Why This Building Earns Millions Every Year (Unbelievable!)

Oh, this is the Empire State Building.

When it was built almost 100 years ago, it became the tallest building in the world by far. It was its own vertical city, housing thousands of workers, a

cafe, its own postal system, and thanks to its counterintuitive design, it became a money-making machine. Today,

almost 100 years later, this single building still pulls in more than $500 million every year, beating every modern skyscraper around today. This is all

thanks to the incredible long-term thinking by its designers who figured out how to overcome strict building rules and assemble this engineering giant in record-breaking tile. But how

did they pull it off? And why is it still so profitable? In the 1920s, cities around the world were changing.

The economy was booming, and with new steel frame construction methods, it became easier to build taller and stronger buildings. Nowhere was this

stronger buildings. Nowhere was this more important than in New York City.

With limited space and an ever growing population, the only way to build was up. This started what became known as

up. This started what became known as the race into the sky. And by the end of the 20s, developers began constructing several skyscrapers around Manhattan,

all aiming to be the tallest in the world. Most of this was driven by Higgo.

world. Most of this was driven by Higgo.

But building upwards also presented an enormous financial opportunity. By

purchasing some land and filling it with floor after floor of rentable office space, a huge amount of money could be made. The building itself could become a

made. The building itself could become a business. No one understood this more

business. No one understood this more than New York businessmen John Rascco and Al Smith. And in 1929, they announced the Empire State Building. Not

only was this to be the tallest building in the world, but its clever design and ultraefficient engineering was meant to make it the most economically successful

building ever made. The designers had big ideas. exclusive viewing platforms,

big ideas. exclusive viewing platforms, giant radio antennas, docking stations for airships, and floor after floor of premium office space. The Empire State

Building had joined the battle to build into the sky. If you'd like to have your own battle, in order for the Empire State Building to become a money-making machine, it wasn't as simple as building

tall and maximizing rental space. Each

level that gets added onto a building gets more and more expensive. The

building itself needs to be made stronger, using more material and leaving each floor with less usable space. Less space means less income. And

space. Less space means less income. And

so after a certain height, a building stops making financial sense. On top of that, New York had strict building rules that stopped large skyscrapers from blocking out too much light. These rules

drew a sloped line up from the center of the street at around 25°. buildings

weren't allowed to occupy the area outside the line. And so the designers had to add in setbacks to reduce the building's width and keep it within the line. With these rules, it may seem like

line. With these rules, it may seem like the best way to maximize floor space and therefore income would be to build right up to the line, creating a pyramid shaped building. While many buildings

shaped building. While many buildings followed this design, it really wasn't a practical shape for a skyscraper. With

more people at the bottom of the building and very few at the top, the demand on the elevator would be uneven.

At the bottom, there would be severe delays, and at the top, it would be completely underused. More elevators

completely underused. More elevators could be added to even out the demand, but this would simply take up too much space, reducing the profitability of each floor, particularly at the top

where the most expensive offices were located. The ideal office space was

located. The ideal office space was bright and quiet, so areas close to the window and high above the noisy streets were most desirable. These premium areas

fit for executives and CEOs could fetch up to $3 per square foot can yearly rent. But as you got further from the

rent. But as you got further from the window and closer to the ground, this would drop to just over $1 per square foot. The pyramid design simply

foot. The pyramid design simply maximized the cheaper offices at the bottom while sacrificing the premium offices at the top. What the designers really wanted was to keep the building

as tall and as straight as possible. But

this didn't fit into New York's building rules. However, the rules had one

rules. However, the rules had one specific term that the designers of the Empire State Building really understood.

Although a building couldn't cross the sloped line, if part of the building was reduced to just 25% of the total plot area, it could cross the line and it

could keep going. This was a very important detail. And so the designers

important detail. And so the designers of the Empire State Building decided to set back their building much earlier, well within the sloped line at around

the 5th, 20th, and 30th floor. From

here, the building would rise up completely uninterrupted from more than 40 floors until a few minor setbacks carried it to the 86th floor. The result

was an enormously tall and straight building that had almost 3 million square ft of office space. Although it

didn't maximize all of the space under the slope, it sacrificed the cheaper office space at the bottom to have much more premium office space at the top.

With the population spread out more evenly, they were able to place fewer elevators into a central core of the building, leaving a 28t ring of premium office space around the whole building.

But building a skyscraper this big would only be possible on a huge plot of land.

At the time, most skyscrapers were being built in lower Manhattan, which had become the financial center of the world. This made sense because it had

world. This made sense because it had the demand and money to fill 80 floors of a building. But the developers of the Empire State Building thought differently. They saw that the business

differently. They saw that the business center of New York was slowly creeping northwards. And so they took a gamble

northwards. And so they took a gamble and bought a plot of land in Midtown for $16 million, hoping that one day it would be the new thriving business center of New York. The plot still

contained the old Waldorf Histori Hotel, but after demolishing it, the developers ended up with a plot more than 400 ft long and 200 ft wide. A plot this wide

was extremely rare in New York and provided the perfect base for the world's tallest building. The next step was to actually build the thing, and it

had to be done in record time and on a tight budget of just $35 million. In New

York, there were two lease dates throughout the year, May 1st and October 1st. If a building wasn't finished in

1st. If a building wasn't finished in time for either of those dates, it would have to sit empty until the next lease day, losing an incredible amount of money. And so the target was set. The

money. And so the target was set. The

Empire State Building had to be finished by May 1st in 1831, just a little over a year away. What followed was one of the

year away. What followed was one of the most incredible displays of efficiency and planning any engineering project has ever seen. The main structure of the

ever seen. The main structure of the building was made from pre-fabricated steel columns and beams. Almost all of them were identical and so they could be manufactured, shipped out to the work

site and put together in record time.

With hundreds of deliveries each day and over 3,000 workers on the site, the building rose by more than four floors each week. Railway carts on each floor

each week. Railway carts on each floor were built to move material around quickly, and small cranes placed throughout the building would lift the steel beams up to the highest floors.

There were even multiple restaurants placed throughout the building, saving the workers time by not having to leave the work site. In just 6 months, the entire steel structure had been put

together. And another 6 months later,

together. And another 6 months later, the entire building was complete, coming in under budget at just $25 million. It

was now ready to be rented out. But just

as it opened for business, the worst financial crash in history hit America.

12 million people lost their jobs and wages across the country fell by 45%. It

was a complete disaster for the Empire State Building, which struggled to fill even a quarter of its office space, earning it a rather unfortunate nickname. Thankfully, the building was

nickname. Thankfully, the building was much more than just a giant office. On

the 86th and 102nd floor were two observatories, giving tourists a view of New York that towered above every other building. Tickets cost $1 and it became

building. Tickets cost $1 and it became a hit right away. In its first year, it sold over 1 million tickets and throughout the 30s, it became the main revenue stream for the building until

its offices finally recovered from the crash. But the Empire State's

crash. But the Empire State's money-making ability didn't end there.

Above all this was a giant minded as a docking station for airships where passengers could disembark and make their way down to the ground in just a few minutes. This idea ultimately never

few minutes. This idea ultimately never took off, but the mast ended up serving a much more lucrative purpose. The

television was coming along and the Empire State Building became the perfect place to develop the technology. NBC

took over the 85th floor, installed a 50,000 W transmitter and performed the world's first high-owered transmission.

This provided signal to the whole city and formed the basis of how TV ended up working across America. It was so tall that its signal could reach as far as

Rhode Island or Massachusetts, well over 100 m away. Television exploded. The

Empire State Building's antenna started broadcasting nine different TV stations across four different states, earning it more than $600,000 a year, $7 million in

today's money. The Empire State Building

today's money. The Empire State Building remained the tallest building in the world for 40 years until the World Trade Center finally took over. Although there

are many larger skyscrapers around today, thanks to its design, the Empire State Building still blows them all away. From office rentals alone, it

away. From office rentals alone, it pulls in $350 million each year and houses some of the world's biggest brands. Its TV and radio antennas

brands. Its TV and radio antennas generate around $30 million annually, and the viewing platforms generate an incredible $130 million every year. The

gamble on its location paid off, and the building now sits right at the heart of New York's busiest area, giving the building an overall value of over $2 billion.

No matter how you look at it, the Empire State Building was an engineering masterpiece. Thanks for watching, and

masterpiece. Thanks for watching, and I'll see you in the next video.