40 Wall Street

40 Wall Street (also the Trump Building; formerly the Bank of Manhattan Trust Building and Manhattan Company Building) is a 927-foot-tall (283 m)

40 Wall Street is in the Financial District of Manhattan, in the middle of the block bounded by Pine Street to the north, William Street to the east, Wall Street to the south, and Nassau Street to the west. The site is L-shaped, with a longer facade on Pine Street than on Wall Street.^[6][7][8] The lot measures 209 feet (64 m) on Pine Street and 150 ft (46 m) on Wall Street.^[9] Originally, the site measured 194 ft (59 m) on Pine Street and 150 feet on Wall Street.^[10] The lot has a total area of 34,360 square feet (3,192 m²).^[8]

40 Wall Street is surrounded by several buildings, including Federal Hall and 30 Wall Street to the west; 44 Wall Street and 48 Wall Street to the east; 55 Wall Street to the southeast; 28 Liberty Street to the north; and 23 Wall Street and 15 Broad Street to the south.^[7] The site slopes down southward so that the Pine Street entrance is on the second floor while the Wall Street entrance is on the first floor.^[7][11]

Prior to the current building's completion, the site was occupied by numerous smaller office buildings. The southern part of the site was occupied by the eight-story Gallatin Bank Building at 34–36 Wall Street, designed by Cady, Berg & See and completed in 1887; the nine-story Marshall Field Building at 38 Wall Street; the Manhattan Company's original headquarters at 40 Wall Street; and a 13-story building to the east. The northern portion contained a 13-story building at 25 Pine Street, a 12-story building at 27–29 Pine Street, and the 13-story Redmond Building at 31–33 Pine Street.^[12]

Architecture

The building was designed by lead architect

40 Wall Street, like many other early-20th-century skyscrapers in New York City, is designed as a freestanding tower, rising separately from all adjacent buildings. 40 Wall Street is one of several skyscrapers in the city that have pyramidal roofs, along with the Metropolitan Life Insurance Company Tower, 14 Wall Street, Woolworth Building, Consolidated Edison Building, and Thurgood Marshall United States Courthouse.^[19] The building is articulated into three horizontal sections similar to the components of a column, namely a base, shaft, and capital.^[19][11] The floors at the six-story base cover the entire L-shaped lot, while the 7th through 35th stories (making up the middle section) are shaped in a "U", with two wings of different lengths facing west.^[25][26] The 7th through 35th stories occupy nearly the entire lot.^[7][26] Above the 35th story, the building rises as a smaller, square tower through the 62nd story.^[26][27]

40 Wall Street has several setbacks to conform with New York City's 1916 Zoning Resolution.^[19] On the Wall Street side, the central portion of the facade is recessed through the 26th floor, while symmetrical pavilions project slightly on either side, with setbacks above the 17th, 19th, and 21st floors. The entire Wall Street facade has setbacks above the 26th, 33rd, and 35th floors. The Pine Street facade is asymmetrical, with the western pavilion being much longer; this facade has a setback above the 12th, 17th, 19th, 23rd, 26th, 28th, and 29th floors. The projecting pavilions on both sides are connected at the eighth floor by a dormer.^[28]

The building's west-facing wings are of different lengths; the northern wing is significantly longer and has cooling systems atop it, but both wings have minor setbacks above the 26th and 33rd floors, and rise only to the 35th floor. The eastern facade does not have any setbacks below the 35th story.^[28]

Facade

40 Wall Street's exterior curtain wall is composed of two layers of brick; the inner layer provides fireproofing, while the outer layer is the exterior cladding.^[29] In general, the facade is composed of buff-colored brick, as well as decorative elements made of terracotta and buff brick. The vertical bays, which contain the building's windows, are separated by piers.^[25][26] The piers are flat, a characteristic of the Art Deco style.^[20] Spandrel panels, which separate the rows of windows on each floor, are generally recessed behind the piers; the spandrels are generally darker on upper stories.^[25][26] The building's window openings, initially composed of one-over-one sash windows, were later replaced by numerous types of window-pane arrangements or by louvers.^[26]

Base

The first through sixth stories contain a limestone-and-granite facade. On the first story, the podium on the facade's Wall Street

The Pine Street elevation is arranged similarly to the Wall Street elevation and was likewise redesigned from 1961 to 1963.[28] The Pine Street elevation rises above a low stylobate, in contrast to the Wall Street elevation, which rises above a podium.^[11] A 6-foot-diameter (1.8 m) clock was on the Pine Street facade from 1967 to 1993. This portion of the facade consists of either 10^[11] or 11 bays.^[28] At ground level, there is an entrance to the main elevator lobby, a service entrance, and storefronts slightly above grade. As with the Wall Street side, the fourth floor features a pair of flagpoles.^[28]

Upper stories

The 8th through 35th stories comprise the midsection of the building. There are eight flagpoles on the ninth floor of the Wall Street side, four on each pavilion. On the 19th floor of the Pine Street side, there are louvers in place of window openings.^[28] On the 36th through 62nd stories, there are brick spandrels between the windows on each story.^[25][28] The spandrels on the 52nd through 57th floors are made of terracotta; on the 58th through 60th floors, terracotta with buttresses; and on the 61st and 62nd floors, darker bricks with pediments and rhombus patterns.^[25]

The building's pyramidal roof is made of lead-coated copper, which over time has oxidized and turned green.^[35][36] The roof has French Renaissance-style detail, a design element intended to make the building appear much older than it actually was at the time of its construction.^[35] The decorations on the roof include diaperwork patterns, where the brickwork is laid in a repeating diagonal grid pattern; terraces, which are supported by buttresses; and small dormer windows.^[37] There is a cornice surrounding the roof.^[25] On top is a spire with a flagpole and a glass lantern.^[28][37]

Features

The building's frame is made of steel.^[7] The superstructure contains eight main columns, each of which weighs 22 short tons (20 long tons; 20 t) and can carry loads of up to 4.6 million lb (2.1 million kg).^[38] As originally arranged, 40 Wall Street hosted the Manhattan Company's banking facilities on the first through sixth floors; offices on its middle floors; and machinery, an observation deck, and recreation areas on the top floors. There were also 43 elevators inside the building when it opened;^[19] as of 2020^[update], there are 36 elevators.^[2] When 40 Wall Street was completed, it could accommodate 10,000 employees.^[39]

Lower stories

Like other early-20th-century skyscrapers in the Financial District, the lobby of 40 Wall Street originally was designed with classical elements such as moldings, pilasters, columns, and heavy doorframes.^[40] The ground story was highly decentralized with seven entrances from Wall Street, leading to various vestibules. The westernmost entrance led to a private foyer with its own elevator, while the easternmost entrance connected with the elevator banks on the eastern side of the building. Two ground-level banking rooms extended northward to Pine Street: one at the center and one on the west.^[41] There was also space for brokerage-house messengers.^[42][43] A wide, marble staircase from the ground level led up to the main banking room on the second floor.^[42] The modern design of the lobby dates to a 1990s renovation by Der Scutt.^[3][35] Following Scutt's renovation, the lobby was redecorated with bronze and marble surfaces.^[35][44] The lobby also has escalators to the second floor.^[25]

The main banking room, a double-height space measuring 150 by 185 feet (46 by 56 m), was on the second floor.^[45][43] The room could be accessed from ground level^[46] or directly from Pine Street.^[25][46] The Pine Street entrance had a foyer with two pairs of octagonal, black marble Ionic columns,^[25] while the Wall Street side of the room was supported by veined octagonal columns.^[42] The room itself consists of a main hall below five groin vaults, flanked by arcades that lead into smaller vaulted spaces.^[25] In the main hall were desks for tellers.^[42][43] To the north and south were two platforms for the officers of the Manhattan Company's subsidiaries, where officers and customers could meet privately in wood-paneled spaces.^[47] The walls were once decorated with three murals by Ezra Winter, depicting various scenes from the history of the Financial District;^[48][49] Winter's murals have since been removed.^[25] The second floor was occupied by a Duane Reade convenience store from 2011^[50] to 2023.^[51]

A pair of stairs on the banking room's south wall flanks the escalators and leads up to what was originally the officers' quarters, a rectangular room with five white marble columns.^[25] This space had three doorways that led to private offices of Manhattan Company executives; the doorways to those offices were framed by round carvings symbolizing various sectors of the economy.^[52]

Stairs from the ground level led to the two basement stories, where the Manhattan Company's vaults were located.^[52] Under the lobby was a main vault that stored the company's own securities and funds. A safe-deposit vault for members of the public, with an 85-short-ton (76-long-ton; 77 t) door, was below the Manhattan Company's vault.^[43]

Upper stories

On the fourth floor was the boardroom of the Manhattan Company, designed in the Georgian style as an imitation of Independence Hall's Signers' Room.^[52][43][53] It contained several elements of the Doric order, such as columns, pilasters, and a frieze.^[52][53] Wooden doors and fireplaces with segmental arches were on the eastern wall, while false windows were on the western wall.^[52] The space also included a fireplace, Chippendale furniture, and a blue rug.^[53] According to the Manhattan Company's magazine, the boardroom's design "recaptured the artistic spirit of the days of ... [the company's] founding".^[54]

The offices of the Manhattan Company's officers overlooked the Wall Street entrance.

The 26th and 27th stories housed the Luncheon Club of Wall Street, a members-only private club,^[58] built upon the suggestion of William A. Starrett, the building's general contractor.^[59] The Luncheon Club occupied a Colonial-style space designed by Matsui and Robert L. Powell, and included an entrance hall and a main dining room covered in wood, as well as private dining rooms with wallpaper.^[58] The 55th floor was entirely occupied by the Manhattan Company's officers' club, which included a dining room.^[43][45] The officers' club was designed in a Colonial style with Windsor chairs, a fireplace, and a ceiling with fake wood beams.^[60] Another members-only dining club, the Rookery Club, was located on the 58th story.^[58][61] The Bank of Manhattan Building had an observation deck on the 69th and 70th floors, 836 feet (255 m) above the street; it could fit up to 100 people.^[62] The observation deck was closed to the public sometime after World War II.^[13]

History

The

The idea for the current skyscraper was devised by banker George L. Ohrstrom,^[68][69][70] who began acquiring land for the building in 1928^[63] under the auspices of 36 Wall Street Corporation.^[71] Stakeholders in the corporation included Ohrstrom and the builders, Starrett Brothers (later Starrett Corporation).^[72][73] In September 1928, 36 Wall Street Corporation acquired 34–36 Wall Street under a 93-year lease from the Iselin family. At the time, the syndicate hoped to build a 20-story building.^[74][75] By that December, Ohrstrom had purchased four buildings, with frontage along 27–33 Pine Street and 34–38 Wall Street, and controlled a total area of 17,000 square feet (1,600 m²).^[76][77] The plans had been updated, and the syndicate at that point envisioned a 45-story building.^[77] In January 1929, the corporation planned a bond issue to fund the building's construction.^[78] That March, Ohrstrom announced that H. Craig Severance would design a 47-story structure at 36 Wall Street.^[63][79] The corporation bought 25 Pine Street the same month.^[80]

Shortly after Severance's original plans were announced, the skyscraper was modified to have 60 floors, which was shorter than the 792-foot (241 m) Woolworth Building and the then under construction 808-foot (246 m) Chrysler Building.^[81] Plans for a 64-story skyscraper were announced after the Manhattan Company agreed to relocate to the new building in early April 1929.^[82][83] By April 8, Ohrstrom and Severance had planned to make the new skyscraper the world's tallest building.^[84] Two days later, it was announced that Severance had increased the tower's height to 840 feet (260 m) with 62 floors, exceeding the heights of the Woolworth and Chrysler buildings.^[85][86][87] It was also announced that the Manhattan Company would be 36 Wall Street's main tenant and that the new building would be known as the Bank of Manhattan Building or the Manhattan Company Building.^[86] The height of the building was made possible by the 33,600-square-foot (3,120 m²) lot, which was one of the largest in the densely-developed Financial District.^[9][88]

The builders intended to spend large sums to reduce the construction period to one year, which would allow rental tenants to move into the building sooner.

Construction of the Manhattan Company Building began in May 1929.^[94][95] By that time, the syndicate developing the building was known as the 40 Wall Street Corporation, and the building was also known as 40 Wall Street. That same month, the Manhattan Company leased its lots at 40–42 Wall Street and 35–39 Pine Street to the 40 Wall Street Corporation for 93 years. Ownership would be divided among the Manhattan Company, the Iselin family, and the 40 Wall Street Corporation, with the Manhattan Company holding a plurality stake.^[96] Simultaneously, the U.S. government invited bids on the adjoining building at 28–30 Wall Street, then occupied by a federal assay office.^[63] In June 1929, the government announced that the 40 Wall Street Corporation had placed the highest bid for the lot, bringing the syndicate's total land holding to 40,000 square feet (3,700 m²).^[97][98][99] The assay office plot was reserved for future expansion, instead of being incorporated into the plans for the new skyscraper.^[99][100] The Manhattan Company moved to a temporary headquarters during construction.^[10][45]

Excavations for 40 Wall Street were complicated by numerous factors. There was little available space to store materials; the surrounding lots were all densely built up; the bedrock was 64 feet (20 m) below street level, beneath boulders and quicksand; and the previous buildings on the lot had foundations up to 5 feet (1.5 m) thick.^{[15][101][102]} Furthermore, the builders had a 12-month deadline, requiring them to plan the entire project backward from the planned completion date.^[103] Starrett Brothers had drawn up a detailed construction schedule for 40 Wall Street, outlining the timeline for each major construction contract. The schedule indicated that structural-steel installation would commence in June 1929 and that all work was to be completed by May 1, 1930.^[17] The project employed 24 timekeepers and auditors, who checked employees' attendance, as well as seven job runners, who delivered architectural drawings and ensured that materials were delivered.^[104]

To save money and time, the foundation of 40 Wall Street was constructed at the same time that buildings on the site were being cleared.^{[15][103][105]} The old Manhattan Company building was the last to be cleared.^{[15][101][102]} Caisson construction could not be used to excavate the site since the existing foundation consisted of heavy masonry blocks. To ensure that the foundation could adequately support the structure, temporary lighter footings were installed during the demolition of the old buildings and construction of the first 20 stories, and permanent heavy footings were installed afterward.^[15][102] Workers excavated the site to the underlying layer of bedrock, which extended as much as 60 feet (18 m) deep. They then installed several dozen hollow cylinders, each measuring 1 foot (0.30 m) wide. In addition, workers installed several hundred steel pilings, which were clustered into piers, infilled with concrete, and topped by steel caps that could accommodate structural loads of up to 950 short tons (850 long tons; 860 t).^[105] The weight of the existing 12-story building on the site was used to drill the new building's foundations into the ground.^[95] Afterward, a concrete floor was poured into the excavation, which was then enclosed with a concrete cofferdam.^[105]

Superstructure and completion

In July 1929, the builders held a ceremony where

Workers then installed the tower's facade by hanging pieces of curtain wall from the completed steel frame.[29] Interior work proceeded simultaneously with the facade installation.^[36] The steel superstructure reached the 40th story by September 1929, when interior plasterwork began.^[110] The building topped out on November 13, 1929.^[111][112] By that time, the steel frame had reached 900 feet (270 m) above street level, the facade had been completed to the 54th story, and much of the internal furnishing had been completed.^[111][113] By December, rental agents Brown, Wheelock, Harris, Vought & Company were leasing out the space at the Chrysler and Manhattan Company buildings, which aggregated 2 million sq ft (190,000 m²).^[114]

The 40 Wall Street Corporation gave a $12.5 million mortgage for the building's completion in December 1929,

Prior to 40 Wall Street's completion, architect William Van Alen obtained permission to install a 125-foot (38 m) long spire on the Chrysler Building^[125][126] and had it constructed secretly.^[92] The Chrysler Building's spire was completed on October 23, 1929, bringing that building to 1,046 feet (319 m),^[127][128] thereby greatly exceeding 40 Wall Street's height.^[129] Disturbed by Chrysler's victory, Shreve & Lamb wrote a newspaper article claiming that their building was the tallest, since it contained the world's highest usable floor. They stated that the observation deck at 40 Wall Street was nearly 100 feet (30 m) above the top floor in the Chrysler Building.^[126] 40 Wall Street's observation deck was 836 feet (255 m) high, while the Chrysler Building's observatory was 783 feet (239 m) high.^[130] As a result of the Chrysler Building's spire, 40 Wall Street was the tallest building in Lower Manhattan but not the tallest in New York City.^[24]

John J. Raskob, developer of the Empire State Building (which was also designed by Shreve & Lamb), also wanted to construct the world's tallest building.^[131] The "Race into the Sky" was defined by at least five other proposals, although only the Empire State Building would survive the Wall Street Crash of 1929.^[132][d] Plans for the Empire State Building were changed multiple times; the final plan, published in December 1929, called for the building to be 1,250 feet (380 m) tall.^[134] The Empire State Building was completed in May 1931,^[135] becoming the world's tallest building both by roof height and spire height.^[134][136]

Because of late changes to the plans of both 40 Wall Street and the Chrysler Building, as well as the fact that the buildings were erected nearly simultaneously, it is uncertain whether 40 Wall Street was ever taller than the Chrysler Building. John Tauranac, who wrote a book about the Empire State Building's history, later stated that if 40 Wall Street had "ever had been the tallest building, they would have had bragging rights, and if they did, I certainly never heard them".^[137] If only completed structures are counted, 40 Wall Street was the world's tallest building for one month,^[24][1] from the first week of May 1930^[1] until the opening of the Chrysler Building on May 27, 1930.^[92][138][a]

Early tenants and foreclosure

The new building housed four Manhattan Company subsidiaries: the Bank of Manhattan Trust Company, the

By early 1939, 40 Wall Street Corporation had fallen behind on rent payments, ground leases, and property taxes.[145] That May, the Marine Midland Trust Company started foreclosure proceedings against the corporation after it defaulted on "payments of interest, taxes and other charges".^[146] In response, several bondholders formed a committee to protect their stakes;^[147][148] the committee expressed opposition to the proposed reorganization.^[149] In July 1939, the corporation filed a plan to reorganize all assets that were not covered by the mortgage loans.^[150][151] Marine Midland became the trustee of 40 Wall Street's first-mortgage fee and its bonds on the lease in February 1940, supplanting the corporation.^[19][152] Marine Midland, acting on behalf of the bondholders, acquired the building that September in a transaction worth almost $11.5 million.^[153][154] The New York Times later described the building as being "a monument to lost hope" during that era: at the time, the building's $1,000 debentures were being sold at $108.75 apiece.^[142] The structure as a whole was worth $1.25 million, which was less than the cost of the 43 elevators inside the building.^[142][155]

C. F. Noyes was hired as the building's leasing agent at the end of 1940.^[156][157] One of the larger tenants during the 1940s was the Westinghouse Electric and Manufacturing Company, which in 1941 leased four floors.^[158][159] Other tenants included real-estate agents, lawyers, brokers, and bankers,^[19][160] as well as a short-film theater in 1941.^[161][162] More tenants came during World War II, starting with the United States Department of the Navy.^[19][142] By 1943, the building was 80 percent leased, and that rate increased to 90 percent a year later.^[142] After the United States Department of War leased four floors in July 1944, the building reached full occupancy for the first time in its history.^[163][164] Many large tenants such as Prudential Financial, Westinghouse, and Western Union signed long-term leases.^[19] After several tenants left during the late 1940s, the building was completely rented again in 1951.^[165][166] At the time, 40 Wall Street's office space was renting for $4.22 per square foot ($45.4/m²), a relatively high price for a building constructed before air conditioning became popular.^[166]

1946 plane crash

On the evening of May 20, 1946, a

By 1956, the building's financial situation had improved considerably, and 40 Wall Street Corporation's $1,000 debentures were selling for $1,550.[142] That year, real estate developer William Zeckendorf had his company Webb and Knapp buy the leaseholds for the land from 40 Wall Street Inc., Chase, and the estate of the Iselin family.^[26][142] Webb and Knapp also bought 32 percent of 40 Wall Street Corporation's stock,^[26][181] eventually increasing their stake to two-thirds of the corporation's shares.^[26][182] The firm attempted to sell 40 Wall Street in October 1957 for $15 million,^[183] but a New York Supreme Court justice enjoined the sale in November 1957 after several minority shareholders claimed the sale was illegal.^[184][185]

The corporation's stockholders voted in June 1959 to sell the building for not less than $17 million.^[186][187] To reduce disagreements, a State Supreme Court justice ordered that an auction be held for the building.^[188] That October, stockholders held an auction for 40 Wall Street.^[189][190] Zeckendorf submitted the highest bid, at $18.15 million, although there was only one other bidder.^{[188][191][192]} At the time, 40 Wall Street was believed to be the most valuable real-estate property ever to be auctioned in New York City.^[192] Webb & Knapp had spent $32 million to acquire the building;^[26] excluding the auction, the remainder of the cost was used to pay Chase and the Iselin estate.^[144]

City & Central and Loeb, Rhoades operation

Webb and Knapp sold the property to the

In 1982, the property was purchased by a German investment group headed by Walter Hinneberg.^[26][207] Hinneberg and two of his siblings transferred their 80 percent ownership stake to an entity named 40 Wall Street Holdings Corporation in 1992. The other two owners conveyed their combined 20 percent stake to an entity named New Scandic Wall Ltd.^[207][208]

Marcos family leasehold

At the end of 1982, Loeb, Rhoades & Co. sold the leasehold to a holding company; the Philippine dictator Ferdinand Marcos and his wife Imelda would be revealed as the real buyers in 1985.^{[26][34][209]} According to a broker who was involved in the sale, the Marcos family's agents, brothers Joseph J. and Ralph E. Bernstein, were initially believed to be buying the building for the wealthy Gaon family of Switzerland, as Joseph Bernstein's wife was a member of that family.^{[210][211][212][e]} The operators planned to gild 40 Wall Street's roof.^[214] In coded cables between the Marcos family and their alleged "front" in Manhattan, Gliceria Tantoco, the 40 Wall Street building was referred to using the secret code-word "Bridgetown".^[215] By February 1986, 40 Wall Street's leasehold, and three other buildings reportedly owned by the Marcoses, were placed for sale.^[216] Around that time, the Bernsteins were contemplating paying $250 million for 40 Wall Street and two of the other buildings.^[217][218]

After Marcos was forced out of office, the administration of his successor Corazon Aquino froze Marcos's assets within U.S. banking channels in March 1986,^[219] and the building's future became uncertain.^[220] Citicorp, which had placed a mortgage on the building, indicated in December 1986 that it would foreclose on the property.^[221] After the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit ruled to block the sale of the Marcos properties that November, the Aquino administration filed a lawsuit against the Marcos estate to obtain title to the buildings.^[222][223] Saudi arms dealer Adnan Khashoggi was subsequently accused of helping the Marcoses hide their stakes in the buildings,^[224] although he was acquitted of all racketeering charges in relation with the properties.^[225]

Capital improvements to the building, including upgrades to its unreliable elevators, were suspended while legal proceedings were ongoing.^[226][227] The Aquino administration attempted in early 1989 to sell the four Marcos properties to Morris Bailey for $398 million.^[228][229] Federal district court judge Pierre N. Leval ordered a foreclosure sale of the Marcos properties in August 1989;^[230][231] the Bailey group hoped that Citigroup would name them as the preferred bidders.^[228] At the court-ordered auction, the Bernsteins submitted the winning bid of $108.6 million after another bidder, Jack Resnick & Sons, refused to raise its bid of $108.55 million.^[230][231] The second mortgage with Citicorp comprised $60 million of this total.^[232] The Bernstein brothers paid the $1.5 million down payment,^[233][234] but they could not pay the remainder of the purchase price before the October 10, 1989 deadline.^[234][235] At the time, the Bernsteins were also involved in a bankruptcy proceeding in Curaçao; a special master there had refused to repeal a bankruptcy action that would have allowed the Bernsteins to pay the remainder of 40 Wall Street's purchase price.^[235] This prompted a second auction of the building's leasehold.^[235][236]

Resnick operation and further issues

At a second auction in November 1989, Burton Resnick of Jack Resnick & Sons paid $77,000,100 for the leasehold, beating Citicorp's bid by $100.^{[233][236][237]} By then, demand for real estate in Lower Manhattan had declined in the aftermath of Black Monday in 1987.^[236] Resnick's lawyer, Howard J. Rubenstein, said his client planned to spend $30 million to $40 million renovating 40 Wall Street, although real-estate experts said the building needed closer to $50 million in renovations.^[236] Resnick decided in 1990 to spend $50 million on upgrades.^[238] The renovation would have included fire, electrical, and mechanical system replacement; renovation of the lobby; restoration of the facade and windows; and replacement of the elevators.^[239] The Resnicks were only able to upgrade the windows;^[178] they defaulted on their mortgage in 1991, and Citicorp took over the leasehold.^[240] Citicorp canceled financing for the renovation that year,^{[227][240][241]} citing concerns that tenants, including Manufacturers Hanover, which had moved from the lower stories of the building in 1982, might move out.^[26][238]

By the early 1990s, 40 Wall Street was 80 percent vacant.^[220][242] The building's maintenance had declined to the point that tenants reported that they frequently waited 20 minutes for an elevator,^[243] and many interior spaces had been stripped to the steel frame.^[242] Homeless people were squatting in vacant floors because the building had limited security.^[242][243] The building was also seen as outdated, since it had no freight elevator, the upper stories were too small, and the office floors had large numbers of structural columns.^[244] In 1992, Citicorp prepared to sell 40 Wall Street again;^[243][245] the asking price was reportedly as low as $10 million.^[242][244] The building's valuation had declined from $123 million in 1990 to $75 million in 1993.^[244] If 40 Wall Street's lease were not sold and renovated before the end of 1992, the owners were entitled to exercise a clause to evict the leaseholder.^[242]

In July 1995, real estate developer Donald Trump signed a letter of intent to buy Kinson's lease and spend $100 million on renovations.^[249][250] The leasehold was transferred that December.^[251]

There have been conflicting accounts about the price of the leasehold. The New York Times reported that Trump purchased the leasehold for $8 million,

Estimates of the building's worth also varied. City tax assessors had valued the building at $90 million by 2000[255] and reported that the building was worth the same amount in 2004.^[256] While Trump estimated the building's worth at $1 billion in 2012,^[254] an external appraisal the same year valued the building at $220 million.^[257] Trump maintained in 2013 that the building was worth $530 million.^[257] Trump's lenders estimated that the building was worth $540 million in 2015 (though the Trump Organization gave a higher figure of $735 million),^[258] and Bloomberg News estimated the next year that 40 Wall Street was worth $550 million.^[34]

1990s and 2000s

Trump spent $35 million refurbishing 40 Wall Street.^{[256][259][260]} Der Scutt Architects renovated the lobby,^[3] and the Trump Organization replaced several hundred windows, refurbished 30 elevator cabs, and added lights to illuminate the roof.^[44] He planned to convert the upper half of 40 Wall Street to residential space, leaving the bottom half as commercial space.^[251] The plan was contingent on the passage of a state law in late 1995, which granted tax exemptions to developers who renovated office buildings in New York into residential and commercial space.^[261] Trump had planned to rent out some space as studio apartments and one- to three-bedroom apartments,^[262] but real-estate experts, quoted in the New York Daily News, said the lowest 25 floors were so large that it would not be profitable to convert them to apartments.^[227] By 1997, Trump was negotiating with hotel chains to occupy the lower stories of 40 Wall Street.^[263] Among these chains was Marriott International, which proposed operating a Ritz-Carlton hotel on either ten^[264] or twelve stories.^[265] At the time, the building was about 25 percent occupied.^[259]

Trump canceled his plans to convert the upper floors to residential space, citing high costs.

In early July 2011, Duane Reade opened its flagship drugstore branch inside the former banking space.^[270] 40 Wall Street Ltd. handed its ownership stake in the building to 40 Wall Street Holdings in 2014.^[207] According to Federal Election Commission applications filed during Trump's 2016 presidential campaign, Trump had an outstanding mortgage of over $50 million on the property.^[271] At the time, Trump leased the building for $1.65 million a year,^[34] and the Trump Organization paid $1 million annually in expenses and fees.^[258] According to Bloomberg News, several of the building's 21st-century tenants had been accused of fraudulent activity or had been associated with people accused of such activities.^[34] Rental income from 40 Wall Street's commercial spaces increased from $30.5 million in 2014 to $43.2 million in 2018.^[272] Forbes estimated in 2020 that Trump owed Ladder Capital $138 million for 40 Wall Street as part of a loan that was scheduled to mature in 2025.^[273]

In February 1930, the Down Town League proclaimed 40 Wall Street the best building completed in Lower Manhattan during the preceding year.[280]^[281] Fortune magazine praised Ohrstrom in 1930, noting that "[h]is piece de resistance thus far has been the shrewd and able financing of the Manhattan Company Building".^[73][282] Two years later, W. Parker Chase wrote that "no building ever constructed more thoroughly typifies the American spirit of hustle than does this extraordinary structure".^{[16][19][283]} When the neighboring 28 Liberty Street was being built in 1960, Architectural Forum wrote of 40 Wall Street: "Viewed from the street, the detailing of the top of this middle-aged tower becomes insignificant, but it can be said that the draftsmen in the Severance office, who spent many painstaking hours perfecting the ornamental peak more than three decades ago, have been justified at last."^[284]

Some critics have regarded the skyscraper negatively. Architecture critic

On December 12, 1995, the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission designated 40 Wall Street as a city landmark, noting that the Bank of Manhattan Building was historically significant for being the headquarters of the Manhattan Company and for being part of New York City's 1929–1930 skyscraper race.[5] Five years later, on June 16, 2000, it was added to the National Register of Historic Places,^[4] largely for the same reason as the city designation.^[64] In 2007, the building was designated as a contributing property to the Wall Street Historic District,^[287] a NRHP district.^[288]

See also

• List of tallest buildings in New York City
• List of tallest freestanding steel structures
• List of New York City Designated Landmarks in Manhattan below 14th Street
• National Register of Historic Places listings in Manhattan below 14th Street
• Overseas landholdings of the Marcos family

References

Notes

Citations

Sources

• Abramson, Daniel M. (2001). Skyscraper Rivals: The AIG Building and the Architecture of Wall Street. Princeton Architectural Press.
  ISBN 978-1-56898-244-1
  .
• Bascomb, Neal (2003).
  ISBN 978-0-385-50661-8
  .
• Historic Structures Report: Manhattan Company Building (PDF) (Report). National Register of Historic Places, National Park Service. June 16, 2000.
• Levinson, Leonard L. (1961). Wall Street: A Pictorial History. Ziff-Davis.
• Manhattan Company Building (PDF) (Report). New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission. December 12, 1995.
• "New Bank of Manhattan Building to Be New York's Tallest: Ready for Occupancy May 1, 1930 Historic Site Founding of the Bank of the Manhattan Company". Bankers' Magazine. Vol. 118, no. 5. May 1929. p. 896.
  ProQuest 124385406
  .
• Ross, George H. (2005). Trump Strategies for Real Estate: Billionaire Lessons for the Small Investor. John Wiley & Sons.
  ISBN 978-0-471-73643-1
  .
• Stravitz, David (2002). The Chrysler Building: Creating a New York Icon Day by Day. Princeton Architectural Press.
  ISBN 1-56898-354-9
  .
• Stern, Robert A. M.; Gilmartin, Patrick; Mellins, Thomas (1987). New York 1930: Architecture and Urbanism Between the Two World Wars. Rizzoli.
  OCLC 13860977
  .
• Tauranac, John (2014). The Empire State Building: The Making of a Landmark. Scribner.
  ISBN 978-0-684-19678-7
  .
• "The Skyscraper". Fortune. American Institute of Steel Construction. 1930.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to 40 Wall Street.

• 40 Wall Street on The Trump Organization's website
• The Trump Building on
  CTBUH
  Skyscraper Center

Records
Preceded by Woolworth Building	Tallest building in the world April–May 1930	Succeeded by Chrysler Building
	Tallest building in the United States April–May 1930