16-story sustainable office tower 555 Greenwich breaks ground in Hudson Square
Renderings courtesy of Hudson Square Properties
With tenants like Google and Disney soon moving in, Hudson Square is on its way to becoming the city’s next big business district. Joining the burgeoning campus is 555 Greenwich, a 16-story office tower designed by COOKFOX Architects that broke ground this week. Developed by Hudson Square Properties, a joint venture of Trinity Church Wall Street and Norges Bank Investment Management with Hines, 555 Greenwich is expected to be one of the most efficient buildings in New York City, projected to exceed the city’s 2030 climate goals for office towers by 45 percent.
The proposed redevelopment of King Street
The 270,000-square-foot building will contain retail on the ground floor with office space above. Several setbacks with outdoor terraces will be incorporated into the facade, which combines glass and metal on top of a masonry podium. The setbacks and proposed 10,000 square feet of outdoor space, along with floor-to-ceiling windows, will let in lots of natural light and fresh air.
As part of the design, the new tower will combine with the existing building at 345 Hudson Street, part of Google’s new headquarters in the neighborhood. When it’s completed, 555 Greenwich will connect “seamlessly” to 345 Hudson on nearly every floor, “providing users with uncommonly large floor plates,” as the project brochure describes.
Plus, the developers plan on redeveloping King Street as a place as part of a landscaped pedestrian connection between existing 375 Hudson Hudson Street, known as the Saatchi & Saatchi building, and the combined 345 Hudson and 555 Greenwich buildings.
Proposed outdoor terrace overlooking the Hudson River
According to the development team, 555 Greenwich was designed with clean energy technology to create a healthy environment for workers and minimize the impact of construction on the environment. The office tower is expected to achieve LEED Platinum certification by using sustainable mechanical and plumbing systems and state-of-the-art geothermal technology. The building is expected to reduce carbon by 46 percent and electrical consumption by 29 percent.
The office tower, the first speculative tower to break ground during the pandemic, is expected to open in the fourth quarter of 2022, according to a press release.
“555 Greenwich is an embodiment of Trinity’s stewardship and commitment to the long-term growth of the Hudson Square neighborhood,” Sujohn Sarkar, managing director of asset management at Trinity Church Wall Street, said in a statement. “The sustainable construction methods we’ve employed have far-reaching implications and provide a roadmap for sustainable practices throughout Trinity’s portfolio and beyond.”
Google is investing $1 billion in 1.7 million square feet of office space in the neighborhood, which includes property at 315 Hudson Street and 550 Washington Street, which formerly served as a freight terminal.
The conversion of the St. John’s Terminal building into an office, which began in the fall of 2019 and which topped off last November, involves a gut renovation and the addition of eight new floors. The project is expected to finish in 2022 and be occupied by 2023.
Construction is also ongoing at Disney’s massive new headquarters at 137 Varick Street, also known as 4 Hudson Square. Designed by Skidmore, Owings & Merrill, the building features two 320-foot towers that will rise in a series of setbacks with several terraces. Retail space will be on the ground floor, with offices starting on the third floor and including production space and studios for shows like “The View” and “Live With Kelly and Ryan.”
The site contains four buildings, including the property operated by music venue City Winery, which closed its doors in 2019 and reopened at Hudson River Park’s Pier 57 in Hudson River Park.
Following a rezoning of Hudson Square in 2013, new luxury condo buildings, tech companies, and media organizations started moving into the former industrial Printing District. At that time, the Trinity Church owned nearly 40 percent of the neighborhood, since Queen Anne had granted the church 215 acres of land in 1705.
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Renderings courtesy of Hudson Square Properties
