The building was designed by Kohn Pedersen Fox Associates (KPF) and developed by Boston Properties for Ernst & Young (EY).

The site is owned by the New York City Economic Development Corporation, though David Werner and RXR Realty have a long-term leasehold on the building.

KPF planned the facade as a glass curtain wall, with large billboards on lower stories as part of the 42nd Street Development Project.

The foundation consists of shallow footings under most of the site, though parts of the plot abut New York City Subway tunnels and are supported by caissons.

Boston Properties sold the long-term leasehold for 5 Times Square in 2006 to AVR Realty, which resold it in 2014 to a group led by David Werner.

[5] 5 Times Square is at the eastern end of a city block that also contains the New Amsterdam Theatre, Candler Building, and Madame Tussauds New York.

[11] The building is part of the 42nd Street Development Project and, thus, could bypass many city zoning rules such as those relating to floor area ratio (FAR).

[20] 5 Times Square rises largely as a slab, with setback sections to the north and east, angling away from the building's northeast corner.

[22] The slice, as well as the massing variations, are intended to depict the diagonal route that Broadway, one block east, follows in relation to the Manhattan street grid.

The engineers projected the greatest wind loads would come from the north and south elevations, so the columns on these sides are spaced 10 feet (3.0 m) apart.

The structural engineers could not stabilize the superstructure with outrigger walls, connecting the core and the exterior, because of the lack of mechanical spaces on intermediate stories.

[24] The 42nd Street side had a storefront for cosmetics retailer Sephora, which was a narrow and tall space with an upscale boutique area on one wall.

EY partners had offices of about 150 square feet (14 m2) on the perimeter of each story, with glass walls to allow sunlight to illuminate the open-plan workspace.

[37][38][39] Furthermore, as part of the West Midtown special zoning district created in 1982, the New York City government had allowed new buildings in Times Square to be developed with an increased floor area ratio.

To ensure the area would not be darkened at nightfall, the city passed zoning regulations that encouraged developers to add large, bright signs on their buildings.

[35] In exchange for being permitted to delay construction of the sites until 2002, Prudential and Park Tower were compelled to add stores and install large signage on the existing buildings.

[51][52] The same year, Douglas Durst acquired the site at the northeast corner of Broadway and 42nd Street,[53] and he developed 4 Times Square there.

[59][60] By the end of 1997, several developers including Durst, Burton Resnick, Steven Roth, and Jerry Speyer were reportedly bidding for the Disney site at the southwest corner of 42nd Street and Seventh Avenue.

[64][65][66] Herbert Muschamp of The New York Times regarded the scheme as having "earned a place in the history of ideas", despite being similar to a previous plan for the site.

[68][71] Ernst & Young expressed interest in moving from 787 Seventh Avenue to Boston Properties' southwest-corner lot, but the firm asked the city government for $65 million in subsidies in May 1999.

[75] In August 1999, Boston Properties announced it would develop 5 Times Square, a 37-story headquarters for Ernst & Young on the southwest-corner lot.

[85] Despite the September 11 attacks in Lower Manhattan shortly afterward, retail chain Champs Sports took some storefront space by the end of 2001.

[87] Meanwhile, accounting firm Arthur Andersen's lease at the neighboring Times Square Tower had been terminated in mid-2002 amid the Enron scandal.

[99] After putting the building back for sale in October 2006,[100] Boston Properties sold it the following month to AVR Realty for $1.28 billion in cash,[101][102][103] or about $1,125 per square foot ($12,110/m2).

[105] That year, NBC Universal erected a screen and two billboards above the building's Champs Sports store, totaling 3,500 square feet (330 m2).

[107][108] A group led by David Werner purchased 5 Times Square in 2014 for $1.5 billion, the largest office transaction in the city in four years.

[119] During the COVID-19 pandemic in New York City in August 2020, SL Green Realty indicated it would sell a $126 million mezzanine loan on the property to raise money.

[123] In January 2022, Roku, Inc. leased 240,000 square feet (22,000 m2) on the building's top eight floors, as well as the rights to control the vertical sign on Seventh Avenue.

[126] In September 2022, RXR refinanced the building with a $1.3 billion loan from multiple firms including Morgan Stanley and Apollo Global Management.

[132] In December 2024, Apollo, RXR, and SL Green filed plans to convert the vacant space into 942 apartments at a cost of $95 million.