User:MainlyTwelve/51 Astor Place

51 Astor Place is an office building in the Astor Place neighborhood of New York City. It was developed by Edward J. Minskoff Equities. It is home to the offices of IBM's IBM Watson Group division. Like neighboring building Astor Place Tower, the building was controversial for its architectural style.

History
The building was built on spec, without an anchor tenant for the building. The developer, Edward J. Minskoff, hoped to gain tenants from the financial and technology sectors.

The building was completed in 2013.

Usage
51 Astor is a mixed-use building. The anchor tenant is IBM. Others include St. John's University, Mail Online, and a subsidiary of the The Carlyle Group, Claren Road Asset Management.

Design
The building was designed by Fumihiko Maki, who also designed the original World Trade Center. The developer referred to the structure as "black glass with black granite and silver fins".

Controversy
The Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation opposed the building's development, largely due to the fact that the building's style is markedly different from that of the surrounding neighborhood.