Renovated lobby at 1359 Broadway

Work is almost done on the building's fa&#ccedil;ade and the replacement of the building's roof, and preparations have been made for the improvements to the building's electrical systems, as well as for the completion of the renovations of corridors and bathrooms.

The new lobby exemplifies the goal of the renovations, which is "to integrate state-of-the art facilities and advanced technologies into a traditional and elegant package," says Michael Frantz, director of Newmark, the building's managing and leasing agent. In accordance with this goal, the renovated lobby features marble walls and floors, an arched entrance with an exterior bronze canopy, and a ceiling painstakingly restored to its 1920s condition.

Renovated ceiling at 1359 Broadway

The underlying story of the ceiling, it turned out, was literally over the top, as the New York Times reported recently. When architects began developing plans for the lobby overhaul, initial probes revealed the ruins of the original, dramatic vaulted plaster lobby ceiling with coffered panels and decorative rosettes — approximately five feet above the existing flat sheetrock ceiling. The architects and W&H decided to restore the original design to the soon-to-be renovated lobby. The result, which is pictured below, speaks for itself.

As word of the renovations has spread throughout the industry, the building's popularity has risen. As Mr. Frantz notes, "With the credibility of the W&H Properties announcement that they were going to renovate the property,

Front desk in lobby of 1359 Broadway

we leased over 75,000 square feet of space to new tenants even before the work started." Since then, several prominent companies, including Capital Mercury, Rosetta Marketing Strategies, and Keane Inc., have signed leases in the building.