St. John's Terminal
550 Washington Street | also 560 Washington Street, 340 West Street, 330 West Street | Hudson Square | built 1933
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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.
- 1930
Eighty-eight tenements are cleared for a new elevated freight terminal on the West Side
After the New York Transit Commission ordered street-level rail crossings removed, the New York Central began buying land in early 1930 for a terminal on the elevated line, and announced plans that July. Eighty-eight tenements stood on the lot and were already being torn down, so they were the site's earlier buildings. The terminal would run from Clarkson Street to Spring Street between West and Washington Streets.
Source: Wikipedia
- 1932
Revised plans shrink the terminal from a tall tower to three stories
Preliminary plans filed in 1931 by architect Edward A. Doughtery had called for 12 stories. By November 1932 the New York Central filed revised plans for a three-story building costing $2.5 million. A contemporary Times article blamed the cost of the full-height version, put at $12.5 million, though a later article cited opposition from brokers. The foundation piles were built to carry a taller structure if needed.
Source: Wikipedia
- 1934
The Spring Street freight terminal and High Line viaduct are dedicated
Ceremonies at the terminal on June 29, 1934, marked the opening of the elevated freight line's southern end. Its 205,000-square-foot floors were the largest in the city at the time, and the building could hold 227 train cars. People soon called it St. John's Park Terminal after the older ground-level terminal.
Source: Wikipedia
- 1960
Eugene Grant and Lionel Bauman turn the freight shed into offices, with a tennis club on the roof
After the railroad got permission in January 1960 to end service, Eugene M. Grant and Lionel Bauman bought the terminal, in 1960 or 1962 by differing accounts, and converted it to about 750,000 square feet of offices. A rooftop tennis club came about after a broker looking for space by helicopter spotted the roof. Early tenants included a lithographer, a bookbinder and the Railway Express Agency.
Source: Wikipedia
- 1966
Manufacturers Hanover adds a fourth story to house its investment operations
The bank Manufacturers Hanover Corporation built a fourth story in 1966 to bring its investment operations together under one roof. The new level covered 135,000 square feet. Merrill Lynch followed in 1968, leasing 125,000 square feet across the building.
“The Manufacturers Hanover Corporation, a bank that also occupied space in the building, added a fourth story in 1966 to consolidate its investment operations.”
Source: Wikipedia
- 1991
Merrill Lynch fills 700,000 square feet of what is now called St. John's Center
By 1991 Merrill Lynch occupied 700,000 square feet in the former terminal and was talking to take 300,000 more. The building was then marketed as St. John's Center at $12 a square foot. Owners Grant and Bauman had been advertising it as cheap office space since the 1980s, which drew tenants such as Bloomberg L.P.
Source: Wikipedia
- 2014
A secret deal for Pier 40's air rights draws protest and is called off within a month
In 2013 Grant sold his controlling stake to a venture including Atlas Capital Group for $250 million. Atlas's memorandum to buy Pier 40 air rights, made public in 2014, drew political opposition for its secrecy and was canceled within a month. A revised transfer won City Council approval in December 2016, and the air rights were bought for $100 million in 2017.
“News of the MOU generated much public and political opposition, especially from Manhattan elected officials, who objected that the MOU had been made secretly.”
Source: Wikipedia
- 2018
Oxford Properties pays $700 million for the terminal site south of Houston Street
Oxford Properties joined the redevelopment venture in October 2017, and in January 2018 it paid Westfield and Atlas $700 million for the part of the terminal site below Houston Street. Canada Pension Plan took a 40 percent stake as the junior partner, and Deutsche Bank lent $400 million toward the purchase. That October, Cookfox Architects unveiled an all-commercial design for the building.
Source: Wikipedia
- 2020
Precast slabs and a steel frame raise the old terminal to twelve stories
Rather than demolish the terminal, the Google-bound redesign added precast concrete slabs built using bridge-construction methods, plus two 14-story mechanical cores. The result is 232 feet tall, and on the Houston Street side the old track beds hang visibly over the entrance. Critic Justin Davidson called the building a city within a building.
Source: Wikipedia
- 2021
Google buys 550 Washington Street for about $2.1 billion
Google announced in September 2021 that it would buy the building outright for roughly $2.1 billion, after first leasing space in the campus. The sale closed in April 2022. Google formally opened its office there on February 21, 2024, after the redevelopment was completed.
Source: Wikipedia
Further reading
- St. John's TerminalWikipedia
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