1119
Global
Height rank

Metropolitan Life Tower

New York City
  • Facts
Height 213.4 m / 700 ft
Floors 50
Official Name
The current legal building name.

Metropolitan Life Tower

Other Names
Other names the building has commonly been known as, including former names, common informal names, local names, etc.

The New York EDITION, New York Edition Hotel, Met Life Tower, Metropolitan Life Insurance Company Tower

Name of Complex
A complex is a group of buildings which are designed and built as pieces of a greater development.

Metropolitan Life Towers

Type
CTBUH collects data on two major types of tall structures: 'Buildings' and 'Telecommunications / Observation Towers.' A 'Building' is a structure where at least 50% of the height is occupied by usable floor area. A 'Telecommunications / Observation Tower' is a structure where less than 50% of the structure's height is occupied by usable floor area. Only 'Buildings' are eligible for the CTBUH 'Tallest Buildings' lists.

Building

Status
Completed
Architecturally Topped Out
Structurally Topped Out
Under Construction
Proposed
On Hold
Never Completed
Vision
Competition Entry
Canceled
Proposed Renovation
Under Renovation
Renovated
Under Demolition
Demolished

Completed, 1909

Country
The CTBUH follows the United Nations's definition of Country, and thus uses the lists and codes established by that organization.

United States

City
The CTBUH follows the United Nations's definition of City, and thus uses the lists and codes established by that organization.

New York City

Address

1 Madison Avenue

Postal Code

10010

Current Function
A single-function tall building is defined as one where 85% or more of its usable floor area is dedicated to a single usage. Thus a building with 90% office floor area would be said to be an "office" building, irrespective of other minor functions it may also contain.

A mixed-use tall building contains two or more functions (or uses), where each of the functions occupy a significant proportion of the tower's total space. Support areas such as car parks and mechanical plant space do not constitute mixed-use functions. Functions are denoted on CTBUH "Tallest Building" lists in descending order, e.g., "hotel/office" indicates hotel function above office function.

hotel / office

Original Function

office

Structural Material
Steel
Both the main vertical/lateral structural elements and the floor spanning systems are constructed from steel. Note that a building of steel construction with a floor system of concrete planks or concrete slab on top of steel beams is still considered a “steel” structure as the concrete elements are not acting as the primary structure.

Reinforced Concrete
Both the main vertical/lateral structural elements and the floor spanning systems are constructed from concrete which has been cast in place and utilizes steel reinforcement bars.

Precast Concrete
Both the main vertical/lateral structural elements and the floor spanning system are constructed from steel reinforced concrete which has been precast as individual components and assembled together on-site.

Mixed-Structure
Utilizes distinct systems (e.g. steel, concrete, timber), one on top of the other. For example, a steel/concrete indicates a steel structural system located on top of a concrete structural system, with the opposite true of concrete/steel.

Composite
A combination of materials (e.g. steel, concrete, timber) are used together in the main structural elements. Examples include buildings which utilize: steel columns with a floor system of reinforced concrete beams; a steel frame system with a concrete core; concrete-encased steel columns; concrete-filled steel tubes; etc. Where known, the CTBUH database breaks out the materials used in a composite building’s core, columns, and floor spanning separately.

steel

Official Website

The New York EDITION

Height
Architectural
Height is measured from the level of the lowest, significant, open-air, pedestrian entrance to the architectural top of the building, including spires, but not including antennae, signage, flag poles or other functional-technical equipment. This measurement is the most widely utilized and is employed to define the Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat (CTBUH) rankings of the "World's Tallest Buildings."

213.4 m / 700 ft

To Tip
Height is measured from the level of the lowest, significant, open-air, pedestrian entrance to the highest point of the building, irrespective of material or function of the highest element (i.e., including antennae, flagpoles, signage and other functional-technical equipment).
213.4 m / 700 ft
Floors Above Ground
The number of floors above ground should include the ground floor level and be the number of main floors above ground, including any significant mezzanine floors and major mechanical plant floors. Mechanical mezzanines should not be included if they have a significantly smaller floor area than the major floors below. Similarly, mechanical penthouses or plant rooms protruding above the general roof area should not be counted. Note: CTBUH floor counts may differ from published accounts, as it is common in some regions of the world for certain floor levels not to be included (e.g., the level 4, 14, 24, etc. in Hong Kong).

50

# of Hotel Rooms
Number of Hotel Rooms refers to the total number of hotel rooms contained within a particular building.

273

Rankings
  • By Location
#
1119
Tallest in the World
#
185
Tallest in North America
#
157
Tallest in United States
#
62
Tallest in New York City
#
512
Tallest Office Building in the World
#
115
Tallest Office Building in North America
#
102
Tallest Office Building in United States
#
33
Tallest Office Building in New York City
#
104
Tallest Steel Building in the World
#
67
Tallest Steel Building in North America
#
61
Tallest Steel Building in United States
#
25
Tallest Steel Building in New York City
Construction Schedule
1905

Proposed

1907

Construction Start

1909

Completed

1961

Recladding

2012

Retrofit Start

2015

Retrofit End

Owner
Current
Abu Dhabi Investment Authority
Past
Africa Israel Investments Ltd.; Marriott International, Inc.; Metropolitan Life Insurance Company; SL Green Realty Corp.
Developer
Metropolitan Life Insurance Company
Architect
Design

Usually involved in the front end design, with a "typical" condition being that of a leadership role through either Schematic Design or Design Development, and then a monitoring role through the CD and CA phases.
Napoleon LeBrun & Sons
Main Contractor

The main contractor is the supervisory contractor of all construction work on a project, management of sub-contractors and vendors, etc. May be referred to as "Construction Manager," however, for consistency CTBUH uses the term "Main Contractor" exclusively.
Hedden Construction Company
Other Consultant

Other Consultant refers to other organizations which provided significant consultation services for a building project (e.g. wind consultants, environmental consultants, fire and life safety consultants, etc).
Building Monitoring
Vidaris, Inc.
Interiors
Rockwell Architecture, Planning and Design, P.C.; Rockwell Group
Preservation
Vidaris, Inc.
Recladding
Vidaris, Inc.

CTBUH Initiatives

Height: The History of Measuring Tall Buildings

16 December 2009 - CTBUH News

Research

12 June 2008

The Tallest Buildings in the World: Past, Present & Future

CTBUH Research

Over time, the average height of the 100 tallest buildings in the world has been steadily increasing. However, by 2010, this average height will have...

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