BPC Tower Construction to Begin

By Barry Owens


Construction is set to begin as early as November on the 45-story building that will be the future headquarters of Goldman Sachs in Battery Park City.

Rendering of proposed Goldman Sachs building, looking northeast from the World Financial Center plaza outside the Winter Garden. The west side of the building is curved to mirror the waterfront.

Representatives of Tishman Construction and Goldman Sachs told members of Community Board 1 on Oct. 11 that work would continue through 2008.

Excavation of the lot at West, Vesey and Murray Streets-Battery Park City's last remaining undeveloped commercial site-is expected to take 11 months. Building of the superstructure of the 750-foot-tall, Henry Cobb-designed tower is expected to last 14 months. Work hours will be Monday through Friday, 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Tishman will seek permits to work on Saturdays.

Noise was a concern for CB1's Battery Park City Committee, whose members noted that 30 weeks of drilling -163 holes will be drilled and then plugged with steel and concrete pilings to support the building-would coincide with student testing at nearby schools.

Tishman agreed to work around exam schedules should the noise be a problem, though it was pointed out that the drilling procedure is not half as loud as pile driving. Similar drilling methods were used for the piles at 7 World Trade Center.

Tishman will post crossing guards during construction to usher pedestrians and to guide trucks safely into the site. The development team told the committee that security will patrol the site 24 hours a day and that the construction company will have an office on-site to address community concerns.

Until recently, the property, known as Site 26, was used as a parking lot. All but three sites in Battery Park City-Sites 3, 23 and 24-have been developed or have designated developers.

The lower floors of the two-million-square-foot building will occupy the full lot and house the firm's 75,000-square-foot trading floor. One hundred and forty feet up, the building will be set back 70 feet to a more slender tower.

On the west side, across from the movie theater, the plan is for a narrow sidewalk sheltered by a glass canopy, and ground-level retail stores. On the West Street side there will be a walkway lined with planters and a double row of trees, and a lane for black cars that will run parallel to the existing bike path.

Only 15 parking spaces will be available for building employees. Black cars and public transportation are expected to shuttle the rest of the workers. Goldman Sachs intends to fill the building with 7,500 employees by 2010.

The building's architect, Henry Cobb, describes his design to the Battery Park City Committee of CB 1. Photo: Carl Glassman
The proposed Goldman Sachs headquarters will occupy the lot bordered by Vesey, Murray, and West streets and North End Avenue. This rendering of the building is a northwest view from near West Street.

This computer rendering, commissioned by Goldman Sachs, shows the company's new headquarters in the context of surrounding buildings, including the Freedom Tower to the southeast. The building can be seen in the right center of the photo, just north of the Battery Park City ballfields.