1 Wall Street (also known as the Irving Trust Company Building, the Bank of New York Building, and the BNY Mellon Building) is a skyscraper in the
Financial District
A financial district is usually a central area in a city where financial services firms such as banks, insurance companies and other related finance corporations have their head offices. In major cities, financial districts are often home to s ...
of
Lower Manhattan
Lower Manhattan (also known as Downtown Manhattan or Downtown New York) is the southernmost part of Manhattan, the central borough for business, culture, and government in New York City, which is the most populated city in the United States with ...
, New York City, on the eastern side of
Broadway
Broadway may refer to:
Theatre
* Broadway Theatre (disambiguation)
* Broadway theatre, theatrical productions in professional theatres near Broadway, Manhattan, New York City, U.S.
** Broadway (Manhattan), the street
**Broadway Theatre (53rd Stree ...
between
Wall Street
Wall Street is an eight-block-long street in the Financial District of Lower Manhattan in New York City. It runs between Broadway in the west to South Street and the East River in the east. The term "Wall Street" has become a metonym for t ...
and
Exchange Place. 1 Wall Street, designed in the
Art Deco
Art Deco, short for the French ''Arts Décoratifs'', and sometimes just called Deco, is a style of visual arts, architecture, and product design, that first appeared in France in the 1910s (just before World War I), and flourished in the Unite ...
style, is tall and consists of two sections. The original 50-story building was designed by
Ralph Thomas Walker
Ralph Thomas Walker FAIA (November 28, 1889 – January 17, 1973) was an American architect, president of the American Institute of Architects and partner of the firm McKenzie, Voorhees, Gmelin; and its successor firms Voorhees, Gmelin & W ...
of the firm
Voorhees, Gmelin and Walker and constructed between 1929 and 1931, while a 36-story annex to the south was designed by successor firm
Voorhees, Walker Smith Smith & Haines and built from 1963 to 1965.
The
facade, made of
limestone
Limestone ( calcium carbonate ) is a type of carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of . Limestone forms whe ...
, contains slight inwardly-curved
bays with
fluting to resemble curtains. On the lower stories are narrow windows with
mullion
A mullion is a vertical element that forms a division between units of a window or screen, or is used decoratively. It is also often used as a division between double doors. When dividing adjacent window units its primary purpose is a rigid supp ...
s, as well as ornate entrances. The
massing
Massing is a term in architecture which refers to the perception of the general shape and form as well as size of a building.
Massing in architectural theory
Massing refers to the structure in three dimensions (form), not just its outline from ...
of 1 Wall Street incorporates numerous small
setbacks, and the top of the original building consists of a freestanding tower. The corners of the original building consist of
chamfer
A chamfer or is a transitional edge between two faces of an object. Sometimes defined as a form of bevel, it is often created at a 45° angle between two adjoining right-angled faces.
Chamfers are frequently used in machining, carpentry, fu ...
s, while the top of the tower has fluted windowless bays. The facade of the annex is designed in a style evocative of the original structure. Inside is an ornate main lobby with colored mosaics.
1 Wall Street had been constructed for
Irving Trust
Irving Trust was an American Commercial bank headquartered in New York City that operated between 1851 and 1988 when it was acquired by Bank of New York. From 1965 the bank was the principal subsidiary of the Irving Bank Corporation.
Between 1913 ...
, one of the larger banks in New York City in the early 20th century. At the time of its construction, the building occupied what was then considered one of the most valuable plots in the city. The building replaced three previous structures, including the
Manhattan Life Insurance Building
The Manhattan Life Insurance Building was a tower on Broadway in the Financial District of Manhattan, New York City.
History
The original structure at 64–66 Broadway was completed in 1894 to the designs of the architects of Kimball & Th ...
, once the world's tallest building. After Irving Trust was acquired by
The Bank of New York Mellon
The Bank of New York Mellon Corporation, commonly known as BNY Mellon, is an American investment banking services holding company headquartered in New York City. BNY Mellon was formed from the merger of The Bank of New York and the Mellon Financ ...
(BNY Mellon) in 1988, 1 Wall Street subsequently served as BNY Mellon's global headquarters through 2015. After the building was purchased by
Harry Macklowe
Harry B. Macklowe (born 1937) is an American real estate developer and investor based in New York City.
Early life
Macklowe was born to a Jewish family, the son of a garment executive from Westchester County, New York. He graduated from New Roc ...
, it has been undergoing a renovation since 2018, which is converting the interior to residential use with some commercial space.
The building is regarded as one of New York City's
Art Deco landmarks, despite initially remaining ignored in favor of such buildings as the
Empire State Building
The Empire State Building is a 102-story Art Deco skyscraper in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. The building was designed by Shreve, Lamb & Harmon and built from 1930 to 1931. Its name is derived from "Empire State", the nickname of the st ...
and the
Chrysler Building
The Chrysler Building is an Art Deco skyscraper on the East Side of Manhattan in New York City, at the intersection of 42nd Street and Lexington Avenue in Midtown Manhattan. At , it is the tallest brick building in the world with a steel fra ...
. The
New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission
The New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission (LPC) is the New York City agency charged with administering the city's Landmarks Preservation Law. The LPC is responsible for protecting New York City's architecturally, historically, and cu ...
designated the original portion of the building as a city landmark in 2001. It is also a contributing property to the
Wall Street Historic District, a
National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...
district created in 2007.
Site
1 Wall Street occupies the entire block in the
Financial District
A financial district is usually a central area in a city where financial services firms such as banks, insurance companies and other related finance corporations have their head offices. In major cities, financial districts are often home to s ...
of
Lower Manhattan
Lower Manhattan (also known as Downtown Manhattan or Downtown New York) is the southernmost part of Manhattan, the central borough for business, culture, and government in New York City, which is the most populated city in the United States with ...
, bounded by
Broadway
Broadway may refer to:
Theatre
* Broadway Theatre (disambiguation)
* Broadway theatre, theatrical productions in professional theatres near Broadway, Manhattan, New York City, U.S.
** Broadway (Manhattan), the street
**Broadway Theatre (53rd Stree ...
to the west,
Wall Street
Wall Street is an eight-block-long street in the Financial District of Lower Manhattan in New York City. It runs between Broadway in the west to South Street and the East River in the east. The term "Wall Street" has become a metonym for t ...
to the north, New Street to the east, and
Exchange Place to the south. 1 Wall Street is adjacent to the
Adams Express Building,
65 Broadway
65 Broadway, formerly the American Express Building, is a building on Broadway between Morris and Rector Streets in the Financial District of Manhattan in New York City. The 21-story concrete and steel-frame structure, an office building, was d ...
, the
Empire Building
An empire is a "political unit" made up of several territories and peoples, "usually created by conquest, and divided between a dominant center and subordinate peripheries". The center of the empire (sometimes referred to as the metropole) ex ...
,
Trinity Church, and Trinity Church's churchyard to the west; the
American Surety Company Building to the north;
14 Wall Street
Fourteen or 14 may refer to:
* 14 (number), the natural number following 13 and preceding 15
* one of the years 14 BC, AD 14, 1914, 2014
Music
* 14th (band), a British electronic music duo
* ''14'' (David Garrett album), 2013
*''14'', an unrele ...
to the northeast; the
New York Stock Exchange Building
The New York Stock Exchange Building (also the NYSE Building), in the Financial District of Lower Manhattan in New York City, serves as the headquarters of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE). It is composed of two connected structures occupying ...
to the east; and
52 Broadway
52 Broadway, formerly known as the Exchange Court Building or Chemical Bank Building, is a high-rise building on Broadway and Exchange Place in the Financial District of Lower Manhattan, New York City. The building was originally built with 12 f ...
to the south.
Entrances to the
New York City Subway
The New York City Subway is a rapid transit system owned by the government of New York City and leased to the New York City Transit Authority, an affiliate agency of the state-run Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA). Opened on October 2 ...
's
Wall Street station, served by the , are adjacent to the building.
Because of the
curves in the facade, the original structure does not completely occupy its full
land lot
In real estate, a lot or plot is a tract or parcel of land owned or meant to be owned by some owner(s). A plot is essentially considered a parcel of real property in some countries or immovable property (meaning practically the same thing) in ...
; instead, is used as a sidewalk. At the
chamfer
A chamfer or is a transitional edge between two faces of an object. Sometimes defined as a form of bevel, it is often created at a 45° angle between two adjoining right-angled faces.
Chamfers are frequently used in machining, carpentry, fu ...
ed corners of the building, the facade is recessed by up to from the lot line. Consequently, when 1 Wall Street was built, its main occupant
Irving Trust
Irving Trust was an American Commercial bank headquartered in New York City that operated between 1851 and 1988 when it was acquired by Bank of New York. From 1965 the bank was the principal subsidiary of the Irving Bank Corporation.
Between 1913 ...
embedded small metal plaques to delineate the boundaries of its lot.
Under municipal law, any private land that was adjacent to public property (but not clearly marked as such) would eventually revert to the
government of New York City
The government of New York City, headquartered at New York City Hall in Lower Manhattan, is organized under the New York City Charter and provides for a mayor-council system. The mayor is elected to a four-year term and is responsible for the ...
. The presence of the plaques was meant to preclude such a seizure.
Architecture
The original building was designed by
Ralph Walker of the
Voorhees, Gmelin and Walker in the
Art Deco
Art Deco, short for the French ''Arts Décoratifs'', and sometimes just called Deco, is a style of visual arts, architecture, and product design, that first appeared in France in the 1910s (just before World War I), and flourished in the Unite ...
style. The annex was designed by Voorhees, Gmelin and Walker's successor firm
Voorhees, Walker Smith Smith & Haines.
The original building reaches 50 stories and stands tall.
The southern annex was originally 28 stories tall with a height of about , but, starting in 2019, it was expanded to 36 stories
with a height of about .
Dormer
A dormer is a roofed structure, often containing a window, that projects vertically beyond the plane of a pitched roof. A dormer window (also called ''dormer'') is a form of roof window.
Dormers are commonly used to increase the usable space ...
structures of up to two stories are located on the tops of both sections.
The writer Anthony W. Robins characterized 1 Wall Street as being "Gothic Modern—a skyscraper reflection of Trinity Church".
Walker had designed other Art Deco buildings in the New York City area, mainly telecommunications structures. These included the
Verizon Building
The Verizon Building (also known as 100 Barclay, the Barclay–Vesey Building, and the New York Telephone Company Building) is an office and residential building at 140 West Street in Lower Manhattan, New York City. The 32-story building was d ...
(1927),
New Jersey Bell Headquarters Building
The New Jersey Bell Headquarters Building is located in Newark, Essex County, New Jersey, United States. The building was built in 1929 by the New Jersey Bell Telephone Company and was added to the National Register of Historic Places on Septemb ...
(1929),
60 Hudson Street
60 Hudson Street, formerly known as the Western Union Building, is a 24-story telecommunications building in the Tribeca neighborhood of Manhattan in New York City. Built in 1928–1930, it was one of several Art Deco-style buildings design ...
(1930), and
32 Avenue of the Americas
32 Avenue of the Americas (also known as the AT&T Long Lines Building, AT&T Building, or 32 Sixth Avenue) is a 27-story, telecommunications building in the Tribeca neighborhood of Manhattan in New York City. Completed in 1932, it was one of s ...
(1932), as well as telephone buildings in
Upstate New York
Upstate New York is a geographic region consisting of the area of New York State that lies north and northwest of the New York City metropolitan area. Although the precise boundary is debated, Upstate New York excludes New York City and Long Is ...
.
Form and facade
1 Wall Street's facade is made primarily of limestone.
This contrasts with the brick facades of Walker's telecommunications buildings, the use of which was likely influenced by Dutch and
German Expressionism
German Expressionism () consisted of several related creative movements in Germany before the First World War that reached a peak in Berlin during the 1920s. These developments were part of a larger Expressionist movement in north and central ...
.
In addition, at the time of 1 Wall Street's construction, limestone was a relatively expensive material and was rarely used for a building's entire facade, with cheaper brick being used instead.
1 Wall Street also contains numerous
setbacks on its exterior. Though setbacks in New York City skyscrapers were mandated by the
1916 Zoning Resolution
The 1916 Zoning Resolution in New York City was the first citywide zoning code in the United States. The zoning resolution reflected both borough and local interests, and was proposed after the Equitable Building was erected in Lower Manhattan ...
in order to allow light and air to reach the streets below,
they later became a defining feature of the Art Deco style.
Original building
The original 1931 building is on the northern portion of the site. The first twenty stories occupy almost the entire site.
The building contains a series of small setbacks starting at the 21st story
and continuing until the 35th story, above which a slender tower rises.
The southern portion of the original building rises as high as a
dormer
A dormer is a roofed structure, often containing a window, that projects vertically beyond the plane of a pitched roof. A dormer window (also called ''dormer'') is a form of roof window.
Dormers are commonly used to increase the usable space ...
on the 37th floor, though the 36th floor is the highest story that also connects to the annex.
The original structure measures on Broadway by on Wall Street.
The tower stories, from the 37th to the 48th floors, measure each.
The top two stories constituted an executive penthouse.
The facade contains several decorative elements that make it appear as an "organic" design, rather than a machine-produced design.
The facade has indented vertical bays with
fluting that are arranged like curtains,
although it could also resemble a cliff-like natural shape from different angles.
Walker said the building would "have 200 thousand people looking at it from all sides" in a single year, including workers and pedestrians; he wanted them to have "mental relief and pleasure" when looking at the building.
Walker also stated that in 1 Wall Street's design, he "tried to superimpose one rhythm upon a basic rhythm" and, as such, he treated the facade as a series of "rhythmic motifs" in different sizes.
Each of the bays is separated by curved, projecting piers that proceed to the top of the setback.
Several piers also contain vertical incisions for emphasis.
The windows of the original building contained custom curved frames to fit into the facade.
The base of the original building is composed of the lowest three stories. The section of the base along Wall Street is eight bays wide, with a double-width entrance in the middle of the Wall Street facade, which is reached by a short flight of stairs and leads to the main lobby.
The entryway is framed by a jagged portal.
The sections of the base on Broadway and New Street are seventeen bays wide.
On the New Street elevation, the name "Voorhees, Gmelin & Walker" is printed in cursive script.
There is an exposed granite basement on New Street with a service entrance.
On the upper floors, each of the bays has a single
sash window
A sash window or hung sash window is made of one or more movable panels, or "sashes". The individual sashes are traditionally paned window (architecture), paned windows, but can now contain an individual sheet (or sheets, in the case of double gla ...
on each floor. The northwestern and northeastern corners of the building both contain chamfers.
Annex
The southern annex, completed in 1965, is also mostly made of limestone.
On the New Street side, there are setbacks above the 5th and 10th floors; the building then rises as a slender slab with setbacks on the 29th, 34th, and 35th floors.
Along Broadway, the facade of the annex was originally recessed behind that of the original building by two
bays.
In 2018, an entrance to the retail space was constructed in front of the annex;
the entrance is clad with glass.
The entrance structure ranges between one and seven stories high. The facade of the 2018 addition projects forward to the facade of the original structure.
Five stories were also built atop the initial portion of the annex.
In total, according to zoning documents, the annex measures on Broadway and on Exchange Place.
Features
The building contains 10 elevators as of 2019,
compared with 43 elevators and 14 escalators prior to the residential conversion.
When built, 1 Wall Street contained 29 elevators,
some of which were near the building's exterior walls.
Irving Trust had six private elevators,
while the rest of the building contained three groups of elevators, serving the lower, intermediate, or upper floors.
Because the New Street side of the building was lower than the Broadway side,
engineers configured the original elevator shafts so that
double-deck elevator
A double-deck elevator or double-deck lift is an elevator where one cab is stacked on top of another. This allows passengers on two consecutive floors to be able to use the elevator simultaneously, significantly increasing the passenger capaci ...
s could be installed if necessary.
These double-deck elevators were never built.
At its completion 1 Wall Street was the first office structure in Lower Manhattan to use
alternating current
Alternating current (AC) is an electric current which periodically reverses direction and changes its magnitude continuously with time in contrast to direct current (DC) which flows only in one direction. Alternating current is the form in whic ...
for electric power. It contained a network of pneumatic tubes for sending documents between floors.
There is of interior space,
of which the original building had of floor space.
The original building's first through 21st stories each contained .
There are also five basement levels under the original structure, three of which were below sea level.
A corridor inside 1 Wall Street's basement, stretching between Broadway and New Street, provided access to the northbound platform of the Wall Street station, but it was converted to a communications room by 2000. Upon the building's opening,
Irving Trust
Irving Trust was an American Commercial bank headquartered in New York City that operated between 1851 and 1988 when it was acquired by Bank of New York. From 1965 the bank was the principal subsidiary of the Irving Bank Corporation.
Between 1913 ...
occupied the basements, lowest ten floors, and uppermost three floors of 1 Wall Street.
Following its 2018–2021 conversion, 1 Wall Street contained of residential space and of commercial space.
Lobby
At ground level is the Red Room, a large space with a ceiling stretching
or high.
It was designed as the reception room, rather than a banking room,
and was accessed primarily from Wall Street.
The Red Room measures long, stretching the entire distance between the western and eastern facades, and wide.
The floor was made of red
terrazzo
Terrazzo is a composite material, poured in place or precast, which is used for floor and wall treatments. It consists of chips of marble, quartz, granite, glass, or other suitable material, poured with a cementitious binder (for chemical bindi ...
tiles.
Walker and his associate Perry Coke Smith personally supervised the creation of the floor tiles in Berlin.
The walls and ceilings are decorated with of mosaics designed by
Hildreth Meiere Hildreth may refer to:
Places
* Hildreth, California
*Hildreth, Nebraska
*Hildreth Cemetery
Hildreth Cemetery is a small cemetery located on Hildreth Street at Sutherland and By Streets in the Centralville neighborhood of Lowell, Massachusetts. ...
and manufactured by the
Ravenna Mosaic Company
Ravenna ( , , also ; rgn, Ravèna) is the capital city of the Province of Ravenna, in the Emilia-Romagna region of Northern Italy. It was the capital city of the Western Roman Empire from 408 until its collapse in 476. It then served as the cap ...
in
Long Island City
Long Island City (LIC) is a residential and commercial neighborhood on the extreme western tip of Queens, a borough in New York City. It is bordered by Astoria to the north; the East River to the west; New Calvary Cemetery in Sunnyside to the ...
and in Berlin.
The color scheme of the mosaic ranges from red-on-blue on the walls to gold-on-black on the ceiling.
The mosaic gradually becomes lighter near the ceiling, thus drawing visitors' attention toward the ceiling. The mosaic also contains abstract gold patterns.
The remainder of the walls are made of Pyrenees black marble, and the columns are made of Verona red marble; a similar design was used in the
Stockholm City Hall
Stockholm City Hall ( sv, Stockholms stadshus, ''Stadshuset'' locally) is the seat of Stockholm Municipality in Stockholm, Sweden. It stands on the eastern tip of Kungsholmen island, next to Riddarfjärden's northern shore and facing the islands ...
.
The ceiling had an allegorical painting measuring , depicting the influence of wealth on the creation of beauty. Meiere and
Kimon Nicolaïdes Kimon Nicolaїdes (1891–1938) was an American art teacher, author and artist. During World War I, he served in the U.S. Army in France as a camouflage artist. He was of Greek descent.
__NOTOC__
Early life
Nicolaïdes was born in Washington, ...
designed the painting.
When the annex was built, the expanded lobby floor was clad in
travertine
Travertine ( ) is a form of terrestrial limestone deposited around mineral springs, especially hot springs. It often has a fibrous or concentric appearance and exists in white, tan, cream-colored, and even rusty varieties. It is formed by a pro ...
, and the original lobby's ceiling was covered with a
dropped ceiling
A dropped ceiling is a secondary ceiling, hung below the main (structural) ceiling. It may also be referred to as a drop ceiling, T-bar ceiling, false ceiling, suspended ceiling, grid ceiling, drop in ceiling, drop out ceiling, or ceiling til ...
.
The entrances on Broadway and New Street led to a separate hallway with walls made of Pyrenees black marble.
Upper floors
The second floor originally contained Irving Trust's Wall Street office, which served businesses in the Financial District, while the third floor was for the bank's corporate and personal trust divisions. The fifth floor contained the bank's executive offices, wainscoted with wood from around the world. The sixth floor accommodated the out-of-town and foreign divisions, and it also contained a telephone room for long-distance calls.
Irving Trust's dining room was on the 46th floor. The directors' room, on the 47th floor, contained wooden wainscoting, as well as directors' chairs arranged in a semicircle.
The stories above it had dining spaces and a three-story observation lounge; these spaces contained Art Deco furnishings.
The executive lounge, at the 49th story, had a ceiling made of gold-leaf seashells.
The executive lounge had four full-height windows that faced each of the cardinal directions, as well as walls covered with multicolored patterned fabrics.
The walls were also decorated with depictions of Native American war bonnets.
The other floors, except the lowest ten above-ground floors, were rented out to commercial concerns.
After 1 Wall Street's residential conversion, there are 566
condominium
A condominium (or condo for short) is an ownership structure whereby a building is divided into several units that are each separately owned, surrounded by common areas that are jointly owned. The term can be applied to the building or complex ...
apartments, 47 of which have private decks. Of the total units, 304 are
studios
A studio is an artist or worker's workroom. This can be for the purpose of acting, architecture, painting, pottery (ceramics), sculpture, origami, woodworking, scrapbooking, photography, graphic design, filmmaking, animation, industrial d ...
and one-bedroom units.
There are also amenities such as a indoor swimming pool, 39th-floor observation deck, library, golf simulator, dog spa, and playroom.
These amenities are mostly clustered in the annex.
The upper three floors were converted into a three-story
penthouse apartment
A penthouse is an apartment or unit on the highest floor of an apartment building, condominium, hotel or tower
A tower is a tall Nonbuilding structure, structure, taller than it is wide, often by a significant factor. Towers are distingui ...
with , four bedrooms and four bathrooms, as well as a private library and chef's kitchen.
Vault
Irving Trust's
bank vault
A bank vault is a secure space where money, valuables, records, and documents are stored. It is intended to protect their contents from theft, unauthorized use, fire, natural disasters, and other threats, much like a safe. Unlike safes, vaults a ...
, weighing ,
was located below ground level. At the time of the building's 1931 completion, the vault was the second-largest in the city and third-largest in the world, behind those of the
Federal Reserve Bank of New York Building and the
Bank of England
The Bank of England is the central bank of the United Kingdom and the model on which most modern central banks have been based. Established in 1694 to act as the English Government's banker, and still one of the bankers for the Government of ...
.
The vault was encased on three sides by a wall composed of iron, steel, and concrete;
the fourth side was composed of of concrete and a thick layer of metal.
The vault had three stories, of which the top level was used by safe-deposit customers, and the lower floors stored Irving Trust's own fortunes.
Each story had of space.
There were six vault doors, each measuring thick.
The two main doors on the upper level, and one door on each of the other levels, weighed each.
A tank of water, as well as modern chemical, electrical, and mechanical features, were used to prevent potential break-ins.
History
Previous structures
Northern portion
Since the settlement of
New Amsterdam
New Amsterdam ( nl, Nieuw Amsterdam, or ) was a 17th-century Dutch settlement established at the southern tip of Manhattan Island that served as the seat of the colonial government in New Netherland. The initial trading ''factory'' gave rise ...
in the 17th century, only three buildings on the northern portion of the current skyscraper's site had carried the address 1 Wall Street. The first was a 17th-century stone house, and the second was built in the 19th century. The third such structure was an 18-story office building built in 1907 and designed by
St. Louis
St. Louis () is the second-largest city in Missouri, United States. It sits near the confluence of the Mississippi and the Missouri Rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a population of 301,578, while the bi-state metropolitan area, which e ...
-based firm
Barnett, Haynes & Barnett
Barnett, Haynes & Barnett was a prominent architectural firm based in St. Louis, Missouri. Their credits include many familiar St. Louis landmarks, especially a number related to the local Catholic church. Their best-known building is pr ...
. The structure was known as the "Chimney Building"
or the "'chimney corner' building",
and its footprint measured only .
The Chimney Building was developed by a syndicate from St. Louis, headed by Festus Wade of the St. Louis Mercantile Trust Company.
In mid-1905, the company paid $700,000 for the plot, or an average of . The next year, the syndicate announced that it would start erecting an 18-story structure at 1 Wall Street. The Chimney Building was completed in 1907,
and for years afterward, its site was regarded as the world's most valuable.
Adjoining the Chimney Building were five other structures: a 20-story building at 74 Broadway, the 15-story Union Trust Building at 80 Broadway, and three other buildings of between 10 and 12 stories. The oldest of these was the Union Trust Building, which was erected in 1889 and had masonry walls because engineers of the time did not know how much steel the building required. One of the twelve-story structures surrounded the Chimney Building, and in 1926, this structure and the Chimney Building were sold to a syndicate of bankers.
The writer
Washington Irving
Washington Irving (April 3, 1783 – November 28, 1859) was an American short-story writer, essayist, biographer, historian, and diplomat of the early 19th century. He is best known for his short stories "Rip Van Winkle" (1819) and " The Legen ...
, the namesake of the Irving Trust Company, had occupied a house at 3 Wall Street several years before the building's development.
Southern portion
The southern half of the block contained two structures: the
Manhattan Life Insurance Building
The Manhattan Life Insurance Building was a tower on Broadway in the Financial District of Manhattan, New York City.
History
The original structure at 64–66 Broadway was completed in 1894 to the designs of the architects of Kimball & Th ...
on the north and the Knickerbocker Trust Company Building to the south. The 18-story Manhattan Life Building, completed in 1894, was located in the middle of the block at 64 Broadway. The Manhattan Life Building was slightly extended north in 1904 to encompass all lots between 64 and 70 Broadway.
The
Knickerbocker Trust Company
The Knickerbocker Trust was a bank based in New York City that was, at one time, among the largest banks in the United States. It was a central player in the Panic of 1907.
History
The bank was chartered in 1884 by Frederick G. Eldridge, a frie ...
bought the land immediately south of the Manhattan Life Building in early 1906,
and finalized building plans the next year. The 22-story Knickerbocker Trust building at 60 Broadway was completed in 1909
and contained a ground-floor banking room, a private penthouse restaurant, and eight elevators.
There was a space between the Manhattan Life and Knickerbocker Trust buildings.
A strip of land on the northern side of the gap was sold to John E. Schermerhorn in 1912. The Schermerhorn family subsequently built an eight-story structure at 62 Broadway, within the gap.
Planning and construction
The idea for the current skyscraper was attributed to Irving Trust president Harry Ward. Irving Trust, founded in 1851, had merged with numerous other banks in preceding years,
and had outgrown its offices in 60 Broadway, the
Equitable Building, and the
Woolworth Building
The Woolworth Building is an early skyscraper, early American skyscraper designed by architect Cass Gilbert located at 233 Broadway (Manhattan), Broadway in the Tribeca neighborhood of Manhattan in New York City. It was the tallest building in ...
.
At the time of the proposal, the bank was known as American Exchange Irving Trust, having merged in 1926 with the American Exchange-Pacific National Bank. During the mid- and late 1920s, many Art Deco office buildings were constructed in New York City, peaking around 1929 and 1930.
Additionally, banks in Manhattan were clustering around Wall Street, and the corner of Broadway and Wall Street was seen as a valuable location.
Planning
By April 1928, the Central Union Trust Company controlled the buildings from 64 to 80 Broadway, and reportedly planned to build a 36-story structure at the site of the Chimney Building. The following month, American Exchange Irving Trust bought the Chimney Building along with three adjacent structures at 7 Wall Street, and 74 and 80 Broadway, in exchange for $5.5 million in cash and a $9 million
mortgage
A mortgage loan or simply mortgage (), in civil law jurisdicions known also as a hypothec loan, is a loan used either by purchasers of real property to raise funds to buy real estate, or by existing property owners to raise funds for any pu ...
.
The transaction cost approximately .
Following the sale, the Central Union Trust Company moved to the Manhattan Life Building
and modified the structures at 60, 62, and 70 Broadway.
Immediately after the purchase, Irving Trust announced it would erect an office building on the site.
This announcement occurred amid an increase in the number of large banks in New York City.
The company's board of directors founded a sub-committee for construction oversight, and several Irving Trust employees formed the One Wall Street Unit to coordinate logistical planning for the new skyscraper. Thirty-five potential architects were identified and interviewed extensively.
Ultimately, in June 1928, Voorhees, Gmelin and Walker were hired to design the structure, and
Marc Eidlitz
Marc Eidlitz (21 January 1826 – 15 April 1892) was a builder active in New York City, where he was prominent in the construction industry, in partnership with his son Otto Eidlitz (1860–1928).
Biography
Marc was born Markus to a Jewish family ...
was hired as builder.
Voorhees, Gmelin and Walker filed plans with the Manhattan Bureau of Buildings the next month.
The initial plans, known as Scheme B1,
called for a 46- or 52-story building
on a plot of .
The plans called for two banking rooms at ground level.
An August 1928 memorandum between the architects and Irving Trust prompted several changes to the plans. Among those were separate elevators for bank employees and rental tenants; the removal of retail spaces and luncheon clubs; and the addition of a common reception lobby.
In October 1928, local newspapers reported that Irving Trust had accepted "final plans" for a 44-story building rising .
This design resembled the current structure, with setbacks and a curving facade.
The actual final plans, filed in June 1929, provided for a 50-story structure.
The 1929 plans were released after Irving Trust applied for, and received, a zoning variance that allowed the base's first setback to be higher than would normally be allowed. The variance also allowed for a shallower setback, and the tower was allowed to cover more than 25 percent of the lot, the maximum lot coverage ratio typically allowed under the 1916 Zoning Resolution.
Construction and opening
Construction on the site of 1 Wall Street began in May 1929
with the demolition of the four buildings on the northern portion of the site.
Several engineering professors from
Columbia University
Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...
were hired as consultants for the demolition process.
Excavations began in July 1930,
and work on the building itself began that August.
The ceremonial cornerstone was laid on January 15, 1930.
During the construction process, nearby structures such as Trinity Church were shored up.
In March 1930, Irving Trust signed an agreement with the
Interborough Rapid Transit Company
The Interborough Rapid Transit Company (IRT) was the private operator of New York City's original underground subway line that opened in 1904, as well as earlier elevated railways and additional rapid transit lines in New York City. The IRT w ...
, at the time one of the operators of the city's subway system, to build three new entrances to the Wall Street station on Broadway and another entrance in 1 Wall Street's basement.
The frame involved the installation of 250,000 rivets and was completed within five months of the
groundbreaking
Groundbreaking, also known as cutting, sod-cutting, turning the first sod, or a sod-turning ceremony, is a traditional ceremony in many cultures that celebrates the first day of construction for a building or other project. Such ceremonies are o ...
without any serious incidents. When the steel frame
topped out
In building construction, topping out (sometimes referred to as topping off) is a builders' rite traditionally held when the last beam (or its equivalent) is placed atop a structure during its construction. Nowadays, the ceremony is often parlaye ...
on May 12, 1930, workers hoisted an evergreen tree to the top of the frame. While the workers were securing the final rivets, a hot steel rivet fell from the building's top and hit a truck below, narrowly missing the truck driver's head and causing a small fire on the street. The exterior was completed by August 1930.
Several hundred boxcars were used to transport the building's
Indiana Limestone
Indiana limestone — also known as Bedford limestone in the building trade — has long been an economically important building material, particularly for monumental public structures. Indiana limestone is a more common term for Salem Limestone, ...
to New York City; according to railroad workers, it was the largest-ever such order.
Before being used in the building, the limestone blocks went to a workshop in Long Island City, where they were carved to meet the building's specifications.
Irving Trust use
By December 1930, Irving Trust announced that 80 percent of the space had been leased in the nearly-completed building.
Tenants started moving into 1 Wall Street by mid-March 1931, before its formal opening. Among the tenants were several members of the
New York Stock Exchange
The New York Stock Exchange (NYSE, nicknamed "The Big Board") is an American stock exchange in the Financial District of Lower Manhattan in New York City. It is by far the world's largest stock exchange by market capitalization of its listed c ...
and
Curb Exchange
In finance, curb trading is the trading of securities outside the mainstream stock exchange, either because the company operating the exchange has very strict listing requirements (cf: alternative stock exchange) or because investors are so intere ...
. The Irving Trust Company moved into the building on March 23, 1931. Two hundred guards armed with machine guns moved the bank's $8 billion holdings from its former location at the Woolworth Building.
The same day, 1 Wall Street opened to public use, with thousands of visitors.
By that time, the building was 90 percent occupied.
Shortly afterward, the Fiduciary Trust Company of New York also moved its banking quarters to the 30th floor, making that space the highest banking quarters in New York City.
In a 1938 incident, an electrical transformer on the 21st-story setback blew up; though the windows were shaken, nobody was injured.
An air-conditioning system was installed at 1 Wall Street in 1953.
The original building soon became too small to accommodate the operations of Irving Trust and its tenants. Accordingly, in 1961, Irving Trust purchased from
Hanover Bank
Manufacturers Hanover Corporation was the bank holding company formed as parent of Manufacturers Hanover Trust Company, a large New York bank formed by a merger in 1961. After 1969, Manufacturers Hanover Trust became a subsidiary of Manufac ...
the three buildings at 60, 62, and 70 Broadway, thereby giving Irving Trust control of the entire block between Broadway, Wall Street, New Street, and Exchange Place. The company initially anticipated that the annex would cost $25 million. Voorhees, Walker Smith Smith & Haines were hired to design the annex,
while
Turner Construction
Turner Construction is an American construction company with presence in 20 countries. It is a subsidiary of the German company Hochtief. It is the largest domestic contractor in the United States as of 2020, with a revenue of $14.41 billion in ...
was hired as the main contractor.
By mid-1963, the site had been cleared;
in preparation of the work, Irving Trust took a
sublease
A lease is a contractual arrangement calling for the user (referred to as the ''lessee'') to pay the owner (referred to as the ''lessor'') for the use of an asset. Property, buildings and vehicles are common assets that are leased. Industrial ...
at
2 Broadway. To finance construction, Irving Trust sold the building to a subsidiary, which then sold $30 million of
secured notes to investors. Renovations also took place in the original building; tenants continued to use 1 Wall Street during construction, but the vault in the basement was emptied. A refrigeration plant was installed on the annex's roof to provide air-conditioning to both buildings, and cooling machinery was also installed in the basement.
The project was finished by late 1965.
By 1980, Irving Trust had decided to relocate its operations center to another building near the
World Trade Center
World Trade Centers are sites recognized by the World Trade Centers Association.
World Trade Center may refer to:
Buildings
* List of World Trade Centers
* World Trade Center (2001–present), a building complex that includes five skyscrapers, a ...
.
Between 1987 and 1988, Irving Trust was negotiating to merge with the
Bank of New York
The Bank of New York Mellon Corporation, commonly known as BNY Mellon, is an American investment banking services holding company headquartered in New York City. BNY Mellon was formed from the merger of The Bank of New York and the Mellon Financ ...
, which at the time was headquartered nearby at
48 Wall Street.
Irving Trust initially rejected buy-out offers from the Bank of New York because the latter had "undervalued" Irving Trust's assets such as 1 Wall Street. By October 1988, with a merger imminent, Irving Trust placed 1 Wall Street for auction; at the time, the building was valued at $250 million. The Bank of New York then acquired Irving Trust in December 1988.
BNY decided to sell its old headquarters at 48 Wall Street
and relocate its headquarters to 1 Wall Street.
BNY Mellon opened a museum on the 10th floor in 1998, which was dedicated to the history of both banks. During the same time, BNY Mellon hired
Hoffmann Architects to conduct mortar repair and window replacements.
While 1 Wall Street was not damaged following the
September 11 attacks
The September 11 attacks, commonly known as 9/11, were four coordinated suicide terrorist attacks carried out by al-Qaeda against the United States on Tuesday, September 11, 2001. That morning, nineteen terrorists hijacked four commercia ...
at the nearby World Trade Center in 2001, BNY Mellon's operations were disrupted, and 1 Wall Street had to be cleaned up.
Sale and conversion
By January 2014, BNY Mellon was looking to sell its headquarters, as it was moving to a location with less space. In May 2014, BNY Mellon sold the building to a joint venture led by
Harry B. Macklowe
Harry B. Macklowe (born 1937) is an American real estate developer and investor based in New York City.
Early life
Macklowe was born to a Jewish family, the son of a garment executive from Westchester County, New York. He graduated from New Roc ...
's Macklowe Properties for $585 million, though BNY Mellon continued to occupy the building until September 2015.
Macklowe added up to of retail space at the base.
He initially planned to make 1 Wall Street a mixed-use residential and office building,
and he planned to rent out 65 percent of the residences.
In early 2017, Macklowe changed these plans so that it would be almost entirely residential
condominium
A condominium (or condo for short) is an ownership structure whereby a building is divided into several units that are each separately owned, surrounded by common areas that are jointly owned. The term can be applied to the building or complex ...
s, since an all-residential building, owned by its tenants, would require less
debt
Debt is an obligation that requires one party, the debtor, to pay money or other agreed-upon value to another party, the creditor. Debt is a deferred payment, or series of payments, which differentiates it from an immediate purchase. The ...
.
Macklowe Properties partnered with former Prime Minister of Qatar
Hamad bin Jassim bin Jaber Al Thani
Sheikh Hamad bin Jassim bin Jaber bin Mohammed bin Thani Al Thani ( ar, حمد بن جاسم بن جبر آل ثاني; born 1959), also known informally by his initials HBJ, is a Qatari politician. He was the Prime Minister of Qatar from 3 April ...
in a bid to convert the office property into 566 condos with retail at the base.
The renovation was originally supposed to be undertaken by
Robert A.M. Stern Architects
Robert A.M. Stern Architects, LLP (RAMSA), is an architecture firm based in New York City. First established by Robert A. M. Stern (as Stern Hagmann Architects) in 1969, it is now organized as a limited liability partnership with 16 general partne ...
, though it was replaced by the firm
SLCE Architects
SLCE Architects is an American architecture firm which provides architectural services in both the public and private sector. Between 2010 and 2015, the firm received the most commissions for residential developments in New York City. The firm is ...
.
Deutsche Bank
Deutsche Bank AG (), sometimes referred to simply as Deutsche, is a German multinational investment bank and financial services company headquartered in Frankfurt, Germany, and dual-listed on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange and the New York Sto ...
provided $750 million in debt for the conversion.
As part of the renovation, 34 elevators and 16 escalators were removed. The original layout of the building included elevators near the perimeter wall, but this took up usable space near windows. As such, Macklowe removed 20 of the elevators that served upper floors and added 10 new elevators in the building core; new stairs were also constructed to replace the existing stairs.
The demolition of the interior was completed in November 2018.
In addition, the Red Room was restored between 2016 and 2018, in advance of its conversion into a retail space.
The Red Room's restoration used tiles that had been placed in storage and unused when the building was originally erected.
The third floor was demolished to make a higher ceiling for the retail space.
A new entrance was also constructed on Broadway, with a design based on one of Walker's unrealized plans for the building,
and five stories were added to the southern annex.
Whole Foods Market
Whole Foods Market IP, Inc., a subsidiary of Amazon, is an upscale American multinational supermarket chain headquartered in Austin, Texas, which sells products free from hydrogenated fats and artificial colors, flavors, and preservatives. A US ...
leased a storefront in 2016, and
Life Time Fitness
Life Time, Inc. is a chain of health clubs in the United States and Canada.
History
The company was founded by chairman and chief executive officer, Bahram Akradi. The company was incorporated in 1990 as FCA, Ltd., a Minnesota corporation, and ...
signed a lease for a gym on the lowest four floors in 2019. The residential units, the Red Room, and Whole Foods were then all planned to open in 2021.
Macklowe had originally hired Core Real Estate to market the apartments. However, he replaced Core with Compass in December 2020, prompting Core to sue Macklowe for unpaid brokerage fees. The facades of the annex's additions had been completed by mid-2021, and sales of residential units were launched in September 2021. By March 2022, Macklowe and Al Thani planned to refinance 1 Wall Street for $1.1 billion, using the proceeds to pay off construction costs and outstanding debt.
At that point, the renovation was projected to be completed by the end of 2022.
[ The building's retail space was nearly complete by mid-2022,] and French retailer Printemps
Printemps (; meaning "spring (season), springtime" in French language, French) is a French department store chain (french: grand magasin, links=no, literally "big store"). The Printemps stores focus on beauty, lifestyle, fashion, accessories ...
announced it would open a store at 1 Wall Street. In addition, Macklowe Properties began exhibiting model apartments to prospective residents in 2022.
Critical reception and landmark designation
1 Wall Street received an accolade from the Broadway Association in 1931; the association designated the building as the "most worthy of civic endorsement" out of all structures erected around Broadway in 1930. A writer for the ''New York Evening Post'' called Meiere's lobby mural "one of the most costly and beautiful pieces of mural decoration ever attempted in the United States".
Architectural critics of the mid-20th century generally ignored the building in favor of more widely renowned structures, such as the Empire State Building
The Empire State Building is a 102-story Art Deco skyscraper in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. The building was designed by Shreve, Lamb & Harmon and built from 1930 to 1931. Its name is derived from "Empire State", the nickname of the st ...
, the Chrysler Building
The Chrysler Building is an Art Deco skyscraper on the East Side of Manhattan in New York City, at the intersection of 42nd Street and Lexington Avenue in Midtown Manhattan. At , it is the tallest brick building in the world with a steel fra ...
, and 40 Wall Street
40 Wall Street, also known as the Trump Building, is a neo-Gothic skyscraper on Wall Street between Nassau and William streets in the Financial District of Manhattan in New York City. Erected in 1929–1930 as the headquarters of the Manhat ...
. Critic Lewis Mumford
Lewis Mumford (October 19, 1895 – January 26, 1990) was an American historian, sociologist, philosopher of technology, and literary critic. Particularly noted for his study of cities and urban architecture, he had a broad career as a wr ...
stated of 1 Wall Street's facade, "Chaste though that exterior is, it is mere swank, and unconvincing swank at that". Because of Irving Trust's role as a receiver for bankrupt companies, 1 Wall Street was called the "Central Repair Shop for Broken Businesses". Architectural historian Robert A. M. Stern
Robert Arthur Morton Stern, usually credited as Robert A. M. Stern (born May 23, 1939), is a New York City–based architect, educator, and author. He is the founding partner of the architecture firm, Robert A.M. Stern Architects, also known a ...
wrote in his 1987 book ''New York 1930'' that 1 Wall Street's proximity to other skyscrapers including 70 Pine Street, 20 Exchange Place, 40 Wall Street
40 Wall Street, also known as the Trump Building, is a neo-Gothic skyscraper on Wall Street between Nassau and William streets in the Financial District of Manhattan in New York City. Erected in 1929–1930 as the headquarters of the Manhat ...
, and the Downtown Athletic Club
The Downtown Athletic Club, also known as the Downtown Club, was a private social and athletic club that operated from 1926 to 2002 at 20 West Street, within the Financial District of Lower Manhattan in New York City. The Downtown Athletic Cl ...
"had reduced the previous generation of skyscrapers to the status of foothills in a new mountain range". Daniel Abramson wrote in 2001 that the "corner and tower treatments appear blocky and conventional" compared to 70 Pine Street, though 1 Wall Street was still distinguished its massing and the curves in its facade.
There was also praise for what Stern characterized as "Walker's only completed skyscraper". Ada Louise Huxtable
Ada Louise Huxtable (née Landman; March 14, 1921 – January 7, 2013) was an architecture critic and writer on architecture. Huxtable established architecture and urban design journalism in North America and raised the public's awareness of the ...
of ''The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
'' wrote in 1975 that 1 Wall Street was "an Art Deco masterpiece". The ''Times'' said in 2001 that a "triumvirate of great Art Deco contemporaries" in New York City would include the Empire State Building, the Chrysler Building, and 1 Wall Street. Stern stated that in 1 Wall Street's design, "structure became an unseen prop for poetry"; he further called the building's form "a natural precipice of stone shaped by erosion". Architectural writer Eric P. Nash called 1 Wall Street "one of the most delicate, even feminine, skyscrapers ever built".
In 2001, the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission
The New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission (LPC) is the New York City agency charged with administering the city's Landmarks Preservation Law. The LPC is responsible for protecting New York City's architecturally, historically, and cu ...
designated the original portion of 1 Wall Street as an official city landmark. The designation only included the exterior of the original building and did not extend to the southern annex. The lobby interior was not given a separate interior-landmark designation because such designations at the time were reserved for publicly accessible spaces. Since the lobby could only be used by BNY Mellon workers at the time of the exterior designation, it was legally considered to be closed to the public. As a result of the landmark designation's limited scope, most of the improvements made in the 2010s condominium conversion, such as the glass retail addition, were made to the annex. Changes to designated landmarks required the commission's approval, but the annex was out of the commission's scope. Additionally, in 2007, the building was designated as a contributing property to the Wall Street Historic District, a National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...
district.
See also
*Art Deco architecture of New York City
Art Deco architecture flourished in New York City during the 1920s and 1930s, before largely disappearing after World War II. The style is found in government edifices, commercial projects, and residential buildings in all five boroughs. The arc ...
* List of buildings and structures on Broadway in Manhattan
*List of tallest buildings in New York City
New York City, the most populous city in the United States, is home to over 7,000 completed high-rise buildings of at least , of which at least 95 are taller than . The tallest building in New York is One World Trade Center, which rises ...
*
References
Notes
Citations
Sources
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External links
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{{Authority control
1930s architecture in the United States
Art Deco architecture in Manhattan
Art Deco skyscrapers
Bank buildings in Manhattan
Building
A building, or edifice, is an enclosed structure with a roof and walls standing more or less permanently in one place, such as a house or factory (although there's also portable buildings). Buildings come in a variety of sizes, shapes, and fun ...
Broadway (Manhattan)
Financial District, Manhattan
Historic bank buildings in the United States
Historic district contributing properties in Manhattan
New York City Designated Landmarks in Manhattan
Office buildings completed in 1931
Skyscraper office buildings in Manhattan
Wall Street