JPMorgan Chase unveils new 60-story headquarters, reshaping New York City's skyline

NEW YORK (AP) — JPMorgan Chase unveiled its new 60-story headquarters to the public on Monday, one of the first major office buildings to be constructed after the COVID-19 pandemic and one that will remake the New York City skyline for decades.

The bronze and steel tower at 270 Park, which reportedly cost $3 billion, replaced the Union Carbide Building, which sat on a full city block between 47th and 48th Street and Park Avenue and Madison Avenue for nearly 60 years. JPMorgan expects to house roughly 10,000 of its 24,000 New York-based employees in the new building, with some employees starting their first workday at the tower at the same time as the company holds its ribbon cutting ceremony.

“For 225 years, JPMorgan Chase has always been deeply rooted in New York City. The opening of our new global headquarters is not only a significant investment in New York, but also testament to our commitment to our clients and employees worldwide,” said Jamie Dimon, CEO and chairman of JPMorgan, in a statement.

The completion of the new 270 Park is a major accomplishment for Dimon, who has been one of loudest voices calling for employees to report to an office for work. The building was designed before the COVID-19 pandemic made remote work more common. The bank held meetings to consider halting work on the building to either redesign it or scale it back, but Dimon was insistent that work should continue as designed.

Both politicians and CEOs, particularly Wall Street CEOs, have been vocal about the need for companies to have offices. New York politicians must answer to local businesses that have existed for decades and are used by workers to eat, groom, shop and drink at.

“To have this investment at this extraordinary time is a testament to that New York audacity and ambition,” said Gov. Kathy Hochul, who attended as part of the ribbon cutting ceremony. The ceremony ended with the playing of “Empire State of Mind” by Jay-Z and Alicia Keyes.

At 1,388 feet, the new building designed by famed architect Norman Foster, is taller than the Empire State Building’s roofline and is now the fourth-largest building in Manhattan. The building contains 2.5 million square feet and a block’s worth of public space. The bank also commissioned five new artworks for the building, adding to the bank’s already substantial art collection. The bank will house its trading operations in the building across eight floors, and has contracted out several food and coffee vendors to create a city-within-a-building concept.

The building was a major engineering and architectural undertaking by Foster, the building’s lead architect and Tishman Speyer, who handled construction and engineering. The old Union Carbide building had to be systematically demolished over a period of two years, most of that demolition happening during the pandemic. Construction was complicated by the fact the site sits above the rails of the Metro North Railroad and the Long Island Railroad that run underneath Park Avenue into Grand Central Terminal.

For years, JPMorgan has worked out of several buildings around Grand Central Terminal, a result of the bank’s growth and acquisitions over the years.

Corporate execs and investment bankers still use 383 Madison Ave, the former headquarters of Bear Stearns, and 277 Park, which housed Chemical Bank, also a predecessor of the current JPMorgan Chase. Parts of JPMorgan started using the Union Carbide Building in the mid-1990s, but the bank always struggled to fit all its operations in the building. The building was designed to house 3,000 employees when it was built in the 1960s, and JPMorgan housed more than 6,000 there within a few short years of moving in.

With 270 Park finished, the bank says it will now start a renovation of 383 Madison. Dimon said the bank has purchased a few other adjacent properties near 270 Park to centralize its operations around its new headquarters for the long term.

The exterior of JPMorgan Chase's new headquarters at 270 Park Avenue in New York is shown on Tuesday, Oct. 21, 2025. (AP Photo/Ken Sweet)

The exterior of JPMorgan Chase's new headquarters at 270 Park Avenue in New York is shown on Tuesday, Oct. 21, 2025. (AP Photo/Ken Sweet)

JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon, fourth from left, prepares to cut the ribbon on a new JPMorgan Chase building during a ceremony in New York, Tuesday, Oct. 21, 2025. Also holding the ribbon, from left to right: Jerry Speyer, Rob Speyer, NY Governor Kathy Hochul, Dimon, Norman Foster, Deepak Chopra and David Arena. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)

JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon speaks during a ribbon cutting ceremony in New York, Tuesday, Oct. 21, 2025. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)

JPMorgan Chase employees and supporters listen to speeches in the lobby of the new building during a ribbon cutting ceremony in New York, Tuesday, Oct. 21, 2025. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)

JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon, fourth from left, cuts the ribbon on a new JPMorgan Chase building during a ceremony in New York, Tuesday, Oct. 21, 2025. Also holding the ribbon, from left to right: Jerry Speyer, Rob Speyer, NY Governor Kathy Hochul, Dimon, Norman Foster, Deepak Chopra and David Arena. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)

FILE - Chase Bank ATMs are shown, Thursday, March 25, 2021, in New York. (AP Photo/Mark Lennihan, File)

PITTSBURGH (AP) — Konnor Griffin endured plenty of emotions when the 19-year-old shortstop learned the Pittsburgh Pirates were calling him up to the majors just a week into the season.

Shock was not one of them.

“I'm ready for this,” Griffin said Friday, just hours before making his major league debut against Baltimore at PNC Park.

He certainly looked ready, delivering an RBI double off Baltimore's Kyle Bradish in his first at-bat to help the Pirates to a 5-4 victory.

The Pirates are betting more big moments are on the way after making Griffin the first position player to arrive in the majors before his 20th birthday since Juan Soto did it with Washington in 2018.

Just 628 days after Pittsburgh selected him with the ninth pick in the 2024 amateur draft, the athletic and mustachioed 6-foot-3 Griffin found a No. 6 jersey hanging in his locker at PNC Park and his name penciled in the seventh spot in the lineup against the Orioles.

On the surface, it seems fast. The reality is that Griffin checked every box — and checked every box quickly — while sprinting through the Pirates' system. The final steps came over the last week when he hit .438 in a handful of games for Triple-A Indianapolis.

Pittsburgh manager Don Kelly felt Griffin was “pressing” near the end of spring training, when he smashed three homers but also hit just .171. The club made Griffin one of the last cuts before the opening-day roster was set. Yet rather than sulk, he headed to Triple-A, made a couple of adjustments, and saw immediate results.

“He just went right down and hit his stride and was able to reset in a couple of days,” Kelly said. “Which again, for anybody, is really impressive, especially for a 19-year-old kid whose hopes and dreams were to make the big leagues.”

That doesn't make Griffin unlike the millions of kids who pick up a bat when they're in elementary school. It's everything that has come after it, however, that has set Griffin apart. He raced through the lower levels of the minors last year, hitting 21 homers, driving in 94 runs, and stealing 65 bases while showcasing the range to play one of the game's most demanding defensive positions.

Yet it's not just the tangible on-field things that won the organization over. Griffin has long carried himself with the maturity of someone far older. He married his high school sweetheart, Dendy, over the winter. And she was the first one he told after Indianapolis manager Eric Patterson called Griffin to his hotel room in Columbus early Thursday to tell him he was heading to The Show.

The next 24 hours were a blur. From the short drive from Columbus to Pittsburgh to the scramble for the Mississippi native's family to make it to the ballpark that's tucked hard against the Allegheny River in time for Friday's first pitch.

Finally, just after noon, Griffin was able to relax. He trotted out to shortstop and took grounders, his frame and arm making him look very much the part of the role he's been preparing for since he was 5.

Griffin's skillset has drawn comparisons to the likes of Hall of Famer Cal Ripken Jr., heady territory for someone less than two years removed from his high school graduation. Still, he's not getting ahead of himself.

“Today is the first day of carving out a legacy that I want to build,” he said. "And I’m ready to do that and try to be right up there with those top guys.”

Griffin is the latest in a string of high-profile arrivals in Pittsburgh, from reigning NL Cy Young Award winner Paul Skenes to rookie right-hander Bubba Chandler to catcher Henry Davis.

The future that's been talked about since general manager Ben Cherington was hired in late 2019 is finally arriving. And perhaps it's telling of how far the club has come that Griffin is joining a roster that has undergone a significant upgrade in recent months with the additions of All-Star second baseman Brandon Lowe, All-Star first baseman/outfielder Ryan O'Hearn and veteran designated hitter Marcell Ozuna.

“This team is loaded,” Griffin said. “I get to come in here and just be a piece of this puzzle.”

Perhaps a very big piece. For a very long time. The Pirates and Griffin have engaged in talks about a contract extension that would lock him up for most of the next decade.

Griffin demurred when asked about it on Friday, though he made his intentions very clear.

“All I’m going to say is, I want to be a Pirate for a long time,” he said. "This is a special place and I’m thankful to be here.”

Perhaps most importantly because it means he can shed the “top prospect” label and stop focusing so much on his individual development and instead turn his attention to helping the Pirates make a playoff push for the first time since the mid-2010s.

“Now it’s time to take all the skills that I’ve learned,” he said, "all the adjustments I’ve made. It’s time to go put them on the field and go win some games.”

AP MLB: https://apnews.com/mlb

Pittsburgh Pirates' Konnor Griffin celebrates after hitting an RBI double, his first Major League career hit and run, during the second inning of a baseball game against the Baltimore Orioles in Pittsburgh, Friday, April 3, 2026. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar)

Pittsburgh Pirates' Konnor Griffin (6) is introduced for his major league debut before a baseball game against the Baltimore Orioles in Pittsburgh, Friday, April 3, 2026. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar)

Pittsburgh Pirates' Konnor Griffin sprints for home to score a run during the second inning of a baseball game against the San Diego Padres in Pittsburgh, Friday, April 3, 2026. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar)

Pittsburgh Pirates' Konnor Griffin hits an RBI double, his first Major League career hit and run, during the second inning of a baseball game against the Baltimore Orioles in Pittsburgh, Friday, April 3, 2026. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar)

Pittsburgh Pirates' Konnor Griffin, right, follows manager Don Kelly, center, and owner Bob Nutting into a meeting with reporters before making his Major League Baseball debut in the Pirates' home-opener against the Baltimore Orioles, Friday, April 3, 2026, in Pittsburgh. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar)

Pittsburgh Pirates' Konnor Griffin meets with reporters before making his Major League Baseball debut in the Pirates' home-opener against the Baltimore Orioles, Friday, April 3, 2026, in Pittsburgh. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar)

Pittsburgh Pirates' Konnor Griffin meets with reporters before making his Major League Baseball debut in the Pirates' home-opener against the Baltimore Orioles, Friday, April 3, 2026, in Pittsburgh. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar)