396 Broadway

 office building  Add category

131-foot, 10-story Renaissance-revival office building completed in 1899. Designed by William H. Birkmire, who owned the property in partnership with H.L. Moxley. Shortly after the completion of the building, Charles A. Gould purchased the property. It remained in his possession until 1927.

At the base, rusticated limestone piers flank metal-framed show windows with wood transoms at the corner. Elsewhere at the base, simple beige brick piers with stone bases flank window openings. The first story on Broadway has a replacement storefront. The Broadway and Walker Street facades are faced in beige brick at the upper floors with limestone and terra-cotta detailing. Sill courses at the 3rd, 4th, 9th & 10th floors divide the facade horizontally. Quoins demarcate groups of bays at each end of the Walker Street facade, and simple brick pilasters separate the paired windows of the center section. The end bay group near Broadway and the 3-bay facade on Broadway are more detailed than the rest of the Walker Street facade; windows of the upper stories have keystones and flat arches, the 3rd floor is faced in limestone, and large console brackets support the 10th-floor sill course.

The Cortlandt Alley elevation is faced in brick with modest terra-cotta trim. Iron shutters and a fire escape are extant. A wood-framed bay containing historic doors and transoms remains. In the 1960s this building was occupied by the Crane & Ogden Company, manufacturers and wholesalers of children's clothing. The building most recently housed the Cavalier Fabrics Co. and office space, but has been vacant since 2006. There are plans to convert it to residential.