The tower is surrounded by a plaza that contains a sunken Japanese rock garden, designed by Isamu Noguchi, to the south.

The superstructure contains 40 steel columns, arranged around the perimeter and clustered around the core to maximize usable space.

Despite some early challenges, One Chase Manhattan Plaza was nearly fully occupied from its opening, with numerous financial and legal tenants.

The public plaza faces Federal Hall National Memorial to the southwest and 40 Wall Street to the south.

[10][12] The firm of Graham, Anderson, Probst & White designed a 38-story building for Mutual Life at 18 Pine Street, which was completed in 1928.

[9][14] Four of the firm's thirteen general partners were most involved with 28 Liberty Street's design, namely Gordon Bunshaft, Edward James Mathews, Nathaniel A. Owings, and J. Walter Severinghaus.

[16][18] The building comprises a 60-story tower[9][14] atop a base composed of five basement stories and the ground floor on Liberty Street.

[31] In addition, stainless-steel flashing was placed on the facade's columns at four-story intervals, as well as beneath the spandrel panels on each floor.

[37] The 30-foot-tall (9.1 m) lobby, at the same level as the raised plaza, had a footprint slightly smaller than the floors above it and was surrounded by a plate-glass wall.

[29][39] Chase's main branch, beneath 28 Liberty Street's plaza, was accessed from the concourse and was lit by an oval 60-foot-diameter (18 m) recess surrounded by a transparent barrier.

[39] The floors beneath the plaza are much larger, covering the entire lot with a combined area of 600,000 square feet (56,000 m2).

[37] The interior designers Davis Allen and Ward Bennett were responsible for the furnishings of Chase's offices, including much of the furniture and accessories.

[16] Workers ultimately removed 220,000 cubic feet (6,200 m3) from the site, which at the time was the largest single excavation project in New York City.

[37] Noguchi created a sunken Japanese rock garden in the recess, similar to one at Yale University's Beinecke Rare Book & Manuscript Library,[54][56] as part of a series of contemporary artworks collected or commissioned by Chase.

[57] Seven large dark basalt rocks from Japan were used in the garden, placed atop a surface of 27,000 white granite blocks, each measuring 4 inches (100 mm) square.

[59] In 1970, Chase commissioned a monumental sculpture entitled Group of Four Trees by French artist Jean Dubuffet;[60] it was installed in 1972.

[61][62] At the time, the 40-foot (12 m)-tall sculpture was the largest outdoor public artwork in New York City, beating out Pablo Picasso's "Bust of Sylvette" by 4 feet (1.2 m).

[1][8] Rockefeller later recalled that he had persuaded McCloy to employ a "qualified outside firm" to conduct studies on what facilities Chase Manhattan needed.

[10] Chase also obtained 64,000 square feet (5,900 m2) from the Guaranty Trust Company on Liberty Street, adjacent to the other lots it had acquired.

[12] Although The New York Times later said that Owings "claimed credit for the idea of placing a skyscraper on a small part of a downtown lot",[73] Rockefeller said Zeckendorf was the person responsible for the tower-and-plaza scheme.

[75] Design partner Gordon Bunshaft was in Europe at the time, so Roy O. Allen and Jacques E. Guiton worked on alternative plans.

[15][12] Bunshaft assumed responsibility for the design when he returned from Europe on October 15, and he had convinced Chase officials to pursue the tower-and-plaza plan by December 6.

[78][79] SOM's initial design called for a 50-to-60-story building, surrounded by an open plaza that would be created by closing Cedar Street.

[84] Before starting work on One Chase Manhattan Plaza, SOM built a one-story mockup with aluminum and stainless steel at Roosevelt Field.

[118][119] The auction reportedly initially attracted about a dozen bidders, including Witkoff, Harry Macklowe, Joseph Chetrit, Tishman Speyer, Boston Properties, Starwood Capital Group, RXR Realty, and at least two wealthy Asian investment funds.

[117] On October 18, 2013, JPMorgan sold the building to Fosun, a Chinese investment company, for $725 million,[117][120] finalizing the sale that December.

[92] Architectural Forum described the project as "a milestone, perhaps even an end point in the development of the American skyscraper",[158] saying that "the big, broad-shouldered Chase stated crisply the mood and abilities of a newer age".

[159] The next month, Huxtable said that the tower and plaza "carry the double promise of corporate efficiency and a more enduring value: significant civic beauty.

[161] Huxtable's successor Paul Goldberger said that the plaza and its "progeny" had failed, but that the tower had a positive impact on the nearby area.

[163] As early as 1996, architect Robert A. M. Stern had suggested that 28 Liberty Street was a viable candidate for official landmark status.