Farewell Time Warner Center, Hallo Deutsche Bank Center

Next time you’re walking around Columbus Circle you may notice something’s a little different. This week, the Time Warner Center officially became the Deutsche Bank Center when a new sign was unveiled on the property.

The new sign at the Deutsche Bank Center at Columbus Circle. Photo: Phil O’Brien.

The move was first announced in May 2018, following news that WarnerMedia would move its headquarters to 30 Hudson Yards. The German bank leased over 1 million square feet of office space to house their US headquarters in the building, which was developed by Related.

Renderings show open-plan offices, large terraces, and a trading floor overlooking Central Park. Deutsche Bank HQ is currently located at 60 Wall Street and the company expects to be fully moved into their new address at One Columbus Circle by the end of the year. 5,000 employees are expected to work out of the location, many returning to work in-office for the first time since the pandemic began.

“One Columbus Circle transformed an entire neighborhood when it opened nearly 20 years ago,” Related CEO Jeff Blau said in a statement. “Today, the building continues that legacy as it becomes Deutsche Bank Center and another positive catalyst in the continued economic recovery of New York City.”

The New York Coliseum. Image courtesy of Library of Congress

Related opened the 2.8 million-square-foot towers in 2004 with Time Warner as the anchor tenant. Previously, the site was home to the New York Coliseum until 1986. Planned by Robert Moses, the structure included a windowless exhibition space attached to a 26-story office tower which was criticized in The New York Times for being “awkward” and a ”low point for New York’s public buildings.”

The history of the site is worth a deep dive. Not only did the New York Coliseum have close mafia ties throughout its existence, but the Time Warner Center was identified as a hotbed of financial intrigue in 2015, when the New York Times published a five-part report tracing the complex patterns of ownership in the building which they found had become “a way station for global money.”