Rudin Family to Reposition Iconic Times Square Tower

3 Times Square, New York City. Image courtesy of FXCollaborative

The 3 Times Square office high-rise in Manhattan will soon undergo a transformation, courtesy of a multi-million-dollar capital improvement program. The Rudin Family, co-owner of the approximately 950,000-square-foot building with joint venture partner Thomson Reuters, plans to refresh the two-decade-old property’s amenities, façade, technology and other features. The repositioning project is estimated at $25 million, the New York Business Journal reported.

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Also known as the Thomson Reuters Building, the tower has stood 30 stories above the streets of Midtown Manhattan since 2001, when it opened its doors as the North American headquarters of Reuters Group PLC, the pre-merger entity of Thomson Reuters. Rudin developed the Fox & Fowle Architects-designed property at a cost of approximately $360 million, according to SEC filings. Now, the private real estate owner and operator has called on the same celebrated architect, rebranded as FXCollaborative, to spearhead the makeover of 3 Times Square.

“As a company, we are constantly reinvesting in our existing portfolio in order to stay ahead of the curve and remain competitive,” Michael Rudin, senior vice president of Rudin Management Co., the operating arm of Rudin Family Holdings, told Commercial Property Executive. “We have a significant amount of space turning over (at 3 Times Square), and after 20 years, we thought now was the right time to reimagine the lobby, the exterior signage and add the amenities.”

Among the changes coming to 3 Times Square are a new glass-walled, triple-height lobby, a sculptural façade on the ground floor designed to diffuse the bright lights of Times Square, as well as top-of-building and marquee exterior signage. The improvement program will also deliver a dedicated 16th-floor amenity space with such offerings as a café & lounge, a conference & event center to accommodate up to 200, as well as a cutting-edge fitness facility and a library with open flex space for meetings. Additionally, 3 Times Square will feature touchless entry and a fully renovated dispatch elevator system.

Courting quality seekers

Manhattan’s office market has not fared very well amid the pandemic. Increases in sublease inventory, direct space and shuttered coworking locations conspired to push overall market availability up 570 basis points year-over-year to 17.2 percent in the first quarter of 2021, marking the highest level in at least three decades, according to a report by Savills. However, the news isn’t all bad for Manhattan office properties like 3 Times Square. As noted in the Savills report, “tenants will opportunistically upgrade in the current leasing environment driving a ‘flight to quality’ that leaves a glut of largely commodity space.

Already home to a state-of-the-art telecommunications system and Nantum OS, the world’s most advanced building operating system, 3 Times Square could easily become a niche location for, say, tech tenants seeking high-end accommodations.

Rudin has tapped the Cushman & Wakefield team of John Cefaly, Lou D’Avanzo, Ron Lo Russo, Paige Engeldrum and Lauren Hale to serve as exclusive leasing agents for 3 Times Square. The office building has an aggregate 885,000 square feet available lease.