Forty-Seventh Street Between Manhattan’s Fifth and Sixth Avenues is renowned worldwide for its prominence in the gem industry. When a midblock site provided the opportunity to erect a symbol of this distinction, developer Extell commissioned architect Skidmore, Owings & Merrill (SOM) to design the International Gem Tower, a 34-story steel and glass office building whose signature feature is its dazzling curtain wall The building is divided into three zones: A three-story podium is programmed for retail through the second floor; an office rental component that comprises the middle section of the tower and fronts 46th Street (13 stories) and long-term tenants in the diamond industry occupy an elevated series of condominium suites that face 47th street (17 stories).