CBS Building

The CBS Building in New York City, also known as Black Rock, is the headquarters of CBS Corporation. Located at 51 West 52nd Street at the corner of Sixth Avenue (Avenue of the Americas), the Eero Saarinen-designed building opened in 1965. It is 38 stories and 490 feet (150 m) tall with approximately 872,000 square feet (81,000 m²) rentable of space. The interior and furnishings were designed by Saarinen and Florence Knoll.

Background

The building was the result of intricate planning between Eero Saarinen and CBS's then-president, Frank Stanton. Its concrete structural system was developed by Mario Salvadori. Unlike some major skyscrapers built in that section of midtown Manhattan during the 1950s and 60s, its pillars are more dominant than its windows. It received its nickname "Black Rock" for its dark granite cladding.

The company moved to its new headquarters from longterm lease space at 485 Madison Avenue at 52nd Street. Prior to the building's completion, CBS moved its radio network studios—the CBS News network radio studios on the 17th floor of 485 Madison and other studios across the street in the CBS Studio Building—to the CBS Broadcast Center on 57th Street starting in 1964. The TV news studios, based mostly at the Graybar Building at Grand Central Terminal, also moved to the Broadcast Center around that period of time, starting with the CBS Evening News studio-newsroom in 1963.