[1] The facade was designed by Nevio Maggiora, consisting of a boxlike "beehive" pattern with the windows recessed within, made of aluminum-clad wall elements resembling a type of thermally activated elevator button popular at the time of construction.

[3] In 1959, the City of New York attempted to acquire the land under this development through eminent domain as part of the Battery Park Urban Renewal Area.

[8] Insurance brokerage Thomson & McKinnon Auchincloss Kohlmeyer signed a lease for 115,000 square feet (10,700 m2) on the building's 47th through 49th floors in February 1975.

In March 1978, investment bank First Boston signed a lease for 191,000 square feet (17,700 m2) in the building, relocating from nearby 20 Exchange Place.

[14] In 1999, Canadian real estate company Trizec Properties purchased the building for $390 million from Chase Manhattan Bank.

[16] On August 11, 2001, a steam turbine failed in the basement, and the damage from the resulting explosion disrupted Goldman's market-making NASDAQ activities for the day.

[17] In 2003, Prudential Securities was acquired by Wachovia causing the combined company to offer all 1.3 million square feet (120,000 m2) of its space in the building for sublease.

[27][28] Macmillan Publishers signed the largest deal of the year at the building, taking 176,121 square feet (16,362.2 m2) across the 45th through 48th floors for their Science and Education division.

[21] Two months later, the China Investment Corporation (CIC), a sovereign wealth fund, paid $700 million for a 49% stake in the building from Brookfield, valuing the property at over $1.4 billion.

[31][32] At the end of the year, AEW Capital Management acquired a roughly 15% stake from Brookfield for $232.2 million at the same $1.4 billion valuation.

[17] Current tenants are Fried, Frank, Harris, Shriver & Jacobson[17] Morgan Stanley,[19] Nature Publishing Group,[40] and Revlon.