Bank of America Tower - Case Study

Bank of America Tower

Introduction

Hizkia Irwanto Gouw 378785

At One Bryant Park, Manhattan, New York, USA Constructed at 2004 and Completed at 2009

Bank of America Tower at Manhattan is the first building in the United States that earned the highest possible rating (Platinum) from the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED). There is not much argument about its sustainabilArchitect : Cook + Fox Architect ity in term of eco-technologies, since Cook + Fox Architect generously applied Developers : The Durst Organization and Bank of America sophisticated green-features in the building. However, this case study will not anaBudget : $ 1.3 billion Size : 288m tall, 204,387sqm, 151,427 sqm for the Bank of America, lyze their ‘LEED’ feature. Instead, it will focus on its two bigger aspects of sustain

52,960 sqm for tenants above bank of America space. ability: the relationship between the Bank of America Tower and its social context, and the correlation of sustainability with the economy.

56000 tons

Project Review 702-883 Environmental Design Tutor : Jeffrey Bradley Class : Tuesday, 4.15-6.15 pm Due date: May 16, 2011

Sustainability in term of Social Context 1. Big can be Green Some people perhaps will question: What is so green about a 150.000 m2 skyscraper? The use of the newest and advanced green features could be one of the common answers. However, that is not the most significant aspect of its sustainability. The best answer is that it’s big and it’s in Manhattan. The occupancy of the Bank of America Tower will approximately be equivalent to sixty suburban office parks.1 Placing the Tower in the heart of Manhattan, a densely populated environment, is a thousand times better than building a large office in the suburb. It reduces the urban sprawl, the car-traveler, and its pollution.

1

2

Fig. 2

3

View of the urban garden

3. Better Pedestrian Access

Fig. 1 Height comparison (including the spire) of Building in New York City.

1. Chrysler Building 319 meters 2. Bank of America Tower 366 meters 3. Empire State Building 381 meters

An enjoyable walking environment is one incentive for people to stop driving their own cars. The Bank of America Tower tries to facilitate an environment to sustain that condition. Cook and Fox designed public amenities, including widened sidewalks, public street furniture and an ‘urban garden.’4 However, it is not free of criticism: the design of those public amenities is considered like an addition rather than integration to the whole design.5 In the end, it may not fully work, but the Bank of America Tower understood the importance of a walking environment.

2. The Inclusion of Public Transportation into the Overall Scheme The position of the Bank of America Tower in the middle of Manhattan is indirectly pushing their employees to use the public transportation. A subway in New York area, at peak hours, gets the equivalent of 540 miles per gallon, which is 22 times more efficient than a typical automobile.2 This statistic illustrates the significant numbers that could be reduced.

New York’s public transportation is one of the best mass transit systems in the world. Rick Cook and Robert Fox understood that situation by incorporating the public transportation into their scheme. The Bank of America Tower has convenient access to the New York subway. The building is located between two major subway stations: the Times Square and the Bryant Park Station. Cook and Fox created a new glass enclosed subway entrance in each of these stations. In addition, the underground portions of the building also include a pedestrian passageway that connects the two stations.3 The architects made those improvements in order to increase the accessibility for the users or the employees that decide to use the subway. Furthermore, most people imagine a massive space for car parking in gigantic office buildings, whereas there is none in the Bank of America Tower.

Ba

nk

Time’s Square (Subway) Fig. 3

of To Amer we ica r

Bryant Park Station (Subway)

Bus Stop

Public Transportation’s diagram around the Bank of America Tower.

Fig. 4 Fig. 5

Exterior view of the Bank of America Tower at day time.

View of the new glass enclosed subway entrance in front of the tower.

Sustainability in term of Economy

Hizkia Irwanto Gouw 378785

1. Money sources of $ 1.3 billion Project.

Project Review 702-883 Environmental Design Tutor : Jeffrey Bradley Class : Tuesday, 4.15-6.15 pm Due date: May 16, 2011

The overall cost to build the Bank of America Tower was approximately $ 1.3 billion. It is a huge amount of money. If we want to look at sources for the money, we might say that the building is not representing the image of a sustainable building at all. Half of the fund, around $ 650 million, came from the ‘tax free Liberty Bonds,’ Capital Structure a special low-interest loan, which was planned to be used in the rebuilding of lower 9 Manhattan post-9/11.

In some it means Bank ofdebt America Tower used The Bank of America Tower financing is a fusion ofway, CMBS andthat taxthe exempt governed by others’ money, while someone else may possibly have a more urgent need for it.

CMBS Servicer technology.

Is it sustainable? In this matter the answer is no.

Summary of Terms

Fig. 6

View of a newly constructed Henry Miller Theatre, with its 1918 original facade.

4. The Preservation of the History and the Culture

CMBS Bonds

Subordinate Tax Exempt Liberty Bonds

Coupon

4.65%

5.71%

Term

10-year ARD / 30year final maturity

39 years

Interest Only

10 years

30 years

Prepayment /

Defeasance / 113

Defeasance / 113

Fig. 8 The table shows where the money to build the tower came from. Half of the fund came from the CMBS bonds and the other half was from ‘Tax Free Liberty Bonds.’

In the Bank of America Tower, people might see the architect’s commitment to Lockout Period months months preserve Manhattan’s historic buildings. First, the glass, steel, and aluminum skyscraper is inspired by the America’s first great glass structure, erected in Bryantconsisted of $1.3 billion of investment-grade bonds, providing the property The transaction 2. The Cost of Eco-technologies 6 Park in 1853. Cook and Fox also restored and reconstructed the Henry60% leverage. withhistoric just under The Bank of America Tower is reported to spend less than $ 56 million for its ecoMiller Theatre. Its original 1918 facade was preserved in order to honor the history The all-in blended coupon for10the entire $1.3 billion capitalization is just under 5.18%, which 7 features. It is less than one percent of the entire cost of the building. However, the of the theatre. was approximately swaps + 2.18%. construction cost for the 54 story skyscraper is $ 5,400 per square meter, which We could say that the preservation of histories and cultures of the site had nothing The $650 million of tax exempt the Liberty Bonds remain outstanding upon refinancing the surpasses typical new may development costs for the highrise in Manhattan ($ to do with the sustainability. However, if we want to look at the definition sustainCMBS of debt.

11 4,800 per square meter). It exceeds more than 16%. By subtracting the percentable (which means capable of being sustained or maintained), there is a strong age manually, it results in a margin of around 15%. Where did the money go to? correlation among them. History and culture are the treasures of a place; and we Capital The Bank of America has not Split clarified. However, it could be assumed that it was want to keep it for the next generations. So, that sense works identically with the Interest Tranche spent for the Rating Maturity Balance Couponoutfits, which have no sophisticated building materials and interior Only notion of air, water, or earth, which are given not only for our time.

CMBS relevance with AAAsustainability.

10 years 2020 4.65% in their cost manageOnce again,650,000,000 the building failed Liberty Bond Class 1 AA -1 30 years 2044 206,200,000 5.13% ment.

Liberty Bond Class 1 AA -2 33 years 2046 145,400,000 5.63% 5. Criticism about the View Liberty Bond Class 2 A 35 years 2047 87,100,000 5.63% 280 m tall is an enormous number.

There is significant shadow produced by the building. The tower will certainly block the view and limit the amount of sunlight in nearby buildings. Few people already complained because their views are blocked by the Bank of America Tower.8 Is it sustainable to build a green building while sacrificing other buildings? It may not sustainable in that term. However, if we balance it with the thousands of jobs created by the building, the city will gain more.

Liberty Bond Class 3

BBB-

37 years

Total / WA

2049

211,300,000

6.38%

1,300,000,000

5.18%

A comparison of CMBS issuance pricing adjusted for duration shows continued spread tightening as investors return to the market.

Spread to Swaps * Securitization OBP Inland DDR Flagler RBS JPM Closing Date 7/8/2010 12/23/2009 11/25/2009 12/15/2009 4/22/2010 6/24/2010 AAA 150 150 140 225 80 140 AAA 205 90 160 AAA 165 AA 163 360 332 400 190 250 Fig. 9 The employees of the Bank of America A 193 420 382 450 290 A345 BBB 440 3. Sustainability in Relation to the Productivity BBB268 540 627 425

All the green features in the Bank of America Tower will possibly save money,

Fig. 7

\Workers in the offices of The New Yorker in the Condé Nast Building have enjoyed their east view, but it is not available anymore; a 54-story tower is rising next door.

WA Life (years) 23.1 9.4 4.7 6.8 4.8 5.9 however the greatest cost saving 181 of green building is the increased efficiency of WA Spread 176 254 294 141 164 building. 4.22% Studies have that a4.33% green building could Coupon people that work 5.18%in the5.87% 5.85% shown 3.82% LTV 59% 59% saving 52%of 5- 1052% result in a company’s annual percent54% because62% of the improvement Total Proceeds (000s) $1,300 $500 $400 12 $460 $310 $716

health, mood reduced * Interpolin a ted s wa ps wi th duraand ti on ma tchi ng weisick ghtedleave. a vera ge l iOn fe

the other hand, sustainable buildings that improve the productivity of the tenants will turn out to be a powerful economic stimulus for owners and occupants equally.

One Bryant Park Transaction Summary | p 3

Fig. 10

View of the Bank of America Tower during the night

4. More Jobs in the City Before the Bank of America moves the One Bryant Park, the bank had 2995 employees in their New York’s offices. After the opening in 2009, they added 1300 employees, and in long run, their expectation is to add another 1600 employees after 20 years.13 From these statistics, the Bank of America Tower demonstrates how a single architectural piece could play a part in the economics’ growth of the city.

Conclusion The Bank of the America Tower is a good example of a sustainable building that not only focuses on its green-features but also embraces its social context.

Cook and Fox understood that the building is not a standalone object; it should work thoroughly within its context. They value what Manhattan has (such as the dense population and the subway), and try to incorporate them in their green scheme of the building. In addition, although the building falls short in term of fund and cost management, the Bank of America Tower still offer benefits by creating more jobs, which relates to Manhattan’s economic growth. It is fit to declare that green architecture has a huge stake in what communities and cities will become.