can’t share photos of the observatory space yet, as the area is still under renovation but we did climb up the hatch you see in the above vintage photograph to get into the bowels of the spire and onto the small landing of the spire.
View looking down at the lower terraces from the top of 70 Pine
View of Manhattan and buildings like the Woolworth Building and New York by Gehry from top landing
View of Statue of Liberty, Ellis Island, and lower Manhattan from top landing
View of 1 WTC and New Jersey from top landing
The aluminum antenna of 70 Pine
Heading back down
Interior of the spire
Looking down to get down to the observatory
Here’s a preview photo from the landmarked lobby from our feature piece, the Top 10 Secrets of 70 Pine, NYC’s Art Deco Skyscraper:
Next, check out the Top 10 Secrets of 70 Pine, Top 10 Secrets of the Woolworth Building and our previous exploration to the spire of the El Dorado Apartments. Get in touch with the author @untappedmich.
