Fully Reimagined Office Tower Planned at 285 Madison Avenue

RFR today unveiled plans for a fully reimagined office tower at 285 Madison Avenue, its 530,000-square-foot pre-war office building located one block from Grand Central Station in the heart of Midtown Manhattan.

The firm is currently repositioning the building through a $65-million capital improvement campaign to create high-quality, efficient, contemporary office space and up to a 40,000-square-foot retail opportunity, while also respective of the structure’s rich architectural history.

“A pillar of the celebrated New York advertising landscape for 87 years, 285 Madison is being transformed into a contemporary building that pairs work and recreation,” said Aby Rosen, Co-Founder and Principal of RFR Holding LLC. “It is a bridge between work and leisure, Grand Central and Bryant Park and Midtown and Midtown South. 285 Madison boasts a crafted amenity-rich package that rivals the finest New York residential buildings and luxury hotels, providing the ideal work/play environment to the dedicated employees of our tenants.”

“The transformation at 285 Madison Avenue is truly extraordinary,” said CBRE’s Mary Ann Tighe, CEO of the firm’s New York Tri-State Region, who, along with Stephen Eynon, Evan Haskell and Gregory Tosko, will be responsible for leasing the property. “The building will serve as a strategic hub of the new Midtown, with the convenience of Grand Central and Bryant Park. We are proud to work with RFR to achieve the full potential of this property, and we are confident that 285 Madison will promote a creative and comfortable work/life balance for its future tenants.”

Designed by STUDIOS Architecture and engineered as a model of 21st-century work/life balance, the signature office building supports both conventional and creative enterprises, with large windows flexible floorplans that allow for innovative use of workspaces as well as thoughtful amenities such as bike storage and maintenance, a private tenant lounge, meeting rooms, event space, a Grab and Go Cafe and kitchen, a vibrant activity space with Ping-Pong and billiards, and a fitness facility with showers and lockers. Select floors also offer open-air terraces as a further amenity. In addition, the ground floor will feature a prestigious dining establishment that boasts double-height ceilings, a mezzanine level private dining room as well as an open kitchen. 285 Madison Avenue also gives tenants the rare luxury of a landscaped outdoor roof space.

Building infrastructure is also state-of-the-art, with new elevator machinery and cabs. To support tenants with system reliability and efficiency, the fiber-optic internet service includes backup generators for servers. 285 Madison Avenue is being redesigned and reconstructed as a green building, and will earn LEED Silver certification. Strategies employed to achieve this designation include daylighting; reusing as much as 95 percent of the existing walls, floors and roof materials; and diverting at least 75 percent of all construction waste from landfill to be recycled. The building uses high-efficiency HVAC equipment and lighting to lower utility costs and reduce the carbon footprint.

Since opening its New York office in 1991, RFR has built a world-class portfolio of commercial and residential real estate, including many of New York’s signature office towers, ultra-luxury condominiums, hotels and high-end retail developments, which seamlessly merge art and architecture in an urban landscape. The art program at 285 Madison Avenue will feature museum-quality art, adding distinction to an already exceptional building.