Gillender Building
The Gillender Building was an early skyscraper in the Financial District of Manhattan in New York City. It stood on the northwest corner of Wall Street and Nassau Street, on a narrow strip of land measuring 26 by 73 feet (7.9 m × 22.3 m). At the time of its completion in 1897, the Gillender Building was, depending on ranking methods, the fourth- or eighth-tallest structure in New York City.
| Gillender Building | |
|---|---|
The Gillender Building, seen from the southeast in April 1910; the larger structure on the right is the Hanover Bank Building | |
| General information | |
| Status | Demolished |
| Type | Office |
| Location | Nassau Street, Manhattan, New York City |
| Coordinates | 40°42′27″N 74°00′38″W |
| Construction started | 1896 |
| Completed | 1897 |
| Demolished | 1910 |
| Cost | $500,000 |
| Owner | Helen Gillender Asinari |
| Height | |
| Roof | 273 ft (83 m) |
| Technical details | |
| Floor count | 20 |
| Floor area | 26 ft × 73 ft (7.9 m × 22.3 m) |
| Design and construction | |
| Architect(s) | Charles I. Berg, Edward H. Clark |
| Main contractor | Charles T. Willis Company |
The Gillender Building was designed by Charles I. Berg and Edward H. Clark, and rose 273 feet (83 m) with 20 stories, comprising 17 floors in the main bulk and three floors in a cupola. The building contained a fully wind-braced steel frame with masonry infill, and included twelve columns atop three caisson foundations. Upon completion, it was praised as an engineering novelty. The Gillender Building attracted attention for its visible disproportion of height and footprint, which commanded a relatively low rentable area of only about 30,000 square feet (2,800 m2) across the entire building.
The Gillender Building was occupied by financial firms through its uneventful 13-year existence and was perceived as economically obsolete from the start. In 1909, financial institutions began rapidly expanding their properties within the Financial District, and that December, the building was sold to Bankers Trust for a then-record price of $822 per square foot ($8,850/m2). The Gillender Building was demolished between April and June 1910 to make way for Bankers Trust's 39-story tower at 14 Wall Street, and much of the material from the building was saved. At the time, the Gillender Building was the tallest building ever demolished voluntarily.