Manhattan Federal Building to Receive $240M Makeover

U.S. General Services Administration has tapped Krueck Sexton Partners to provide architecture and engineering services for the upcoming $240 million renovation of the Silvio J. Mollo Federal Building in Lower Manhattan. The 160,000-square-foot property, home to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York and U.S. Marshals Service, is slated to be transformed into a high-performance, flexible workplace.

READ ALSO: Top 5 Office Building Sales—February 2021

Located at 1 Saint Andrew’s Plaza in the heart of the Civic Center district, the 10-story office tower dates back to the 1970s. The building includes two pedestrian bridges that connect the property to the adjacent Thurgood Marshall U.S. Courthouse and the Metropolitan Correctional Center.

The overhaul will replace all major building systems and will incorporate structural modifications. The property will receive a new high-performance facade, a reimagined main entrance, along with security infrastructure and accessibility improvements. The renovation will enhance the building’s energy performance, targeting LEED Gold certification. Construction is set to begin in the fall of 2023, with an expected delivery by 2026.

The transit-oriented property near New York City Hall sits between Tribeca, Chinatown and the Financial District, providing quick access to a pair of proximal subway stations, as well as the Brooklyn Bridge. 

Other federal projects

The designated architecture firm will additionally design a two-story fit-out at the Jacob K. Javits Federal Office Building at 26 Federal Plaza as temporary workspace for tenants during the renovation process. A portion of that space will continue to house employees of the Attorney’s Office on a permanent basis, after the rehab concludes. The GSA-owned, 41-story tower is home to several federal government agencies, including the Department of Homeland Security and the Social Security Administration.

KSP Partner Don Semple will serve as project director for the Silvio J. Mollo building revamp, while Schiller Projects will be the interior designer and workplace strategy consultant. The engineering team also includes Thornton Tomasetti and WSP. KSP completed several other projects for GSA, including the 383,000-square-foot Benjamin P. Grogan and Jerry L. Dove Federal Building in Miramar, Fla., designed in collaboration with Gensler. The FBI-occupied state-of-the-art building opened in 2015.

Manhattan construction activity

Despite the fact that the borough’s construction volume hit an eight-year low in the last quarter of 2020—marking a 28 percent decrease year-over-year—2021 debuted with the opening of the Moynihan Train Hall at New York City’s Penn Station. Developed by a public-private partnership and designed by Skidmore, Owings & Merrill, the long-anticipated $1.6 billion expansion increased the station’s total concourse space by 50 percent.

As of the beginning of March, the state of New York launched a quest for development proposals for a rare vacant parcel across the street from the Javits Convention Center in Midtown West. The property, known as Site K, is expected to encompass either commercial or mixed-use amenities and will be leased to the designated developer under a 99-year agreement.