Crédit Agricole CIB Building (New York City, New York)

 office building, skyscraper, 1964_construction

609-foot, 45-story International-style office building completed in 1964 for the Uris Brothers. Designed by Shreve, Lamb & Harmon Associates, it was originally knows as the J.C. Penney Building. When the retailer moved its headquarters to Plano, Texas in 1988, the building underwent an extensive renovation by architects Skidmore, Owings & Merrill, and in 1990 the building was renamed the Credit Lyonnais Building for its new anchor tenant. It was renamed after the Calyon Corporation which resulted from the merger of Crédit Agricole Indosuez and the corporate and investment banking division of the Crédit Lyonnais corporation as a result of the takeover of the latest by Crédit Agricole S.A. in 2002. Calyon was since renamed Credit Agricole Corporate and Investment Bank in 2010. It used to serve as the headquarters of PricewaterhouseCoopers before they moved to 300 Madison Avenue. It is now Credit Agricole CIB's US headquarters.

The facade is clad in metal and glass, with thin aluminum mullions and metal spandrel panels in either black or grey. The main tower slab is four bays wide, with five window panes in each bay on the east and west faces, and four panes at the north and south. Facing the avenue, the two center bays both have two sets of revolving glass doors, covered by a steel canopy; the other two bays have glass infill. Most of the spandrels on the upper floors are light grey to match the piers, but some are black.

On the north and south elevations, the main slab is 12 bays wide and is bracketed by a pair of 10-story wings that are set back two bays from the east facade. Most of the spandrels on both the lower wings and the main north-south facades are black. The wings span a total of 14 bays, and are themselves bracketed by lower 5-story wings at the west end, four bays wide. At the rear of the main tower slab, above the wings, there are also a west extension, setting back above the 16th and 21st floors.

The ground floor is recessed below the wings on the north and south sides along 52nd & 53rd Streets, and there are also secondary entrances near the middle of these facades. There are several loading docks on 52nd Street, near the west end. There are three mechanical floors at the top, with black metal vents recessed between the piers. Besides the lobby, the ground floor is occupied by Ocean Prime restaurant, a Starbucks coffee, and Cafe 53 deli.