452 Fifth Avenue

452 Fifth Avenue
452 Fifth Avenue
Former names	Republic National Bank of New York Building, Knox Building
Alternative names	HSBC Tower
General information
Status	Completed
Architectural style	Modernism
Location	452 Fifth Avenue; (1 West 39th Street); Manhattan, New York
Coordinates	40°45′08″N 73°58′57″W / 40.75222°N 73.98250°W
Construction started	1980
Completed	1985
Owner	Property & Building Corporation
Height
Roof	400 feet (121.9 m)
Technical details
Floor count	30
Floor area	863,000 sq ft (80,200 m2)
Design and construction
Architect(s)	Eli Attia Architects
	Knox Building
	U.S. National Register of Historic Places
	New York State Register of Historic Places
	NYC Landmark No. 1091
Location	452 5th Ave., New York, New York
Coordinates	40°45′08″N 73°58′57″W / 40.75222°N 73.98250°W
Area	less than one acre
Built	1901
Architect	Duncan, John H.
Architectural style	Beaux Arts
NRHP reference No.	82003381
NYSRHP No.	06101.001707
NYCL No.	1091
Significant dates
Added to NRHP	June 3, 1982
Designated NYSRHP	April 9, 1982
Designated NYCL	September 23, 1980
References

452 Fifth Avenue (also the HSBC Tower and formerly the Republic National Bank Building) is an office building at the southwest corner of Fifth Avenue and 40th Street in the Midtown Manhattan neighborhood of New York City. The building primarily consists of the 30-story, 400-foot (120 m) HSBC Tower, completed in late 1985 and designed by Attia & Perkins. The 10-story Knox Building, a Beaux-Arts office building designed in 1902 by John H. Duncan, is preserved at the base of the skyscraper. 452 Fifth Avenue faces Bryant Park immediately to the north.

The HSBC Tower is designed with a glass facade, which curves around the Knox Building to the north; a similar curved tower across Fifth Avenue was never built. The Knox Building's facade remains largely as it was originally designed, with decorated limestone cladding, a cornice above the sixth floor, and a mansard roof. The Knox Building is a New York City designated landmark and is on the National Register of Historic Places. Internally, the tower is tied into the stories of the Knox Building.

The Knox Building was erected between 1901 and 1902 for Edward M. Knox, who operated the Knox Hat Company and leased out several stories to office tenants. In 1964, the Knox heirs sold the building to a group that founded the Republic National Bank of New York and used the building as the bank's headquarters. The bank acquired the neighboring lots in the 1970s and hired Attia & Perkins to design a tower to house its new world headquarters, which would wrap around the Knox Building. The tower was expanded in the 1990s and sold to the investment bank HSBC. In October 2009, HSBC Holdings sold the building to Midtown Equities and Israeli holding company IDB Group, the latter of which passed the building to a subsidiary, Property & Building Corporation (PBC). HSBC continued to lease back its space in the building until 2022, when the bank announced it would relocate.

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