Historic Parallels

Project to revitalize landmark American Bank Note Co. Building in South Bronx

By Diane Greer

The 405,000-sq-ft American Bank Note Company Building, with its saw-toothed roofs and immense windows, is a familiar sight along the Bruckner Expressway through Hunts Point.

Completed in 1911, the fortress-like structure housed nearly two acres of printing equipment and employed almost 2,000 people producing foreign currency and stock certificates. The complex, along with the influx of workers it brought to the area, played a major role in the neighborhood’s development.

But in 1984 the American Bank Note Co. sold the property and moved from the city.

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Taconic Investment Partners and Denham Wolf Real Estate Services, both based in New York, purchased the building for $32 million in December 2007. Plans call for investing $40 million to renovate the structure, dubbed the BankNote, into Class-A, loft-type studios and traditional office spaces for creative nonprofits, commercial organizations and community groups.

Jon Denham, partner at Denham Wolf, learned of the property two years ago while seeking redevelopment opportunities. His search primarily focused on the South Bronx where the firm, which specializes in not-for-profit organizations, has many clients.

“We fell in love with the building,” Denham says. The scale of the building, its position atop a hill and its physical attributes create a great mix of tenant spaces from small offices to large open floors.

The structure consists of three connected buildings. The long, narrow, six-story Lafayette Wing, fronting Lafayette Avenue, was once home to engravers and administrative offices. Spaces in the building feature high ceilings and oversized windows with abundant natural light and panoramic city views.

Behind and perpendicular to the Lafayette structure is the three-story printing press wing. It boasts an open 80,000-sq-ft floor with 20-ft ceilings and a saw-toothed roof with skylights.

A later addition called the Barretto wing, extending from the Lafayette wing along Barretto Street, includes large windows and another saw-toothed roof with skylights. This structure contained more presses, a pulp mill and a laundry.

The 98-year-old former printing facility for the American Bank Note Company is undergoing a renovation that will bring much-needed loft and residential space to the Hunts Point neighborhood. (Photo Courtesy of Quinn & Co.)

Denham Wolf brought the opportunity to Taconic, a firm that specializes in adaptive reuse projects in emerging neighborhoods. “The building itself is just a phenomenal product,” says Douglas Winshall, Taconic executive vice president. He calls Hunts Point a “promising neighborhood that is about to turn.”

Structurally the building is extremely sound and was well maintained, aside from the windows and skylights. “The windows were really failing and the energy efficiency was basically nil,” Denham says.

The building also lacked air conditioning except for a few tenant-installed systems. Heating, MEP, life safety and security systems, while up to code, were old and needed upgrade or replacement.

Beyer Blinder and Belle, New York, was retained to design the project. The firm’s master plan focused on restoring and revealing the building’s historic elements while introducing modern requirements that do not hurt the building’s historic character, says Neil Kittredge, a partner at the firm.

All plans related to exterior renovations required approval by the New York City Landmarks Commission, which landmarked the structure a year ago.

The three-story printing press wing includes an 80,000-sq-ft floor with 20-ft ceilings and a saw-toothed roof with skylights. (Photo by Marisol Diaz.)

Taconic managed the multistage renovation project in 2008 that included replacing 365 windows, some almost 18 ft high. From a cost and energy-efficiency standpoint, replicating the steel-framed windows was not practical. Instead aluminum replacements were designed, with careful attention to the dimensions and mullions, to closely match the original steel windows, says John Weir, Taconic senior vice president of development.

Additional work replaced skylights in the press building, repointed and repaired the brick façade and installed a new boiler. Existing 15,000-gallon oil tanks, located beneath the parking lot, were excavated and removed. New tanks were installed on-grade in the boiler house.

Mc Gowan Builders of North Bergen, N.J., will manage the remaining construction, including MEP infrastructure upgrades and replacements; construction of three new entrances; reconstruction of the parking lot; and renovation of lobbies, hallways, common spaces and bathrooms. Bidding for the work is under way.

Redesign of the entrances is intended to make the building more welcoming while respecting the landmark structure’s character, Kittredge says. Currently the building has only a few entrances, and they’re somewhat hidden from view.

The plans open up the façade by creating larger entrances of transparent glass and aluminum storefronts with glass and steel canopies that spill natural light into the lobbies. New signage will call attention to the entrances.

The new design of the entrance to the Lafayette Wing is intended to make the building more welcoming while respecting the landmark structure's character. (Rendering courtesy of Beyer Blinder Bell.)

To expedite construction and minimize disruption to tenants, MGB is guaranteeing the final dimension of the entrance openings, allowing the fabrication process to begin several weeks earlier than usual, says Patrick Monahan, MGB’s senior project manager. As a result, the new materials will be available when the existing entrances are taken down.

Renovation of the Lafayette wing lobbies will reveal previously hidden building elements. Stair halls, with big iron and wood staircases and glazed brick walls, will be stripped of paint, cleaned and made into common areas.

A new cooling tower will provide condenser water to the Lafayette and Barretto wings. Running risers delivering condenser water to the individual floors will require core drilling through 12-in. floor slabs in many parts of the building, Weir says. In the press wing, future tenants will be responsible for installing their own air conditioning.

MEP work encompasses new utility connections, replacement of electrical distribution, plumbing and fire alarm systems and extensive upgrades to the sprinkler system, Monahan says. The work is complicated by the lack of as-built drawings and plans for modifications made over the years.

Some building renovations are dependent upon the type and mix of tenants leasing the larger, unoccupied spaces, Winshall says. Work on the public spaces in the press building, circulation plans and additional entrances and elevators are pending discussions with future tenants.

Although renovations will be built to LEED standards, the project will not seek certification because “it boils down to economics,” Weir says.

Insulating the old building would be costly, Weir says. Insulating interior walls would also detract from the building’s historic character and reduce available space, Kittredge adds.

Work on the entrances, lobbies and the mechanical systems was scheduled, at press time, to begin in the first quarter 2009. Construction is expected to be finished by year end, Weir says.

Upon completion, the building will receive a Class-A ranking from CoStar, making it one of just two Class-A office buildings in the South Bronx.

While construction proceeds, Denham Wolf is working on leasing the open spaces. Lease extension and expansions have been signed with a number of existing tenants. Charter schools, architects and engineering firms, nonprofits and local firms are showing interest in the project. “We are able to do rents that are roughly half of what a small professional firm might pay in Manhattan,” Denham says.

“Gradually this will be a really great thing for the neighborhood,” Kittredge says. “Historicallsy the neighborhood exists because of this building. Now the building will help in revitalization of the community.”

Team List:

Developers: Taconic Investment Partners, New York, and Denham Wolf Real Estate Services, New York
Construction Manager: McGowan Builders Group, North Bergen, N.J.
Architect: Beyer Blinder and Belle, New York
Window Fabricator: Crystal Windows and Doors, Flushing, N.Y.
Window Installation: Ecker Windows Corp., Yonkers, N.Y.
Façade Restoration: Benjamin Maintenance Co., Brooklyn
Boiler Installation: Controlled Combustion Co., Bronx