Designs for two signs that will add Morgan & Morgan and Gallagher’s names to the Downtown skyline in Brooklyn are headed for city review.
The Downtown Development Review Board is scheduled to consider an exception July 14 that will allow each company to an additional sign atop the 12-story 501 Riverside Ave. building, previously anchored by TIAA Bank.
The exception is required because city code allows each building one identification sign per side facing a street. The two signs under review do not face the street.
Contractor Jacksonville-based Harbinger filed the sign exception application with the DDRB, according to the board meeting materials.
The board review is for signs on the south and east sides of the building.
The DDRB staff report says Morgan & Morgan’s planned south-facing sign is 6 feet tall and 50 feet wide. Gallagher’s east-facing sign is 6 feet tall and 39 feet wide.
The report recommends the review board approve the sign exceptions.
There will be a total of four signs on the building, two for each company.
The city issued a sign permit June 16 for the Morgan & Morgan sign on the north facade at a cost of $31,250 which will replace the TIAA Bank logo.
It is reviewing the permit application for the south facade.
It issued a permit July 8 for a Gallagher sign on the west elevation at a cost of $39,500 and is reviewing the application for the east side.
TIAA Bank moved its corporate offices before and during the pandemic into TIAA Bank Center at 301 W. Bay St. Downtown.
The bank ended its lease March 31 at 501 Riverside but maintains a bank branch on the ground floor.
The Morgan & Morgan law firm will move from the VyStar Tower Downtown at 76 S. Laura St. into the former TIAA Bank space on the 11th and 12th floors. It will lease about 51,000 square feet of space.
It negotiated signage rights with the lease.
Gallagher, formerly known as Harden, has been in the building and leases space on the 10th floor.
Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. bought the Harden and Associates Inc. insurance broker Dec. 29, 2020, for an undisclosed price.
Harden offers insurance, risk management, employee benefits and other services to businesses and individuals in Florida. M.C. Harden Jr. started the company in 1953.
Gallagher is a global insurance brokerage, risk management and consulting services firm headquartered in Rolling Meadows, Illinois, outside of Chicago.
Harden will be part of Gallagher’s Southeast division. Upon the sale it said it eventually will be rebranded as Arthur J. Gallagher & Co., replacing the signage in front of the 501 Riverside Ave. office.
Editor Karen Brune Mathis contributed to this report.
