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Times Square may be the “Crossroads of the World,” but soon, it’ll also be the hallway to your new apartment.
In a bold step to tackle New York’s long-simmering housing crisis, the state has officially greenlit the transformation of 5 Times Square—once the glitzy home of EY—into a 38-story residential tower with 1,250 apartments, including 313 units deemed affordable. Set to open to tenants in 2027, the tower is part of the city’s “office-to-apartment” renaissance, fueled by post-pandemic remote work and a not-so-silent real estate reckoning.
Located between 41st and 42nd Streets on Seventh Avenue, the nearly one-million-square-foot building will shift from 77% vacant to fully residential, thanks to a state-backed plan led by developer RXR. Most of the new units will be studios, and while “affordable” in NYC means different things to different people, rents are expected to average about $2,174, less than half the typical Midtown one-bedroom going for over $4,500, per StreetEasy.
“Confronting a decades-long housing crisis requires creating new housing in every neighborhood at an accelerated pace—even here at the ‘Crossroad of the World’ in Times Square,” said Mayor Eric Adams. “The transformation of 5 Times Square from an underutilized office building into 1,250 new homes capitalizes on hard-fought Adams and Hochul administration victories while fulfilling my plan to build 100,000 new homes in Manhattan over the next decade.”
The project is made possible by a suite of legislative upgrades, including a juicy 90% property tax break for 30 years and the removal of outdated residential density caps. It's also one of the flashiest wins yet for the mayor’s “Manhattan Plan.”
This isn’t just a one-off. The old Pfizer HQ nearby is becoming 1,600 apartments. Over in FiDi, former offices of JPMorgan Chase and the National Enquirer are being reborn as rental homes. In total, more than 10,000 units are underway in NYC through office conversions.
If all goes to plan, the lights at 5 Times Square will stay on long after tourists head home—this time, glowing from kitchen windows instead of conference rooms.