Difference between revisions of "Rockefeller Center"
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Legend states that Rockefeller Center was built atop what was Columbia's second campus. This is only partially correct. Columbia's campus from the 1830s to the 1890s was indeed located in [[Midtown]], but it was further east, near [[Madison Avenue]]. | Legend states that Rockefeller Center was built atop what was Columbia's second campus. This is only partially correct. Columbia's campus from the 1830s to the 1890s was indeed located in [[Midtown]], but it was further east, near [[Madison Avenue]]. | ||
| − | Columbia, however, did own the land on which Rockefeller Center was developed, and continued to reap rents from it well into the 1980s, when it was sold | + | Columbia, however, did own the land on which Rockefeller Center was developed, and continued to reap rents from it well into the 1980s, when it was sold to the Rockefellers, which provided seed funding for Columbia's endowment. |
| − | It is generally acknowledged that [[Michael Sovern|President Sovern]] made a good decision to sell Rockefeller Center for $400 million in | + | It is generally acknowledged that [[Michael Sovern|President Sovern]] made a good decision to sell Rockefeller Center for $400 million in February [[1985]]. The volatile real-estate market for the next decade swung the value of the property to as low as $75 million, and it would not reach $400 million again until the late 1990s. In the meantime, with cash proceeds coming from the sale, Columbia's endowment portfolio grew at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 17%. Compare that with the approximately $3 million in rent that Rockefeller Center generated yearly. |
[[Category:New York City]] | [[Category:New York City]] | ||
Revision as of 23:21, 16 December 2007
NBC is here, as is a tiny but famous skating rink. You may have seen it on TV? Read about it in Catcher in the Rye?
Stay away! It's filled with endless lines of tourists hoping (futilely) to get into a taping of Conan.
Ayn Rand fans should watch out for the statue of Atlas, on the west side of Broadway just north of the main approach to the GE Building.
Columbia connection
Legend states that Rockefeller Center was built atop what was Columbia's second campus. This is only partially correct. Columbia's campus from the 1830s to the 1890s was indeed located in Midtown, but it was further east, near Madison Avenue.
Columbia, however, did own the land on which Rockefeller Center was developed, and continued to reap rents from it well into the 1980s, when it was sold to the Rockefellers, which provided seed funding for Columbia's endowment.
It is generally acknowledged that President Sovern made a good decision to sell Rockefeller Center for $400 million in February 1985. The volatile real-estate market for the next decade swung the value of the property to as low as $75 million, and it would not reach $400 million again until the late 1990s. In the meantime, with cash proceeds coming from the sale, Columbia's endowment portfolio grew at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 17%. Compare that with the approximately $3 million in rent that Rockefeller Center generated yearly.
