Time Warner Center

Rank #2
Cost: $1.7 billion

It took decades to get the $1.7 billion Time Warner Center into the ground.

A resistant community board, two different development teams and more than a few lawsuits added up to several failed starts before a partnership between the Related Cos., Apollo Real Estate Advisors and Columbus Centre LLC could deliver a 2.8-million-sq.-ft. complex designed to be the Rockefeller Center for the new millennium.

The opposition to the project, which covers 2.5 city blocks, was no small hurdle. Community Boards 4, 5 and 7 opposed the sheer size of the project, as they did the noise, pollution and traffic that the more than 2,000 construction workers brought to the neighborhood.

Traffic in Columbus Circle was also a major complaint, one that city officials continue trying to mitigate. In order to get approvals, developers and architects had to meet strict design guidelines, such as the inclusion of the performing arts center.

Boston Properties first attempted to get the site going in 1985, but after meeting continual protests, dropped the project. Related and Apollo then acquired the land in 1998 for approximately $400 million from the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, and with a master design by David Childs of Skidmore, Owings & Merrill in hand, began demolishing the former New York Coliseum site in 1999.

The site was a logistical nightmare but still managed to come in on time and within budget. The project required several general contractors, 90 subcontractors, 70 consultants and six architectural teams.

Construction of the building was divided into four distinct areas, each with its own project executive. Full-time staff also included five plan coordinators, two full-time schedulers and an accounting and estimating and change management team. At the height of construction, the construction management team alone had 110 people.

Thousands of employees from throughout the world worked on the project. For example, more than 10,000 detailers and draftsmen from Canada to New Zealand worked just on the steel erection for the complex.

Two workers died during construction, and there are nearly 40 open investigations into violations at the site by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration. Still, given the size and duration of the center, the safety levels were good.

Despite the obstacles and the tragedies, once the developers finally did break ground, it took less than three years before the center was up and running.

Now, after nearly 20 years in the making, two 80-story skyscrapers house Time Warner's world headquarters. The project also includes an additional 200,000 sq. ft. of office space; the Rafael Vinoly-designed 1,970-seat Jazz at Lincoln Center; the Mandarin Oriental Hotel; The Shops at Columbus Circle; a massive Whole Foods supermarket; and 199 condos.

The city also undertook a $20 million re-landscaping of Columbus Circle, and celebrities and New York City elite alike are paying up to $45 million for condominiums with wide views of Central Park.

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