The former Pan Am Building is located in 200 Park Avenue, Midtown, New York City NY, United States. The Building is the focal point for Park Avenue, stretching from East 44th to East 45th Street. The building has direct access to the adjacent Grand Central Terminal, the most important rail hub in New York City. It was the largest commercial office building in the world when it opened on March 7, 1963. The Pan Am Building was designed by Emery Roth & Sons with the assistance of Walter Gropius and Pietro Belluschi. The octagonal building is 246.6 m high and has a floor area of 2.8 million sq ft on 58 floors. Pan Am's logotype was depicted on a sign that was placed on the north and south faces and its globe logo was depicted on a sign that was placed on the east and west faces. Part of the roof is a heliport for large helicopters to whisk travelers to and from the city's airports starting from 1965. For example, New York Airways offered a seven minute flight to John F. Kennedy International Airport for $7 in helicopters that carried eight passengers. It was closed in 1968 because it was not profitable, but reopened February, 1977, only to close again three months later after an accident killing four people. Pan Am Chairman William Seawell sold the Pan Am Building in 1981 to the Metropolitan Life Insurance Company (Met Life) for $400.000.000, at the time the highest price ever paid for a Manhattan property.
