116 Chambers Street

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5-story Italianate office building completed in 1855 as a store-and-loft building. The original white marble facade remains intact above the 2nd floor. The facade on the lower two floors was replaced with black polished granite panels, with large segmental-arched windows at the 2nd floor. The upper floors have four bays of segmental-arched windows with projecting stone sills, and are capped by a modillioned roof cornice.

From 1870 until about 1920, the building was occupied by the prominent China import and wholesale firm, L. Straus & Sons. The Straus brothers introduced their odd-price policy, now used virtually everywhere in retailing. Charging $4.98 instead of $5, the store motivated consumers to buy in quantity in order to accumulate substantial savings. They also initiated the store’s depositor’s accounts, which was a forerunner of installment buying and layaway plans. L. Straus & Son s continued in the chinaware trade in to the mid-1920s, remaining in its Tribeca location. By the mid-20th century, the building was occupied by electrical supply firms. The ground floor is now occupied by the U.S. Navy Career Center.