From the Reporters
Athena Schindelheim

Mansueto Ventures in The New York Times

 

Mansueto Ventures, including its children Inc. and Fast Company magazines, moved from its previous headquarters near Grand Central Terminal to the first completed office tower at Ground Zero on April 2. The New York Times poked around a few weeks ago, took some snapshots, and published a few nice words about us and 7 World Trade Center this past weekend. They mention the improvements our new management has implemented in the magazines since the 2005 sale from G&J, which our investment in a new office is one major example. Mansueto CEO John Koten shares some insights in the Times article about why we chose this building out of over 50 sites in the city, and some of the thinking that went into the floor plan design.

As one of the first tenants in the the first green building in New York, we've had the pleasure of hosting more than just local newspaper reporters. Even the King and Queen of Belgium paid us a visit Sunday. (Our architect, Luc Massaux, is from Belgium and gave them a tour.) They and their entourage, like all of our visitors, had the opportunity to experience the crazy futuristic elevator ride, the panoramic views of Manhattan and New York Harbor, and the massive steel reception desk painted ferrari red with the word MANSUETO etched across it in white. (Note: Koten told me that Mansueto himself blushed at his first sight of the desk. It must be an odd feeling when your name becomes a brand.)

Koten will tell you "the whole office has been designed to encourage people to get off their butts and interact." We bump into each other in the ultra modernly furnished cafe, in the interior hallway where our high school style personal lockers will be installed, in the shared library, and in front of the video monitors where we watch our pages evolve from outlines to full stories. All the while, we breathe mountain-fresh air and bathe in sunshine. Although we've each had to make adjustments to our commute, to our smaller personal workstations, to our life without vending machines and tiled ceilings, change is refreshing. It's newsworthy, too.