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Citigroup Inc. (NYSE: C)
October 11, 2006
Citigroup "Tops Out" Two Court Square in Long Island City, NY
Queens, New York – Citigroup marked an important milestone today in the construction of its Two Court Square building in Long Island City. Queens Borough President Helen Marshall joined Citibank North America President Maura Markus and Citigroup Chief Operations & Technology Officer Kevin Kessinger to celebrate the "topping out" of construction of Citigroup's new 15-story, 528,000-square-foot building in Long Island City, Queens.
Tishman Speyer President & CEO Jerry Speyer also attended the ceremony and watched as workers from Turner Construction placed the final steel beam on the new state-of-the-art building, which will bring an additional 1,200 permanent jobs to Queens.
The $290 million building is designed to be environmentally friendly, with a storm-water recycling program, high-efficiency fixtures, workstations designed so that 90% of employees will enjoy outside views and other innovative features.
Citigroup has designed the building to achieve a "Silver"- LEED's (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) rating or higher from the United States Green Building Council's LEED for the facility, as part of its commitment to reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 10% at its sites worldwide.
"Citigroup is the largest private employer in New York City. We are proud to call New York home to our headquarters and to display our name on the skyline of Long Island City. Today is the culmination of a collaborative effort between Citigroup, government officials, developers, the city of New York and the people who worked so hard to construct this building," said Citigroup Chairman and CEO Charles Prince.
Citigroup has more than 25,000 employees in New York City and is the largest private sector employer in Queens with 4,900 jobs, which will grow to 6,000 when Two Court Square opens. Citigroup has approximately 40,000 employees in the tri-state area and 32,000 in New York State.
"Citigroup continues to provide opportunities to create capacity for job growth in Long Island City and Queens County," said Queens Borough President Marshall. "Citigroup's expansion is another sign of their long-term investment to the local community and a continued sign of confidence for Queens County. "
During its construction, Citigroup's Two Court Square will generate more than 1,000 jobs. The project is also on track to surpass its commitment to set aside 20% of the project's contracts for minority- and women-owned businesses.
"It is great to have one world's largest financial services company as a friend and neighbor," said Councilman Eric Gioia. "The topping out ceremony is another step in the development of Long Island City and a significant addition to the commercial development of the area."
Construction of Citigroup's Court Square Two building in Long Island City is expected to be completed in 2007. When completed, Citigroup will occupy two million square feet in Long Island City and 10.4 million square feet throughout New York City.
"Long Island City has become a world class business district and this project represents a major milestone in its evolution," said Jerry I. Speyer, President and Chief Executive Officer of Tishman Speyer. "We are proud of our work with Citigroup to help foster economic development in Long Island City."
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Citigroup
Citigroup, the leading global financial services company has some 200 million customer accounts and does business in more than 100 countries, providing consumers, corporations, governments and institutions with a broad range of financial products and services, including consumer banking and credit, corporate and investment banking, securities brokerage, and wealth management. Major brand names under Citigroup's trademark red umbrella include Citibank, CitiFinancial, Primerica, Smith Barney and Banamex. Additional information may be found at www.citigroup.com.