text: In 1990, law firm Milbank, Tweed, Hadley & McCloy signed a lease for  of space in the tower with options to expand to up to . The next year, Chase embarked on a comprehensive renovation of the building, the first major overhaul since its opening 30 years earlier; the renovations were undertaken by SOM. The bank spent $30 million to clean the building's exterior, upgrade elevators, remove asbestos, remodel the lobby, remove the mezzanine, and improve the heating and cooling systems. At the time, numerous large tenants had moved out or were in the process of doing so: law firm Cravath, Swaine & Moore had relocated to One Worldwide Plaza in 1990, and Davis Polk & Wardwell moved to 450 Lexington Avenue the next year. The renovations were completed by 1994. While Chase moved its headquarters to 270 Park Avenue in 1996, it retained 70% of the space at One Chase Manhattan Plaza.
  21st century
  By March 2008, the tower and the surrounding plaza were being considered for official landmark status. The same month, the public plaza around the tower was renamed for David Rockefeller. The New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission held hearings to designate One Chase Manhattan Plaza as an official landmark in mid-2008, and officially recognized the building as such on February 10, 2009.
  Chase placed a temporary barricade fence around the plaza in September 2011, at the same time the Occupy Wall Street protests were occurring nearby, though Chase did not specify an exact reason. The ostensible reason for the barricades was construction work in the plaza, though observers saw little work within the plaza, leading to numerous lawsuits against the city's Department of Buildings and Chase; one such lawsuit alleged that the barriers violated the right to freedom of speech provided under the First Amendment to the United States Constitution, although the plaza was a private space. Some advocates lodged complaints with the Landmarks Commission, though the barricades were not under the commission's jurisdiction since they were movable barriers. The barricades were dismantled in November 2013.