300 Park Avenue

300 Park Avenue
Between 49th & 50th Streets, Manhattan

Colgate-Palmolive Building

Once home to Columbia College and later the lavish Sherry’s Hotel, 300 Park Avenue captures the layered history of Park Avenue—both metaphorically and physically. Above ground, the site has evolved through successive uses: first an institutional campus, then luxury residential, followed by a period when open-air rail tracks crossed the block, and finally the modern corporate tower that stands today. Below grade, the submerging of Grand Central Terminal’s rail lines two levels underground enabled the creation of Terminal City—transforming the avenue into a corridor of premium real estate. 

Completed in 1955 by Emery Roth & Sons, the current 26-story glass-and-aluminum tower replaced a 1921 Warren & Wetmore apartment-hotel and rose as a defining example of postwar modernism. With its 14-story base and stepped massing, the building followed zoning mandates set before the 1961 code, reflecting the skyline logic of midcentury Manhattan. Commissioned by the Uris Brothers for Colgate-Palmolive’s new headquarter, the design featured curtain walls of cream-toned aluminum spandrels and a red granite base—elements praised for harmonizing with the Waldorf Astoria across the avenue. Inside, though conventional in layout, early tenants reinforced the building’s midcentury design identity: Kaiser Aluminum commissioned customized suites clad in their own materials, while Koll Associates opened showrooms for their high-style Modernist furniture.

By the late 20th century, like many aging office towers, the Colgate-Palmolive Building–though only in its thirties–was considered obsolete. Postwar office buildings of this era often suffered from low ceilings, outdated mechanical systems, and a tired appearance that no longer met the expectations of 21st-century tenants. As workplace technologies evolved, the need for robust air conditioning, electrical infrastructure, and open-plan flexibility exposed the limitations of their original designs. In the digital age, loyalty to prestigious addresses declined alongside the rise of computer connectivity and facsimile machines. No longer can a substandard building attract prime tenants on the strength of the right address—Madison for advertising, Williams for insurance, Wall Street for stockbrokers—or a stellar one like Park Avenue.

Yet instead of demolishing it, new owners Tishman Speyer led a series of renovations beginning in 1997. Architect Raul de Armas oversaw a dramatic recladding: out went the dated spandrels; in came sleek ribbons of green Solex glass and silvery Kynar-finished metal. These updates—along with a lobby renovation and LEED certification—helped bring Colgate-Palmolive Building into the 21st century, securing the renewal of its namestake tenant’s lease from 2000 to 2010.