text: David Rockefeller, then executive vice president of Chase Manhattan, proposed the tower in the 1950s as a means to keep the newly merged bank (Chase National and the Manhattan Company) in Lower Manhattan while merging its 8,700 employees into one facility. Construction started in early 1957, and the building's tower opened in early 1961. The building's basements and plaza opened in 1964. Despite some early challenges, One Chase Manhattan Plaza was nearly fully occupied from its opening, with numerous financial and legal tenants. The building was renovated in the early 1990s, and Chase moved its headquarters in 1997. The New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission designated the building a landmark in 2008. Chase Manhattan's parent company, JPMorgan Chase, sold the building to Fosun International, a Chinese investment company, in 2013; the building was subsequently renamed 28 Liberty Street.
  Site
  28 Liberty Street is on the northern half of a city block bounded to the west by Nassau Street, to the north by Liberty Street, to the east by William Street, and to the south by Pine Street. Its plaza is on the southeastern portion of the site, while the southwestern portion is occupied by 20 Pine Street, which had been Chase Manhattan Bank's previous headquarters. The tower and the plaza cover  in total. The site slopes down to the north so the plaza is at the elevation of Pine Street, while Liberty Street is one story beneath the plaza; there are five basements under the plaza. There are stairs leading down the east side of the plaza to Cedar Street.