Bloomberg via Getty Images
Time’s up for this office building — 5 Times Square is going residential.
The Times Square fixture is the former headquarters of the auditing firm Ernst & Young — whose cherry-red sign had long been a presence in the world-famous plaza.
Now, the 38-story tower will yield 1,250 new homes, marking a pivotal moment in Times Square’s post-pandemic reality.
The board at Empire State Development unanimously approved the building’s conversion on Thursday, multiple outlets reported.
The redevelopment plans include repurposing over 900,000 square feet of office space at 5 Times Square into 1,050 studio apartments and 200 one-bedroom apartments, while maintaining 37,000 square feet for retail.
“Confronting a decades-long housing crisis requires creating new housing in every neighborhood at an accelerated pace — even here at the ‘Crossroad of the World’ in Times Square,” said Mayor Eric Adams in a statement.
A quarter of the apartments will be set aside as permanently affordable, meaning they will be available to New Yorkers earning up to 80% of the area median income. The move allows developers to snag a hefty office-to-housing tax incentive.
Construction is expected to begin at the end of this year, according to officials. The first phase of the project is expected to wrap up in 2027.
RXR holds the ground lease on the tower, which is owned by the city. RXR will develop the site in partnership with Apollo Global Management and SL Green, PincusCo reported in December.
Scott Rechler, RXR Chairman and CEO, praised the recent news in a statement.
“The City and State of New York have shown that, through innovative public-private partnerships, we can transform underutilized office spaces into a thriving residential community, helping to address New York’s pressing housing crisis,” Rechler said.
The bottom stories of 5 Times Square, situated between West 41st and 42nd streets, are lined with flashy signs and eye-catching billboards. Inside, however, the vacancy rate is near 80%, according to city officials.
The tower was constructed in 2002 as the headquarters for Ernst & Young. The massive accounting and auditing firm vacated 5 Times Square in 2022 for newer digs on the West Side, leaving the glass tower all but empty.
The conversion marks another major office-to-residential conversion in New York City, following other massive projects at 25 Water St. — the former home of JPMorgan Chase, the National Enquirer and the New York Daily News — and 55 Broad St., Goldman Sachs’s former Wall Street headquarters.
Ongoing projects include the conversion of Pfizer’s former headquarters into 1,600 apartments and the overhaul of Downtown Brooklyn’s 395 Flatbush Ave. Extension into the borough’s second tallest residential tower.