Did you know that the One Times Square building, on top of which the famous New Year’s Ball is installed, is empty inside? And despite this, it brings enormous profits to its owners.
How did it happen?
When Lehman Brothers acquired One Times Square in 1995, they introduced a new type of tenant: advertisers. Instead of renting out offices inside the 25-storey building, they began to refurbish the facade with billboards. And it turned out that it is much more profitable!
So, the building was empty inside, but meanwhile, by 1997, the profit earned from renting out its facade had increased by 400%. The New York Times reported: “The building is empty, and, with the exception of a possible themed restaurant at its base, it is likely to remain mostly empty, continuing to serve only as a giant billboard.”
The prediction came true — 16 years later, only part of the first floor was occupied in the building — there was a Walgreens pharmacy and the office of Countdown Entertainment, a company that organizes a show with a descending New Year’s ball for residents and guests of New York every year, which, by the way, is stored in One Times Square all year round.
One Times Square was originally built on the site of the former Pabst Hotel for the New York Times newspaper, which moved into the skyscraper in January 1905. The newspaper’s owner, Adolphe Ochs, persuaded the city to rename the square, then known as Longacre Square, after the newspaper —and so it became Times Square. To advertise its new headquarters, the Times held a New Year’s Eve celebration on the square — 1904 was greeted with fireworks launched from the roof of the building at midnight. The tradition took root and 4 years later, Adolf Ochs decided to replace the fireworks with a ball, which has been lowered every year on New Year’s Eve since then.
Eight years later, the newspaper moved to a new building, 229 West 43rd Street, but One Times Square remained the property of the Times.
On November 6, 1928, an electronic news feed known as the Motograph bulletin (colloquially known as “lightning”) was introduced near the base of the building. There were news headlines. The first lightning headline announced Herbert Hoover’s victory in the presidential election that day. And, for example, on the evening of August 14, 1945, “lightning” announced to a crowded crowd in Times Square the surrender of Japan during World War II.
After the newspaper men sold the building, it began to “walk around”, and, although it still remained the main center of Times Square, it still lost its former importance. Over time, the building deteriorated and eventually in 1992 it was declared bankrupt. After that, three years later, it was bought by Lehman Brothers.
The Wall Street Journal wrote: in the 90s, this purchase was called insane, without assuming how successful it would be. In 2012, journalists found documents indicating the estimated value of the building at the moment — $ 495 million. This figure is especially staggering compared to the $27.5 million for which Lehman Brothers bought the building in 1995.
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