Allianz Building (New York City, New York)

 office building, skyscraper, 1970_construction, Modern (architecture)

670-foot, 48-story International-style office building completed in 1970. Designed by Emery Roth & Sons for the Uris Brothers, it was built on the site of the Capitol Theater from 1919, and originally called the Uris Building.

It has a facade of dark-grey glass accentuated by narrow striping and topped by a row of openings at the top, behind which is mechanical equipment. The north and south facades span 10 bays, and the east and west have seven bays. Each bay has five window panes that project out slightly from the black metal facade, with the outer two separate from the middle three by thin vertical stainless-steel mullions that begin at the 2nd floor and run uninterrupted to the openings at the top of the building.

The associated Uris Theatre (later renamed the George Gershwin Theatre in 1983) adjoin the office building at the west end, and is the largest Broadway theater with a seating capacity of 1,940. A smaller theater, the Circle in the Square, which a capacity of 650, is also in the space. The Uris Brothers sold the building to the Kinney Corporation, which in 1974 faced with 30% vacancy rates took the building into bankruptcy before it was taken over by the Paramount Investment Group, which later renamed the building Paramount Plaza. It underwent a renovation in 1982.

Besides the lobby and Circle in the Square Theatre, the ground floor is occupied by a TD Bank branch, Princi Bakery, and Azalea restaurant. There are also several bays of loading docks on the north facade on 51st Street.