The Demarest Building was a four-story structure at 339

Fifth Avenue Fifth Avenue is a major thoroughfare in the borough (New York City), borough of Manhattan in New York City. The avenue runs south from 143rd Street (Manhattan), West 143rd Street in Harlem to Washington Square Park in Greenwich Village. The se ...

Midtown Manhattan Midtown Manhattan is the central portion of the New York City borough of Manhattan, serving as the city's primary central business district. Midtown is home to some of the city's most prominent buildings, including the Empire State Building, the ...

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

, designed by Renwick, Aspinwall & Russell and constructed for

coachbuilder A coachbuilder manufactures bodies for passenger-carrying vehicles. The trade of producing coachwork began with bodies for horse-drawn vehicles. Today it includes custom automobiles, buses, Coach (bus), motor coaches, and passenger car (rai ...

Aaron T. Demarest. An 1893 fire destroyed property in the building, which was later used for other purposes.

Description

The Demarest Building is located on the northeast corner of Fifth Avenue and 33rd Street in

, just east of the

Empire State Building The Empire State Building is a 102-story, Art Deco-style supertall skyscraper in the Midtown South neighborhood of Manhattan, New York City, United States. The building was designed by Shreve, Lamb & Harmon and built from 1930 to 1931. Its n ...

and across the street from the Hotel Waldorf. The building has been compared stylistically to

Carnegie Hall Carnegie Hall ( ) is a concert venue in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. It is at 881 Seventh Avenue (Manhattan), Seventh Avenue, occupying the east side of Seventh Avenue between 56th Street (Manhattan), 56th and 57th Street (Manhattan), 57t ...

. The building was designed in a modified Beaux Arts style.

History

A July 26, 1893 fire destroyed property at the building. It was originally used as a showroom for luxury horse carriages. The world's first electric elevator was installed there. It was thereafter fragmented into retail units. The building was later converted to other uses. By 2015, developer Pi Capital Partners planned to replace the building and neighboring structures with a new residential tower. In 2019, Pi Capital filed plans for a 26-story mixed-use development on the site of the Demarest Building, with 82 apartments. This prompted preservationists and groups, including the Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation, to petition the

New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission The New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission (LPC) is the Government of New York City, New York City agency charged with administering the city's Historic preservation, Landmarks Preservation Law. The LPC is responsible for protecting Ne ...

(LPC) to designate the building as an official city landmark, thereby protecting it from demolition. The LPC expressed concern that the building's exterior had been altered too frequently throughout its history and the old building was not saved. , it is being replaced by a 21-story, 82-unit mixed-use building with commercial space at the base and up to five residential units on each floor. "Unfortunately, despite all its history, the Landmarks Preservation Commission determined that the structure had undergone too many alterations throughout its life to qualify for any sort of designation." Demolition commenced in 2022.

References

Sources

* * * {{Fifth Avenue 1890 establishments in New York (state) Beaux-Arts architecture in New York City Fifth Avenue Midtown Manhattan Demolished buildings and structures in Manhattan Buildings and structures demolished in 2021