The Howell Apartments

USA / New Jersey / Hoboken / William Street, 84

171-foot, 17-story Neo-Classical/English-Baroque extended-stay hotel completed in 1907 as an office building. Designed by Howells & Stokes as the headquarters for the Royal Insurance Company. The 3-story base has been altered, and now has wide, polished black granite piers (replacing the original rusticated white marble). Brass panels serve as spandrels between the piers, with both facades divided into three main bays, plus a narrower outer bay on each facade that has granite spandrels instead of brass. At the corner, a 3-story section has been sliced off from the original rounded corner and entrance. The clock over the base at this corner (which is still rounded on the upper floors), which was originally surrounded by ornate terra-cotta.

The transitional 4th floor is clad in red brick, with triple, stone-enframed windows in each bay (single windows in the narrow, end bays). Each main bay is fronted by a stone balcony supported on scrolled brackets, and with a stone balustrade. On the brick piers between each bay are stone cartouches. This floor is capped by a stone cornice.

The 9-story mid-section is clad in red brick, with paired windows in each main bay, and singles in the end bays. The rounded corner has triple windows (two narrow ones flanking a wider one in the center). There is limestone at the base of the piers at the 5th floor, and at the top on the 13th, as well as keystones and stone corner-pieces on each window's brick enframement.

A 4-story limestone-clad capital crowns the building. The 14th floor has a small cornice below and a larger one above, both decorated by polychrome (but mainly green) terra-cotta. Each of the single end bays has a small stone balcony with a balustrade, and the piers are decorated with large, gold terra-cotta emblems. The top three floors have triple windows in the bays (wide center with narrower side windows), and triangular pediments between the two 15th & 16th floors in the end bays. A modillioned cornice sets off the top floor, which has decorative brickwork among the stone piers. On top is a roof cornice with a small, sloped copper parapet. A tall, copper-clad mechanical penthouse is set back, but visible from the street.

The building was converted to residential in 2001, serving as a residence hall shared by The New School and Pace University, and in 2015 re-opened as AKA Wall Street, providing luxury furnished accommodations for weekly and monthly stays, with 140 suites. It is now known as The Howell, owned by the Vanbarton Group.

The ground floor is occupied by Lemongrass Grill, and Taz Cafe & Deli.

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Coordinates:   40°42'28"N   74°0'27"W
This article was last modified 9 months ago