56 Beaver Street
56 Beaver Street (also known as the Delmonico's Building and 2 South William Street) is a structure in the Financial District of Manhattan in New York City, United States. Designed by James Brown Lord, the building was completed in 1891 as a location of the Delmonico's restaurant chain. The current building, commissioned by Delmonico's chief executive Charles Crist Delmonico, replaced Delmonico's first building on the site, which had been built in 1837. The building is a New York City designated landmark and a contributing property to the Wall Street Historic District, a National Register of Historic Places district.
56 Beaver Street | |
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Former names | Delmonico's Building |
General information | |
Type | Mixed use |
Address | 56 Beaver Street, Manhattan, New York, US |
Coordinates | 40°42′18″N 74°00′37″W |
Groundbreaking | 1890 |
Opened | 1891 |
Renovated | 1935, 1953, 1997 |
Technical details | |
Material | Brick, brownstone, architectural terracotta |
Floor count | 8 |
Floor area | 61,238 sq ft (5,689.2 m2) |
Grounds | 9,150 sq ft (850 m2) |
Design and construction | |
Architect(s) | James Brown Lord |
Developer | Delmonico's |
New York City Landmark | |
Designated | February 13, 1996 |
Reference no. | 1944 |
Designated | February 20, 2007 |
Part of | Wall Street Historic District |
Reference no. | 07000063 |
The eight-story structure, clad in brick, brownstone, architectural terracotta, occupies a triangular lot at the western corner of the five-pointed intersection of William, South William, and Beaver Streets. The facade is articulated into three horizontal sections similar to the components of a column, namely a two-story base, a five-story shaft, and a one-story capital. The building contains a curved corner with a portico that provides access to the restaurant on the lower stories. Inside, there is a restaurant space in the basement and first story, while the upper floors contain 40 condominiums.
The current building opened on July 7, 1891, with the restaurant at the base and top floor, as well as office space on the third through seventh floors. After 56 Beaver Street was sold to the American Merchant Marine Insurance Company in 1917, the restaurant was closed, and the building became an office structure known as the Merchant Marine House. The building was then sold twice in the 1920s before the City Bank-Farmers Trust Company foreclosed on the building. In 1926 Oscar Tucci purchased the lower level and first floor, then opened a restaurant. Tucci eventually acquired the entire building; his family continued to run the restaurant until the 1980s. The building's upper stories were renovated in the early 1980s. From 1982 to 1993, under a licensing agreement with the Tuccis, Ed Huber operated Delmonico's at 56 Beaver Street. Time Equities acquired the building in 1995; converting the upper stories into apartments; the lower stories operated yet again as a restaurant from 1998 to 2020. Delmonico's is scheduled to reopen in late 2023.