On August 2, 2004, Bank of America broke ground on its 2.2 million square foot, NYC headquarters – the Bank of America Tower.
The all-glass tower would rise 57 stories above midtown Manhattan, with a giant spire taking the height to 1,200 ft. It’s currently the fourth-tallest building in New York City, and it cost $1 billion.
The next year, investment bank Goldman Sachs broke ground on its $2.4 billion headquarters in downtown NYC.
The investment bank brought an entire village to its Battery Park City digs – including several restaurants from famed restaurateur Danny Meyer, a wine store, a florist, a bakery and a barber shop.
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In 1999, a real estate analyst named Andrew Lawrence introduced the “Skyscraper Indicator.” He notes the world’s biggest buildings are typically erected on the eve of a crisis.
It all started with a building called 40 Wall Street.
At the same time, another new building, The Chrysler Building, was planning a secret spire so it could claim the title of the world’s tallest tower.
But planners for the Empire State Building had them both beat.
The year was 1929.
Certainly there’s a part of the Skyscraper Indicator which shows ‘peak hubris.’ Big companies have to show off how rich and successful they are.
But more importantly, huge skyscrapers are also an indication that it’s way too easy to borrow huge sums of money.
And that ‘easy money’ is also an indicator of the top.
Right now we’re seeing this architectural hubris moving west… to Silicon Valley.
In San Francisco there’s a $1.1 billion, 1,070-foot high tower, set to open next year.
In Simon’s explanation of how skyscrapers and the skyline suggest how the economy is going it is evident that big business decides often to build these huge extravaganzas just before large financial world crises. If that is true then who knows what we are going to face in the impending fall from grace for all these major cities housing competitive skylines to indicate their wealth.
What is the skyline around where you live and what about your own environment inside your home? That is where your wealth truly starts because what is reflecting back to you is inside of you.
Go to www.wealthyspaces.com if you want to know more about changing your own wealth through your environment