17 State Street

17 State Street
(July 2009)
General information
Status	Completed
Type	Office
Architectural style	Modernism
Location	17 State Street, Manhattan, New York, U.S.
Coordinates	40°42′10″N 74°00′50″W / 40.70278°N 74.01389°W / 40.70278; -74.01389
Completed	1988
Owner	RFR Holding
Management	RFR Realty
Height
Roof	542 ft (165 m)
Technical details
Floor count	42
Floor area	525,000 sq ft (48,800 m2)
Design and construction
Architect(s)	Roy Gee of Emery Roth & Sons
Structural engineer	DeSimone Consulting Engineers
References
[1][2][3]

17 State Street is a 42-story office building along State Street and Battery Park in the Financial District of Lower Manhattan in New York City. Completed in 1988, it was designed by Roy Gee for Emery Roth and Sons for developers William Kaufman Organization and JMB Realty. The building is shaped like a quarter round, with a curved glass facade facing New York Harbor. At ground level, large aluminum columns surround a lobby and elevator hall. Next to the lobby was a public exhibition space called "New York Unearthed", which was operated by the South Street Seaport Museum from 1990 to 2005. The building has a total floor area of 525,000 sq ft (48,800 m²); each story was designed for small tenants.

The building, a speculative development, replaced the 23-story headquarters of the Seamen's Church Institute of New York and New Jersey, which had been completed by 1969. Construction of the current skyscraper started in 1985, and the building was nearly empty when it was completed three years later. The exhibition space at the building's base was constructed following a controversy over the destruction of potential artifacts on the site. The Teachers Insurance and Annuity Association of America bought 17 State Street in 1989 and sold it to Steve Witkoff in 1998. RFR Holding has owned the building since 1999.