New York’s most viewed building is getting a facelift

Jamestown is planning a renovation of 1 Times Square

1 Times Square
1 Times Square

Jamestown is planning to redevelop the most viewed building in the world.

The tower 1 Times Square, which becomes the center of attention every New Year’s Eve thanks to the famous ball drop, will be getting new signage and perhaps some tenants down the line, Crain’s reported.

Jamestown plans to install 32,000 square feet of new signage at the property, including a 350-foot-tall digital sign on the north façade. Already, the landlord was charging top dollar for the billboards. The property generates roughly $23 million in advertising dollars annually, according to financial documents from a few years ago.

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The company is also looking into leasing the building to a new tenant and constructing an observatory where guests could enjoy the New Year’s Eve celebrations. The landlord has exercised an option with Walgreens, the property’s longtime retail tenant, that will let it reduce its size or end its hold on the space.

A combination of advertising income and rent from Walgreens brought the building’s appraised value to nearly $495 million, according to loan documents from 2012.

Jamestown also wants to be able to lease the building’s upper floors, which is currently impossible given that billboards block sunlight from getting into its windows. The company plans to upgrade its subway station access and install exterior elevators as well. [Crain’s] – Eddie Small