(Yahoo! Finance) - Legacy projects come in all shapes and sizes.
For oil baron John D. Rockefeller and Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates, there were namesake philanthropic foundations. Walmart heiress Alice Walton, likely the world's richest woman, built the renowned Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art in Arkansas. Then there's President Trump's 90,000-square-foot ballroom, which will be attached to the White House.
One solid legacy contender is JPMorgan Chase's (JPM) new $3 billion skyscraper in midtown Manhattan.
Even when CEO Jamie Dimon, who is 69 years old, is no longer running the nation's largest bank, its audacious new home at 270 Park Avenue will endure long after. You might say that the building stands as both a symbol of JPMorgan's dominance over US banking and the bank's faith in New York City as the financial capital of the world.
And a piece of Dimon's legacy.
"We basically move paper, money. We're not used to doing this," Dimon said Tuesday, minutes ahead of the official ribbon cutting for the 60-story headquarters. "Now you have something permanent that will be here for 50 or 100 years, so thank you."
The massive six-year project included rerouting a portion of the subway system — and raising the enormous bronze-clad structure. What is left is an all-electric spire that sprawls a quarter-mile into the sky and will house the majority (not all!) of the bank's sprawling 24,000-person New York City workforce.
Bedecked wall to wall with travertine limestone, the building's lobby comes complete with a 3D-printed bronze flagpole brandishing an American flag, which is blown by machines to match the wind speed outside.
But there's more.
The building includes a fitness center, onsite medical services, a 19-restaurant food hall with food-to-desk delivery, an Irish pub, and indoor lighting synced to the human body's circadian rhythm. The building's designers even developed the office's own signature scent.
The structure also offers very high ceilings, according to renowned British architect Norman Foster, who served as the building's lead architect and is known for designing iconic landmarks, including the Gherkin in London and Apple's circular spaceship facility in Cupertino, Calif.
"This is a 60-story building," Foster said while speaking earlier at the same event. "If it was a conventional building, in terms of its floors to ceilings, it would probably be well over 100 stories."
For meditation star Deepak Chopra, who also advised on the new building's health and wellness elements, the building is actually alive. "We dedicate this space not only as a building but as a living organism of creativity," Chopra said earlier the same day.
Meanwhile, New York Gov. Kathy Hochul touted the project's construction as emblematic of the rebound in Manhattan's real estate market after the pandemic. "Do not bet against New York City. Do not bet against our financial services sector," Hochul said inside the JPMorgan lobby.
Without question, the tower is a bold bet on New York City's future as the financial world's center. It's also a reminder that JPMorgan's banking lineage with the city dates back over two centuries to a Manhattan water provider started by US founding father Aaron Burr.
For Dimon, however, there's nothing better than the new 270 Park Avenue tower.
As he told a crowd in September while hosting a barbecue for the construction unions that built the enormous structure, "This location is the best location in the best city in the best country in the world."
"All of my grandparents were Greek immigrants who never finished high school, but I know they might be watching and be proud of what we've done and what we've built here," Dimon added during his Tuesday speech.
Then he turned his back on the crowd to salute the American flag.
By David Hollerith - Senior Reporter
