Vanderbilt Building

 office building, historical layer / disappeared object

14-story office building consisting of two sections, a 4-story structure at the corner of Nassau and Beekman from 1895, and a 14-story addition completed in 1917. Designed by McKim Mead & White, the taller tower has a light court on the eastern side. Its Beekman facade has a 4-story base of limestone, with a cast-iron and wood paneled storefront on two-thirds of the ground floor. At the right side of the ground floor, the main entrance is framed by square stone columns supporting an entablature with the carved words "VANDERBILT BUILDING". The 2nd-3rd floors have three double-height round-arches with scrolled keystones at the tops. Giant square columns frame the arches, with broad capitals and a cornice separating the two floors. Within each arch, cast-iron pilasters divide the openings into two windows. The 4th floors has three pairs of simple recessed rectangular windows, and a stone cornice caps the base.

The upper floors are clad in tan brick with horizontal rustications, and continues with three bays of deeply-recessed paired windows. Those on the 6th, 9th & 11th floors have splayed voissours. A modillioned string course separates the top section, where the window aren't as deeply recessed. Those on the 13th floor also have splayed voissours. A final stone band course runs just below the top-floor windows.

The eastern elevation is also clad in tan brick, with a short return at the north edge that carries over the rustications from the front facade. There are four bays of single windows north of the light court, and two to the south. The windows have shallow segmental-arches. The western elevation, rising above the original 4-story building, has a short wing extending out. The facade is clad in brick, mostly parged, with several bays of windows. A round water tower is visible on the roof.

The 4-story original building is clad in limestone, with three wide bays on Beekman Street, and six on Nassau. The ground floor is lined with modernized storefronts. An entrance near the center of the Nassau side is framed by red granite, with the doors set below a white marble panel. On both facades, the ground floor is capped by a dentiled cornice. Stone piers separate the bays on the 2nd-3rd floors, with capitals near the top of the 3rd floor, where another dentiled cornice sets off the top floor. The 2nd-3rd floor windows are separated by metal mullions and have brick spandrel panels. The top floor is clad in tan brick, with single windows. The building is capped by a black metal roof cornice.

The ground floor of the original building is occupied by Petland Discounts, The Silk Shop, Omega Jewelers, and Dunkin' Donuts, and the addition by The Beekman Pub.

It was demolished in 2020 for a new Pace University building.

www.archpaper.com/2020/07/the-clock-is-ticking-for-hist...