Avildsen Building

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8-story Neo-Classical office building completed in 1910, renovated in 2001 and 2007. Designed by Howells and Stokes, it was originally two separate buildings that functioned as such until they were joined in 1952. The earlier building at 94-98 Lafayette Street, built in 1907-08, is a 6-story, T-shaped structure with two discontinuous facades; the later structure at 100 Lafayette, erected in 1909-10, has eight stories and dissimilar in design to its earlier neighbor. Architecturally harmonious, both were built for the same owner, Helen Hartley Jenkins, and were used for almost forty consecutive years for storage and sales by two of the most important hardware manufacturing firms in the United States-- the Russell and Erwin Manufacturing Company and the Stanley Works. Avildsen Tools & Machines, Inc. joined the two buildings into one in 1952 and utilized them for hardware manufacture as well as storage and sales. After 1982, the building was occupied by a variety of manufacturing concerns, mostly garment manufacturers. In 1999 the present owner purchased the building to make office space.

The facades are clad in granite and neo-Medieval limestone piers (which have been painted) and limestone, metal, terra-cotta and brick detailing. Identical decorative elements and building materials, an entablature between the 1st and 2nd floors running the perimeter of the building, and a string course and corbel-course make the Lafayette and Walker street facades of the two buildings appear continuous.

Original cast-iron and brass showroom window casements remain on the first floor of each facade but are covered with non-historic metal roll-up doors. The windows on the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th floor are non-historic, two-over-two rectangular-shaped double hung windows that are grouped and set into the facade. The 5th-floor windows are similar to those onthe other stories in their grouping of three, but thy are irregularly shaped to accommodate a large segmental-arch over them. The 6th-floor windows are the same as the nd, 3rd, and 4th. Original metal spandrels with decorative wreath motifs are intact throughout. Each spandrel is flanked by a simple brick pilaster with a Corinthian capital in the middle of the 5th-floor window. The pilaster rises past a string course delineating the 5th and 6th stories and is again crowned by a Corinthian capital identical to the lower one. It continues through a corbel-course to finish at the roof line. Simple molded cornices complete the building.

The Lafayette Street facade is eightbays wide and consists of two sections—the earlier section (94-98 Lafayette Street) is three bays wide; the later section (100 Lafayette) is five bays wide. Continuous identical design elements and window openings on the upper floors create the illusion of one building up to the 6th floor, where 94-98 Lafayette terminates and 100 Lafayette continues two additional stories, repeating the 4th- and 5th-story detailing and concluding with pilasters with Doric capitals and a parapet punctuated by short piers aligning with those below. Windows on the 6th floor are segmental-arched openings with splayed, brick lintels and stone panels between each lintel.

The building at 94-98 Lafayette consists of three original ground floor openings. The original central opening is intact with a center door and side windows. Each window is set in a brass casement with granite panel underneath. The brass enframements with simple Doric columns and window mullions are historic. Flanking this entrance are two additional showroom openings. All three openings have segmental-arches with three decorative brackets applied towards the center of each arch.

The building at 100 Lafayette Street consists of five original ground floor showroom openings. Each opening is a three-paneled cast-iron bay with segmental-arch and transom with crisscross design. The panels are divided pilasters with acanthus leaf capitals. The original entrance was the second opening from the corner of Lafayette and Walker streets. A new entrance in the fourth opening from the corner has been made from a showroom window. The southernmost and northernmost bays on the ground floor of 100 Lafayette Street are similar in design to the other openings but are much smaller. The stone pier on the corner of Walker and Lafayette streets is almost twice the size of the rest of the piers of the building and has larger Corinthian capitals at the 5th and 6th floors and double paneled pilasters with Doric capitals at the 7th and 8th floors.

The Walker Street facade is two bays wide and consists of two sections—the earlier section (91 Walker Street) has a ground floor loading dock with a segmental-arch with keystone above. The later section (93 Walker Street) consists of a 3-panel, flat-front showroom window with segmental-arch on the ground floor. Cast-iron mullions and transom with crisscross pattern above are historic. Continuous identical design elements and window openings on the upper floors create the illusion of one building up to the 6th floor, where 91 Walker Street terminates and 93 Walker Street continues two additional stories, repeating the 4th- and 5th-floor detailing. The ground floor is occupied by Coffee Centro.