The building boom that has face-liftedmid-Manhattan (16 skyscrapers currently under construction) hasbypassed almost completely the Wall Street financial district at theisland’s tip. Last week the Street, which has financed much of theuptown modernization, turned to do something about its own grimybuildings and dark canyons. Chase Manhattan Bank Chairman John J.McCloy announced tentative plans to construct a $75,000,000 downtownRockefeller Center type of development: a 50-to 60-story Chase Bankheadquarters flanked by a broad, tree-lined plaza and a 1,000-cargarage.
Chase Manhattan’s new quarters, scheduled for possible 1958 completion,would consolidate under one roof 8,700 of the bank’s personnel, nowscattered over nine buildings, at “substantial savings inoperating expenses.” As its contribution to the area’srejuvenation, New York City plans to build near by a 5½-acre, 750-unit,middle-income housing project.