| |
As seen in
September 20, 2001
High
rise loses allure
by CHRIS BRENNAN
Iris Alfonso-Fontani loves heights
and likes to stick her head out the window of her office on
the 79th floor of the Empire State Building from time to time
to take in the expansive view of Manhattan and New Jersey.
But Alfonso-Fontani, a law firm office manager and North Philadelphia
native, doesn’t like working in a building that could be
viewed as a target for terrorism. Her firm is thinking seriously
about moving out after last week’s attacks that demolished
the World Trade Center.
"From when the incident happened, everybody’s just
been talking about getting out of here, sooner, rather than
later," she said. "Our lease is up in a couple of
months, but they’re thinking about sooner than that."
At 1,454 feet, with 80 floors of office space and 880 tenants,
the Empire State Building has reluctantly regained its place
as the tallest building in New York City.
But the heyday of the "trophy building" has been replaced
for many by frayed nerves in those lofty offices.
Jack Brod runs Empire Diamond Corp. from the 76th floor of the
Empire State Building. His firm moved into the brand new building
70 years ago.
"As far as I’m concerned, it doesn't bother me at
all," said Brod, 91.
"But one of my employees hasn’t come in since the
accident. And we’ve had a quite a few customers postpone
visits," he said.
James Meiskin has been busy since Sept.
11, helping companies left homeless by the destruction of the
World Trade Center find new places to do business.
Meiskin, president of Plymouth Partners, a New York City commercial
real estate firm, said many of those clients are now looking
at New Jersey, Westchester County, N.Y. and Fairfield County,
Conn. for new offices.
"Most of them do not even want to stay downtown if they
decide to stay in Manhattan," Meiskin said. "It’s
largely impossible to work downtown. It’s extremely difficult
to get around."
Companies may start looking south to Philadelphia as a calmer
place to relocate, he said.
"It’s close enough to New York, New Jersey and Washington,"
Meiskin said.
"Nice people. Good politics. Good infrastructure,"
he said.
The Sears Tower in Chicago, at 1,450 feet, is the tallest structure
in America.
The 1,483-foot-tall Petronas Towers in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia,
are the tallest buildings in the world.
So who will want to work in a trophy building after last week?
Michael Silver, president of Equis Corporation, a Chicago-based
commercial real estate firm, says local companies that lack
offices around the world will seek perches in trophy buildings
to show how important they are.
International companies, Silver said, are already spreading
out their assets to prevent major losses like last week.
"I don’t believe the trophy building is dead,"
Silver said. "I believe companies will rethink the concentration
of important assets. Not just people, but technology. The terrorism
accelerates that thinking."
And what about putting a company name at the top of a big trophy?
Silver says naming rights will be losing their allure.
"I think major corporations will
shy away from using the building as an advertisement or a billboard,"
Silver said.
|
|
|
