• Ideas
• Projects
• People
• Contact

T.J. Gottesdiener, FAIA, joined SOM in 1980. A graduate of the Cooper Union in New York City, Mr. Gottesdiener was named partner in 1994. As a project manager, and later as partner, he has managed a wide range of projects, from speculative developments and owner-occupied facilities to judicial facilities and interiors projects.

Mr. Gottesdiener is fully committed to enhancing the built environment of New York City, and as managing partner has been responsible for some of SOM’s most complex and challenging projects in Manhattan. Closely involved in the revitalization of Lower Manhattan and the redevelopment of the World Trade Center site, he has played a major role in the planning and phasing for the design and construction of 13 million sf of commercial construction in cooperation with agencies responsible for memorial, cultural, and transportation functions, including 7 World Trade Center, which was completed in 2006, and the  World Trade Center Tower 1, scheduled to be completed in 2009.

Other important New York City projects include the 2.6 million sf Time Warner Center Development; the headquarters of the New York Mercantile Exchange in Battery Park City; the 44-story Bear Stearns Headquarters Building in midtown Manhattan; Times Square Site 1, a 1.3 million sf office building in the heart of Times Square; and the renovation of the landmark Lever House building. He is currently working on two of Manhattan’s most high profile projects: the Freedom Tower and the new Moynihan Station, which features the renovation of the existing Farley Post Office Building into an expanded transit hub as well as the relocation of Madison Square Garden. Other projects include a residential development at 101 Warren Street; a new academic building for John Jay College of Criminal Justice; and the development of a mixed-use complex over the Ninth Avenue rail yards with 50- and 30-story twin glass curtainwall towers and a public plaza. Along with his project responsibilities, Mr. Gottesdiener is also responsible for management and operations for SOM’s New York office.

The diversity of Mr. Gottesdiener's experience is also demonstrated by a number of projects including the Federal Courthouse for the Capital Southern District in White Plains, New York, and the landside terminal at Ben Gurion International Airport in Tel Aviv, Israel. Internationally, his experience is further exemplified by his extensive work in Brazil (four projects totaling 5 million sf) and The Philippines (five projects totaling more than 4 million sf), and current projects in Asia. Examples include: the 112-story, 1,800-foot-tall mixed-use Lotte Tower in Seoul, South Korea; a Four Seasons Hotel and Residences in Mexico City featuring two 40-story towers totaling 840,000 sf; the 31-story AIG Office Tower in Hong Kong; and the recently opened Tokyo Midtown Project in Japan, a mixed-use master plan and development with office, retail, residential, a Ritz-Carlton hotel and museum components totaling over 5 million sf. He has also been involved in a range of architecture and interiors projects for financial and corporate clients including the New York Stock Exchange, JP Morgan, Alcoa, Salomon Brothers, and Citibank.

Mr. Gottesdiener continues his commitment to the city with his involvement in several New York organizations, including the Real Estate Board of New York, the Skyscraper Museum and the Metropolitan Museum of Art, where he serves as Vice Chair of the Real Estate Council. He is also a member of the American Institute of Architects where he was elected a Fellow, the Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitats, the Urban Land Institute, and is an Honorary Fellow of the Philippines Institute of Architecture.