75 Rockefeller Plaza
36 West 52nd Street | also 22 West 52nd Street, 20 West 52nd Street, 75 Rockefeller Plaza | Midtown | built 1947
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The city photographed every building for its tax records around 1940 and again in the 1980s. NYC Municipal Archives.
Written with AI from the source each entry cites, then fact-checked.
- 1944
Standard Oil's space needs lead Rockefeller Center to approve a new tower, which grows from 16 to 33 stories
Standard Oil had outgrown its leased floors in the RCA Building, so the Rockefellers approved a new tower for it on the block between 51st and 52nd Streets in July 1944. The first plan was for 16 stories, but financial pressures more than doubled that to 33 stories and 424 feet. Carson & Lundin were the architects, with Wallace Harrison consulting, and work began in March 1946.
“…approved in July 1944, and plans for a 16-story building entertained. But financial pressures more than doubled its size…”
- 1946
Construction of the Esso tower ends the dream of extending Rockefeller Plaza north
Rockefeller had once imagined his private street running north as the spine of a cultural center, with a Municipal Art Center proposed by Mayor La Guardia. The plan collapsed for several reasons, including the refusal of the 21 Club to leave its West 52nd Street premises. When construction of the Esso Building began in 1946 it closed Rockefeller Plaza at its northern end.
- 1947
75 Rockefeller Plaza opens as the tallest air-conditioned tower in the city
Architects Carson & Lundin and Wallace K. Harrison designed the early Modernist tower, begun in July 1946 and completed in September 1947 as the Esso Building for Standard Oil. On completion it was New York's tallest fully air-conditioned building and the first in Rockefeller Center, and it housed a branch of the Schrafft's restaurant chain billed as the world's largest, seating 1,283 people.
Source: Wikipedia
- 1950
The Esso Building is named the best large postwar structure in the Fifth Avenue district
Its site plan, technical systems and links to the rest of Rockefeller Center won the Esso Building an award in 1950 as the best large postwar structure built in the Fifth Avenue district. Its gateway lobby, with an Esso tourist bureau on one side and Schrafft's restaurant on the other, was meant to serve as a northern entrance to the complex.
“…won for it an award as the best large post-war structure erected in the Fifth Avenue district.”
- 1971
Esso leaves for the Exxon Building, and the Kinney Company takes the tower
Esso was the tower's tenant until 1971, when the growing company moved into the new Exxon Building on the west side of Sixth Avenue. The Kinney Company then leased the Rockefeller Plaza building, but Warner Communications ended up taking it over after an extensive renovation that left the exterior untouched. The landmarks commission saw the change as a shift from industry to Rockefeller Center's communications tenants.
- 1973
Warner Communications leases the tower, which becomes the Warner Communications Building
In 1973 the heating, ventilation, and air-conditioning systems of the building were replaced. Warner Communications then leased all 570,000 square feet that Exxon, Standard Oil's successor, had vacated in 1971, and the tower became known as the Warner Communications Building.
Source: Wikipedia
- 1985
The Landmarks Preservation Commission designates Rockefeller Center, including the Esso Building
On April 23, 1985 the Landmarks Preservation Commission designated Rockefeller Center as a New York City landmark. The designation list named the Warner Communications Building, formerly the Esso Building, at 75 Rockefeller Plaza among its parts. At the September 1983 hearing nineteen people spoke in favor, and Rockefeller Center's owners had backed only a partial designation.
- 1996
A basement fire at TGI Fridays triggers an explosion upstairs
In December 1996 a fire in the TGI Fridays restaurant in the building's basement led to a minor explosion in an equipment room on the top floor. The building was evacuated.
Source: Wikipedia
- 2013
RXR Realty signs a 99-year lease to manage and renovate the tower
In 2013 RXR Realty took a 99-year lease, valued at $500 million, to run the tower's office space after Time Warner said it would leave. Under the deal RXR committed $250 million to a renovation designed by Kohn Pedersen Fox.
Source: Wikipedia
- 2016
American Girl signs a 15-year lease to move its flagship store to the tower
In May 2016 American Girl signed a 15-year lease for 40,000 square feet on two levels of the building, which RXR Realty was repositioning under its 99-year lease. The doll retailer was leaving 609 Fifth Avenue, where it had been since 2003, and planned a store with a media studio, private event rooms and a salon for children and dolls. It was due to open in fall 2017.
Source: commercialobserver.com
Further reading
- 75 Rockefeller PlazaWikipedia
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