Empire State Building to Undergo $550 Million Worth of Upgrades and Restoration

You might not know the name W&H Properties, but if you’re in New York, you’ve likely passed by a few dozen of the iconic buildings they manage. Most notable among them is the Empire State Building, which they took to managing just over three years ago. They’ve just announced that it’s time for a good spit polish on the famous building, one to the tune of $550 million. For the next couple of years, it will be a whole slew of upgrades and restoration, trying to return the building to its original luster and getting it a little more up to date. Here are some highlights:

A complete restoration and recreation of the famous Art Deco lobby, long hidden by 1960s “modernization,” along with special entrances and new traffic flow to separate office tenants and their visitors from tourists visiting the building’s observatories.

Renovation of the entire Observatory experience, including the 86th and 102nd floors, with Art Deco upgrades, as well as enhanced visitor queuing and retail areas on the 80th floor.

And this one was our favorite:

Installation of state-of-the-art technology throughout the building.

That can only mean one thing: robots. Lots and lots of robots.

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