Global Holdings, the international real estate development and investment firm led by Chairman and Founder Eyal Ofer, announced a first-of-its-kind, Glass-Only Retrofit at Class A office tower 1250 Broadway, also known as Nomad Tower. The project marks the first implementation of its kind on the East Coast and New York City, as LuxWall replaces more than 2,000 legacy single-panes with Transparent Insulation within the 39-story tower, creating a scalable new pathway to meet Local Law 97 compliance and offering enhanced tenant comfort benefits to maintain asset competitiveness. 

The retrofit reflects a broader shift across New York City’s office market prioritizing higher-performing, energy-efficient buildings. At Nomad Tower, the opportunity to address the single largest source of energy loss in the building envelope—the windows—was identified without the cost and disruption of a full façade replacement. The cost-effective upgrade delivers up to 18 times greater insulation performance than the building’s existing glazing, while also enhancing accessibility to natural light and brightness within the workplace, without requiring the time and capital expenditure of a full window replacement. 

The retrofit is part of a broader optimization strategy at the property complementing Global Holdings’ management and building automation investments. 

"We're confident this technology will deliver meaningful savings and further elevate the tenant experience we've worked tirelessly to create at Nomad Tower. As the first office developer on the East Coast to adopt it, we're proud to be leading the way," said Ian Morrell, Vice President of Operations, Global Holdings. "Partnering with LuxWall to bring these significant energy savings and comfort to our tenants is a natural extension of that commitment."

Transparent Insulation by LuxWall delivers wall-like thermal performance in a lightweight, 8-mm profile, achieving an R-value of 18, far exceeding the performance of traditional R-1 single-pane glazing and significantly outperforming conventional R-3 double- and R-7 triple-pane systems used in high-rise applications. By reducing heat transfer at the building envelope, the retrofit is expected to lower overall building energy use by approximately 20 percent, providing a meaningful and actionable pathway toward Local Law 97 compliance, helping building owners avoid what can quickly turn into six- and seven-figure annual penalties under the law.

Beyond energy performance, the upgrade enhances tenant comfort, an increasingly important differentiator in leasing and retention in a building located in one of Manhattan’s most active corridors. Transparent Insulation by LuxWall reduces outdoor/indoor sound transmission by up to 30 percent compared to traditional single-glazing, creating a quieter and more stable indoor environment, enhancing the building far beyond compliance. 

“Building owners have historically been forced to work around the limitations of conventional glazing, where their exterior walls are insulated and their windows are uninsulated,” said Scott Thomsen, CEO & Founder of LuxWall. “Transparent Insulation changes that notion. Our LuxWall Transparent Insulation gives owners a practical way to address and solve the single largest source of energy loss in the building envelope, without compromising transparency or disrupting operations. Global Holdings is among the first to recognize this industry shift and act on it.”

Historically, improving façade performance at scale requires a full glazing system replacement with extensive labor, often requiring eight-figure investments and the temporary relocation of tenants from occupied buildings. LuxWall’s Glass-Only Retrofit approach at Nomad Tower enables a high-performance upgrade within existing framing systems, significantly reducing cost and complexity while maintaining normal building operations.

Preliminary modeling by The Numerical Building Corporation indicates that solutions like Transparent Insulation by LuxWall can deliver meaningful reductions in total building energy consumption, offering building owners a new lever to meet regulatory requirements while enhancing asset value with an anticipated payback period of under five years. The project is supported by city utility incentive programs, expected to save the annual consumption of 90 US homes, assuming average consumption. Installation is currently underway, with completion expected by summer 2026.

Nomad Tower is a glass-and-steel tower originally built in 1969 encompassing an entire block front on Broadway between 31st and 32nd Streets. Designed by Shreve Lamb & Harmon, the building offers large flexible floor plates with unmatched views on the tower floors. Global Holdings purchased the asset in 2016 and has since integrated strategic rebranding and capital improvements throughout. In 2019, the firm completed a $55 million renovation of the building including a new lobby with coffee bar, 12 floor terrace with dog park, a 90-person amphitheater for tenants, and a large open staircase leading down to the 15,000-square-foot lower level amenity space. This space features a lounge with pool tables, arcade games and couches,  conference rooms, a fitness center, bike room, showers, and locker rooms. 

Earlier this year, Global Holdings secured a $450 million refinancing deal of Nomad Tower, originated by Wells Fargo.

The distinguished roster of tenants at Nomad Tower includes Zillow, Transperfect, Guderson Dettmer, UpStart Ventures, Elastic, and Datavant.