Headquarters of the United Nations temporary site. Another alternative for a temporary headquarters or a new permanent facility was the World Trade Center site. Once again, these plans met resistance both within the UN and from the United States and New York governments and were abandoned. By September 2015, the renovations were nearly complete but the cost had risen to $2.15 billion. Demolition of the North Lawn Building began in January 2016. The building was replaced with an open plaza, and most of its materials were to be recycled. Due to the significance of the organization, proposals to relocate its headquarters have occasionally been made.
Headquarters of the United Nations Apartments across First Avenue from the Zeckendorf site. The city, in turn, spent $5 million on clearing the land. While the United Nations had dreamed of constructing an independent city for its new world capital, multiple obstacles soon forced the organization to downsize their plans. They ultimately decided to build on Rockefeller's East River plot, since the land was free and the land's owners were well known. The diminutive site on the East River necessitated a Rockefeller Center-type vertical complex, thus, it was a given that the Secretariat would be housed in a tall office tower. During daily meetings from