Haggin Building/Silk Exchange Building - 487 Broadway (New York City, New York)

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166-foot, 12-story Beaux-Arts cooperative-apartment building completed in 1896. Designed by John Townsend Williams as an office building, stretching along the entire blockfront of Broome Street for an impressive 29 bays. It is clad in limestone and brick, with cast-iron and terra-cotta details. The 2-story stone base is capped by a cornice, with a rusticated 3rd floor featuring keystones above the windows. The most impressive ornament is located near the top of the building, where the 11th floor is rusticated with an arcade of round-arched windows with keystones, and there are three large arches flanked by carved terra-cotta ornament, and winged angels topping the piers. Most lavish of all is the top floor, where the round-arched windows are nearly lost in a sea of intricate carvings.

Most of the buildings early tenants were in the silk industry. Eventually these companies moved further uptown, but other tenants moved in to take their place. The area became neglected in the 1960s and '70s, and the building was sold, later being renamed the Haggin Building. In 1985 No. 487 Broadway was converted into 25 residential units. The ground floor is occupied by Via Spiga apparel on the Broadway side, and James Perse on the Mercer side.