Western Union Building

The Western Union Building has about 802,000 square feet of floor area in total, including 800,000 square feet of office and 2,000 square feet of retail, according to NYC PLUTO 26v2. These are the city's estimates for the whole building, not space that is available.

The Landmarks Preservation Commission's building records date the Western Union Building to 1928-1930, designed by Voorhees, Gmelin & Walker (Ralph Walker). The building is 23 floors tall.

Voorhees, Gmelin & Walker (Ralph Walker), according to the Landmarks Preservation Commission's building records, which list the style as Dutch and German Expressionist and its original use as an office building.

Yes. The Landmarks Preservation Commission designated the Western Union Building an individual landmark on October 1, 1991 (LP-01749). Changes to a designated landmark, including many storefront, window and signage changes, need a permit from the Commission.

The Western Union Building is at 56 Hudson Street in Tribeca, Manhattan. City records list 56-70 Hudson Street, 79-97 Thomas Street, 150-166 West Broadway and 2-24 Worth Street on the same tax lot (BBL 1001440040). A space listed on Leasemark at any of these addresses shows up on this page.

56 Hudson Street is in ZIP code 10013, according to the city's tax lot records (NYC PLUTO 26v2) and the Department of Finance's assessment roll. The Western Union Building is at 56 Hudson Street, New York, NY 10013, in Tribeca.

The lot is in the C6-2A zoning district. PLUTO lists a built floor area ratio (FAR) of 15.29 and a maximum commercial FAR of 6 for this lot.

The closest subway station to the Western Union Building is Franklin St (the 1 train), about 750 feet away in a straight line, roughly 3 minutes on foot. Also nearby: Chambers St (the 1, 2 and 3 trains), 3 min walk; Chambers St (the A, C, 2, 3, E, R and W trains, connected to Cortlandt St and World Trade Center and Park Place), 5 min walk. Walking times are straight-line estimates; the street route is longer.

The NYC Department of Finance's 2026/27 assessment roll lists 60 HUDSON OWNERS LLC as the owner of record of the Western Union Building (BBL 1001440040). Big buildings are usually held through a company set up for that one property, so the name on the roll can differ from the landlord's brand or the managing agent. Deeds and mortgages for the lot are public in ACRIS, the city's property records system.

The Western Union Building's 2024 Local Law 84 benchmarking filing got no ENERGY STAR score, and Local Law 33 letter grades come from that score, so the filing does not yield an A to D grade. Its site energy use came to 292.4 kBtu per square foot. Its greenhouse gas emissions were about 34,247 metric tons of CO2e (33.31 kg per square foot).

At its 2024 energy use, the Western Union Building comes to about 25,366 metric tons of CO2e a year under Local Law 97's coefficients, against a limit of 17,863 tons for 2024 to 2029: about 7,503 tons over, an estimated penalty of $2,011,000 a year. From 2030 the limit drops to 10,273 tons and the same energy use counts as about 13,051 tons, about 2,779 tons over, or an estimated $745,000 a year unless the building cuts its emissions. This is an estimate from the owner's 2024 benchmarking filing using the coefficients and per-use limits in the law and the Department of Buildings rule, at $268 per ton over. It is not the building's Local Law 97 report, which can count credits and deductions this estimate cannot.

In the 12 months to October 2026, the Department of Buildings issued first permits for 10 jobs at the Western Union Building. In the last two years, interior work was permitted on 25 floors (floors 1 to 25 and the basement). The newest build-out, on floors 13 and 14, was first permitted in October 2026 (mechanical; filed cost estimate $328,000). A sidewalk shed permit here is active until November 19, 2026. These are the Department of Buildings' DOB NOW work permits for tax lot 1001440040. A permit is approval to do the work; it does not say who the work is for or whether it is finished.

The Department of Finance's 2026/27 assessment roll lists a taxable value of $227.3 million for the Western Union Building. At the Class 4 rate of 10.848% (tax year 2025/26, the latest rate the Department of Finance lists), that is about $24.7 million a year, roughly $30.74 per square foot of floor area, before abatements such as ICAP. The city's property tax records for BBL 1001440040 show the actual bill.

For tax year 2026/27, the NYC Department of Finance puts the market value of the Western Union Building at $527.9 million ($29.1 million of it land) and its assessed value at $237.6 million, the 45% of market value the city assesses for Class 4 property. The city's market value rose 16% from 2022/23 ($456.6 million) to 2026/27.

Owners registered one storefront at the Western Union Building for December 31, 2025, the newest annual filing the city has published, and it stood vacant that day. At least one storefront here has been reported vacant at the end of every year since 2023. These are the owners' filings with the Department of Finance under Local Law 157, so a storefront vacant on December 31, 2025 may have been leased since. Owners and brokers can list a storefront on Leasemark for free.

No space at 56 Hudson Street is listed on Leasemark right now. Owners and brokers can list space here for free, and tenants can post a requirement to be matched when space opens up.