55 Water Street

This building weighs in as one of the largest office buildings in New York at 3.5 million square feet of office space. It sits on a superblock assembled from four adjoining city blocks. Part of the reason for its bloat is that there is a 'privately owned public space' on its podium over what once was Front Street. There have been several owners and at one point it even had a branch of the Whitney Museum on the lower levels. It survived Superstorm Sandy. The storm surge deposited 32 million gallons of water flooding the three basement levels and part of the lobby.

Adding a 'Zoning Bonus' public plaza to the project meant that 55 Water Street would be able to be much larger. It was renovated into what is often described as one of New York's 'hidden parks and garden oases'. It has become considerably less 'hidden' as Lower Manhattan has been transformed into a residential neighborhood.