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IN HIS TRAVELS around the globe, lawyer Whitney Gerard says, people are always delighted when he reveals his office's address: 30 Rockefeller Plaza.
"People know the Christmas tree and say, 'Oh, how great,' " says Mr. Gerard, a partner at Chadbourne & Parke, which leases eight floors in the building. The building has an instant recognition."
Built during the Depression, 30 Rock has successfully negotiated that era, 13 recessions and a stint in bankruptcy, always managing to hold its value and rents better than most. The tower owes much of its success to its unique location at the heart of Rockefeller Center. Many elements of the enduring success of 30 Rock, which opened in 1933, were forged in its earliest years.
For openers, falling costs allowed the owner of what is now called the GE Building to spend lavishly on details ranging from the gilded statue of Prometheus out front to the building's imposing lobby murals.
Strong marketing also arrived early. Initially, the complex's creator, John D....