The Copper (American Copper Buildings)

626 1st Avenue | also 426 East 36th Street, 628 1st Avenue, 436 East 36th Street | Murray Hill | built 2017

Open on the map6 entries

The lot about 1940
About 1940. Via 1940s.nyc
The lot about 1985
About 1985. Via 80s.nyc

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.

  1. 1926

    December 23

    The Kips Bay steam plant puts its first boiler into service on the East River block

    The New York Steam Corporation builds a steam plant on the former site of a lumber yard on the East River block between East 35th and 36th streets, where the Copper towers now stand. Its first boiler enters service on December 23, 1926, while the plant is still under construction. A fifth boiler starts up in November 1930, after which the plant ranks as the world's largest central-station steam-generating facility. Barges unload coal beside the river, and a single 380-foot smokestack rises over the site.

    Source: Wikipedia

  2. 2013

    JDS and Largo buy the former Con Edison lot from Sheldon Solow for $172 million

    Developer Sheldon Solow had bought the old generating-station site as one of three parcels and planned a $4 billion complex of seven towers, designed by Skidmore, Owings & Merrill. He sold the southwest corner to the School Construction Authority in 2010 for a school, then sold the rest of the 35th Street lot to JDS and Largo in 2013. After a public land-use review, Solow shifted to a twin-tower scheme, which JDS followed with a new architect, SHoP.

    “…sold the remaining plot on 35th Street to JDS and Largo in 2013 for $172 million…”

    Source: Wikipedia

  3. 2016

    Steel trusses for the skybridge between the two copper towers begin to rise

    In January 2016 a skyscraper-news site reports the first steel trusses forming the exterior frame of the bridge that will link the 48-story and 41-story towers. The west tower has nearly topped out, and copper cladding keeps rising on the north and south faces while glass curtain wall wraps the east and west sides. Inside the bridge will be a lap pool and lounge areas, and a breezeway will connect First Avenue retail to a new park developed by JDS.

    Source: skyrisecities.com

  4. 2017

    The first renters move into the American Copper Buildings

    By April 2017 the leasing office is open and the first residents are arriving at the two towers, which hold 761 rental apartments and are clad in 4.25 million pounds of raw copper. Inside the 100-foot skybridge, about 300 feet above the street, are an indoor lap pool 75 feet long, a hot tub on the 28th floor, and a bar and lounge one level higher. The east tower's roof adds an infinity-edge pool and a sky bar.

    Source: designboom.com

  5. 2019

    June

    Hole in the Wall opens an 80-seat Australian cafe at the base of the east tower

    The Australian cafe Hole in the Wall, which began in the Financial District, opens a second and much larger restaurant at 626 First Avenue across from the FDR Drive. It seats 80 inside plus about 45 outside, serves breakfast and cafe fare from 7 a.m., and shifts to a seasonal American dinner menu after 6 p.m. Eater notes that few restaurants then existed so far east in Murray Hill, and the cafe also takes on events for the rooftop pool deck.

    Source: ny.eater.com

  6. 2021

    December

    Investors agree to buy the Copper towers for about $850 million

    In December 2021 JDS Development and Baupost sign a contract to sell the complex for roughly $850 million to Black Spruce Management and Orbach Affordable Housing Solutions. Observers read the price as a sign of investor confidence in New York's recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic. JPMorgan provides $675 million in financing for the buyers in March 2022.

    “…contract to sell the property to investors Black Spruce Management and Orbach Affordable Housing Solutions in December 2021 for about $850 million…”

    Source: Wikipedia

Further reading

Nearby

All 26 buildings with stories in Murray Hill