From 1973 to 1983, the Whitney Museum of American Art maintained a branch museum on the third floor of the building; space was rented for $1 a year and the operating cost was paid for by several Financial District corporations. Since 1993, the building has been owned by Retirement Systems of Alabama who purchased it out of bankruptcy for $202 million from Olympia & York. The new owners hired Kohn Pedersen Fox to design cosmetic remodeling plans in addition to spending over $20 million to remove asbestos from the building and install a back-up electrical system. In early 2001, Goldman Sachs briefly considered leasing space in 55 Water Street and proposed building a 13-story, addition on the plaza site which would have included seven large trading floors. The plan also proposed adding to the north tower. To compensate for the loss of public space, Goldman Sachs proposed paying for various improvements of public space nearby. The plans were quickly dropped and Goldman Sachs cited economic conditions as the reason although some neighborhood residents had begun to voice opposition. On October 29, 2012, the building sustained damage related to Hurricane Sandy when over of water flooded three underground levels and rose to waist-high in the lobby. On November 23, while repairs were being conducted a fire caused injuries to 27 people, mostly those working on the lower levels. To prepare for future storms the building's owner plans to relocate electrical equipment from the basement to the third floor starting in late 2013. A flood control infrastructure was also installed around the perimeter of the building to mitigate any flooding should a storm of similar magnitude affect the location in the future.
Design
On the north side of the tower is a 15-story wing with a sloping facade and terraces facing the river. The largest terrace forms a privately owned public space known as the "Elevated Acre", about 30 feet above street level and accessible via escalator and stairs from the sidewalk on Water Street. The creation of public space allowed the developers to increase the total square footage of 55 Water Street beyond what zoning regulations would otherwise have allowed on the site. The Elevated Acre was originally planned as part of a series of high-level public spaces along East River, to be connected with walkways running above the street level. The Elevated Acre is available for rental as a venue for special events and weddings and during the summer months occasionally hosts free movie screenings open to the community. The original plaza was designed by M. Paul Friedberg & Associates, and had the same red brick tiles as his Jeannette Park to the south of the tower. The building, its plazas and Jeannette Park were renovated and redesigned by Lee S. Jablin of Harman Jablin Architects. The Elevated Acre was renovated in 2005 by Rogers Marvel Architects and Ken Smith Landscape Architects. 55 Water Street was the last major building built by Uris Buildings Corporation.
