The building is 55 stories high and contains 2.1 million square feet (195,096 m²) of office space. The tower’s architectural spire is 255.5 ft (77.9 m) tall and was placed on December 15, 2007. The tower includes three escalators and a total of 52 elevators: 50 to serve the offices and two leading to the New York City Subway‘s mezzanine below ground, for the 42nd Street–Bryant Park/Fifth Avenue station. As part of the building’s construction, a passageway was also built under the north side of 42nd Street connecting with the Times Square–42nd Street/Port Authority Bus Terminal station. The passageway has never been used, but as part of the reconstruction of 42nd Street Shuttle from 2019 to 2022, the passageway would be opened and a new entrance would be built on the north side of 42nd Street between Broadway and Sixth Avenue.
Several buildings were demolished to make way for the tower. Among them was the Hotel Diplomat, a 13-story structure which had occupied the site at 108 West 43rd Street since 1911, and Henry Miller’s Theatre, which was rebuilt and reopened at its previous location. The building’s tenants include Bank of America as the anchor tenant and Marathon Asset Management, and the tower’s platinum LEED rating and modern column-free office space has enticed tenants from all over the city. The Bank of America Tower is considered a worldwide model for green architecture in skyscrapers. The building’s Urban Garden Room at 43rd Street and Sixth Avenue is open to the public as part of the city’s privately owned public space (POPS) program.
The design of the building makes it environmentally friendly, using technologies such as floor-to-ceiling insulated glazing to contain heat and maximize natural light, and an automatic daylight dimming system. The tower also features a grey water system, which captures rainwater for reuse. Bank of America states that the building is made largely of recycled and recyclable materials. Air entering the building is filtered, as is common, but the air exhausted is cleaned as well. Bank of America Tower is the first skyscraper designed to attain a Platinum LEED Certification.
