Somerset Development aims to turn the once glorious Bell Labs headquarters into a mixed-used town center, Fortune reports.
Designed by Eero Saarinen in the late 1950s, the two-million-sf, steel-and-glass building was one of the best-funded and successful corporate research laboratories in the world.
According to Fortune, President of Somerset Development, Ralph Zucker, swooped in when he found out that a deal to sell the headquarters to Preferred Real Estate Investments, which was planning on demolishing the site, crumbled.
Because there isn’t much demand for massive office buildings, and Zucker has no interest in turning it into a museum, he is planning instead to convert the iconic structure into a vibrant town center filled with restaurants, shops, and offices.
“An urban oasis in the middle of the suburbs,” Zucker told Fortune. “As well as a monument to American ingenuity.”
Read the full story on Fortune.
Related Stories
Mixed-Use | Oct 2, 2020
Zaha Hadid Architects unveils 2 Murray Road in Hong Kong
The project reinterprets the structural forms and layering of a Bauhinia bud about to blossom.
Reconstruction & Renovation | Sep 30, 2020
SOM reimagines former Cook County Hospital into mixed-use destination
The project is the first phase of a proposed $1 billion redevelopment plan for the area in Chicago.
Sustainability | Sep 29, 2020
Heatherwick Studio creates a new concept for San Francisco’s Piers 30-32
The new vision is dubbed The Cove.
Mixed-Use | Sep 23, 2020
SOM-designed waterfront neighborhood will include 1,045-foot-tall tower
The project will focus on harnessing the sea and the sun to create a low-carbon waterfront community.
Mixed-Use | Sep 7, 2020
Google proposes 40-acre redevelopment that includes nearly 2,000 housing units
Lendlease will manage the design and construction, as a partner in a multi-development deal struck last year between the two companies.
Mixed-Use | Sep 3, 2020
10 Design will redevelop the Nanjing Dajiaochang Airport
The old military airport will become a contemporary mixed-use destination.
Mixed-Use | Aug 17, 2020
New Sydney towers will have the world’s first AI-driven facade system
SOM and Fender Katsalidis are designing the project.
Mixed-Use | Aug 4, 2020
San Jose’s new tallest building tops out
Steinberg Hart designed the project.
Mixed-Use | Jul 27, 2020
$92 million reconstruction of St. Petersburg Municipal Pier completes
Rogers Partners, ASD | SKY, and landscape architect Ken Smith Workshop designed the project.
Mixed-Use | Jul 22, 2020
Skanska selects Pickard Chilton to design innovative office tower in Bellevue, Wash.
The 800,000-gsf mixed-use project is located at 10660 NE 8th Street.
