Lehman Brothers Building

745 7th Avenue | Times Square | built 1999

Open on the map7 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. 1989

    Rockefeller Group proposes a 55-story Kohn Pedersen Fox tower for the Seventh Avenue lot

    In 1989 the Rockefeller Group announced Rockefeller Plaza West, a 55-story office tower by Kohn Pedersen Fox meant to extend Rockefeller Center westward. It was to hold a rehearsal studio, a cabaret and 1.36 million square feet, much of it bought as air rights from older Center buildings. Paul Goldberger judged that it would sit comfortably beside the RCA and Exxon buildings, and the city approved it in 1990. A dispute over development rights and a recession then killed the project, and by 1994 the lot was a 200-space parking lot.

    Source: Wikipedia

  2. 1998

    November

    Morgan Stanley and the Rockefeller Group sign a deal for a trading tower on the vacant lot

    After eleven months of talks that nearly collapsed in October, Morgan Stanley and the Rockefeller Group closed a deal in November 1998 to build on the parking lot. Rockefeller would keep the land while the bank owned the building and paid ground rent for 30 years, after which the two would split ownership evenly. Morgan Stanley wanted the tower to extend its headquarters at 1585 Broadway into what it called a Midtown urban campus, and Kohn Pedersen Fox returned as architect.

    Source: Wikipedia

  3. 2001

    October

    Displaced by September 11, Lehman Brothers buys Morgan Stanley's new tower

    In October 2001, Lehman Brothers bought Morgan Stanley's one-million-square-foot tower at 745 Seventh Avenue, after the World Trade Center attacks displaced the firm. The building had been under construction since September 1999 and was planned to hold six trading floors with 2,000 trading positions. Trade press reported that Lehman's first wave of 700 fixed-income traders could arrive as early as November.

    Source: waterstechnology.com

  4. 2002

    Lehman agrees to help pay for the Alvin Ailey dance building to meet a zoning rule

    Buying the tower came with an obligation under city zoning: Lehman Brothers had to give 5 percent of the floor area to entertainment use or pay for a comparable space elsewhere in the Theater District. The firm offered to pay for 5 percent of the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater's new home on Ninth Avenue at 55th Street, and city officials accepted the plan in 2002. Lehman then spent about $80 million on interior changes, including executive offices on the top two floors, before moving in.

    Source: Wikipedia

  5. 2010

    June

    Barclays asks to turn the tower's glass crown into an illuminated lantern

    In June 2010 Barclays sought permission to put its brand on the Midtown skyline from the top of 745 Seventh Avenue, as the Wall Street Journal reported. The plan would cover the clear glass that screens the mechanical floors with a film that makes it translucent, then light it from inside. It also called for lettering ten feet tall and a Barclays eagle emblem 13.5 feet high, repeated on each side of the tower.

    Source: therealdeal.com

  6. 2019

    Barclays swaps the tower's original LED screens, the oldest in Times Square

    In 2019 Barclays replaced the video screens on the third through fifth stories, which by then were the oldest LED display in Times Square. Imaginary Forces designed the originals, and Morgan Stanley had planned them to show live images. The new Daktronics screens cover 7,046 square feet and have nearly five times the resolution.

    Source: Wikipedia

  7. 2025

    September

    Barclays plans a $1 billion renovation of the former Lehman tower

    In September 2025 Bloomberg News reported that Barclays was preparing to spend at least $1 billion renovating its tower at 745 Seventh Avenue. Construction was expected to begin around mid-2026 and finish in 2030, with the project then in design. The bank planned to update the technology available to staff and add amenities across the building, which is the regional headquarters for its business in the Americas, where it employs more than 12,000 people.

    Source: bloomberglinea.com.br

Further reading

Nearby

All 91 buildings with stories in Times Square