17 State Street
17 State Street
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17 State Street

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17 State Street

17 State Street is a 42-story office building along State Street and Battery Park in the Financial District of Lower Manhattan in New York City. Completed in 1988, it was designed by Roy Gee for Emery Roth and Sons for developers William Kaufman Organization and JMB Realty. The building is shaped like a quarter round, with a curved glass facade facing New York Harbor. At ground level, large aluminum columns surround a lobby and elevator hall. Next to the lobby was a public exhibition space called "New York Unearthed", which was operated by the South Street Seaport Museum from 1990 to 2005. The building has a total floor area of 525,000 ft2 (48,800 m2); each story was designed for small tenants.

The building, a speculative development, replaced the 23-story headquarters of the Seamen's Church Institute of New York and New Jersey, which had been completed by 1969. Construction of the current skyscraper started in 1985, and the building was nearly empty when it was completed three years later. The exhibition space at the building's base was constructed following a controversy over the destruction of potential artifacts on the site. The Teachers Insurance and Annuity Association of America bought 17 State Street in 1989 and sold it to Steve Witkoff in 1998. RFR Holding has owned the building since 1999.

17 State Street is in the Financial District of Lower Manhattan in New York City. The land lot covers the western end of a city block bounded by State Street to the west and south, Pearl Street to the north, and Whitehall Street to the east. The irregularly shaped site covers 23,080 ft2 (2,144 m2), with a frontage of 227.83 ft (69.44 m) on State Street and a depth of 203.09 ft (61.90 m). On the same block, to the east, are the Shrine of St. Elizabeth Ann Bayley Seton, as well as the shrine's rectory, located within the James Watson House. Other nearby places include Battery Park to the west, the Staten Island Ferry Whitehall Terminal on Peter Minuit Plaza to the south, 2 New York Plaza to the southeast, and 1 New York Plaza to the east. Due to its location near the southern tip of Manhattan Island, the building is visible from a distance.

Prior to the expansion of Lower Manhattan in the 18th and 19th centuries, the site of 17 State Street was directly along the shore line of New York Harbor. By 1660, the site was part of the Dutch colony of New Amsterdam, and there were 15 structures on the block, including nine on the current skyscraper's site. The site contained the homes of two Dutch and two English families, and the family of Jewish settler Abraham Isaacs lived on the site in the 18th century. The original houses on the site were redeveloped with four- and five-story apartments in the mid-19th century. The 11-story Chesebrough Building was built on the northwestern corner of the block in 1898.

The Seamen's Church Institute of New York and New Jersey had announced plans for a tower on the site in 1966, replacing the Chesebrough Building. The 23-story structure replaced the institute's previous headquarters, which had been demolished to make way for 55 Water Street. Eggers & Higgins designed the Seamen's Church Institute Building, a red-brick structure that opened in 1968 or 1969. The structure had classrooms and other training facilities on its lowest five floors, while the upper 18 stories included 260 rooms for sailors who lived there. Because of a decline in the shipping industry shortly after the institute's headquarters was completed, the edifice was never profitable. The institute's building was demolished 16 years after its completion.

17 State Street was designed by Roy Gee of the firm of Emery Roth and Sons. It was developed by Melvyn Kaufman of the William Kaufman Organization, along with JMB Realty. The building is 542 ft (165 m) tall and is variously cited as containing 41, 42, or 43 stories. 17 State Street's design was relatively conventional, contrasting with other buildings developed by the Kaufman Organization, such as 77 Water Street (which contained a statue of a camel) and 747 Third Avenue (which had a wavy brick sidewalk).

The massing is shaped like a quarter round, since it follows State Street's curved path. The primary elevation of the facade is curved and faces Battery Park, while the other two elevations are flat and perpendicular to each other. The facade itself consists of a silvered-glass curtain wall. This color was selected to stand out from the black facades of the neighboring buildings. The curtain wall on State Street was designed as a continuous surface without external flanges. The side walls are made of glass and aluminum. At night, a light beam extended above the building's roof, creating what architectural writer Paul Goldberger described as "quite literally a beacon for Lower Manhattan". The beam of light, designed by Howard Brandston, was known as Icon.

17 State Street's office stories are supported by aluminum columns, which rise 25 ft (7.6 m) above ground level. The building's main lobby is a glass rotunda measuring 30 ft (9.1 m) across. The rotunda leads to a pair of rectangular elevator lobbies, which contain walls with X-shaped trusses. The ceilings of the elevator cabs contain translucent panels, while the walls of these elevators are clad with gray enamel. A second set of elevators serves all stories above the 22nd floor. At night, the walls of the lobby were illuminated.

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