Woolworth Building

Woolworth Building
Woolworth Building in November 2005.
Record height
Tallest in the world from 1913 to 1930
Preceded by	Metropolitan Life Insurance Company Tower
Surpassed by	40 Wall Street
General information
Location	233 Broadway Manhattan, New York City
Construction started	1910
Completed	1912
Opening	April 24, 1913
Renovated	1977–1981
Cost	US$13.5 million
Owner	Witkoff Group
Height
Roof	241.4 m (792 ft)
Technical details
Floor count	57
Lifts/elevators	34
Design and construction
Architect	Cass Gilbert
Structural engineer	Gunvald Aus and Kort Berle
Renovating team
Renovating firm	Ehrenkrantz Group
Woolworth Building
U.S. National Register of Historic Places
U.S. National Historic Landmark
NYC Landmark
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Coordinates	40°42′44″N 74°00′29″W / 40.71222°N 74.00806°W / 40.71222; -74.00806Coordinates: 40°42′44″N 74°00′29″W / 40.71222°N 74.00806°W / 40.71222; -74.00806
Area	0.5 acres (0.2 ha)
NRHP Reference #	66000554
Significant dates
Added to NRHP	November 13, 1966
Designated NYCL	April 12, 1983
References

The Woolworth Building, at 233 Broadway, Manhattan, New York City, designed by architect Cass Gilbert and constructed between 1910 and 1912, is an early US skyscraper. The original site for the building was purchased by F. W. Woolworth and his real estate agent Edward J. Hogan by April 15, 1910, from the Trenor Luther Park Estate and other owners for $1.65 million. By January 18, 1911, Woolworth and Hogan had acquired the final site for the project, totaling $4.5 million. More than a century after the start of its construction, it remains, at 241.4 meters (792 ft), one of the 100 tallest buildings in the United States as well as one of the 30 tallest buildings in New York City. It has been a National Historic Landmark since 1966, and a New York City landmark since 1983.

The Woolworth Building was designed in the neo-Gothic style by the architect Cass Gilbert, whom Frank Woolworth commissioned in 1910 to design a 20-story office building as the F. W. Woolworth Company's new corporate headquarters on Broadway, between Park Place and Barclay Street in Lower Manhattan, opposite City Hall. Originally designed to be 420 feet (130 m) high, the building was eventually elevated to 792 feet (241 m). At its opening, the Woolworth Building was 60 stories tall and had over 5,000 windows. The construction cost was US$13.5 million. With Irving National Exchange Bank Woolworth set up the Broadway-Park Place Company to finance the building, but by May 1914, had purchased all of the shares from the bank, thus owning the building outright. On completion, the Woolworth building topped the record set by the Metropolitan Life Insurance Company Tower as the world's tallest building.