111 Fifth Avenue (New York City, New York)

 office building, high-rise, 1895_construction, Renaissance Revival (architecture)

190-foot, 13-story Neo-Classical/Renaissance-revival office building completed in 1895 on the former site of financier August Belmont, Jr.'s mansion, the first in the city to have a private ballroom. Designed by William Schickel & Co. and built by Marc Eidlitz & Son, the building was originally planned for manufacturing and workshop purposes, but was changed to an office building before construction began in 1894. Rectangular at the basement level, the building recedes in plan at the rear until the 4th floor at which point it rises in a general "L" shape with its two wings presenting solid masses on both street frontages.

The 5th Avenue facade is a 3-part vertical composition with differentiated end bays, including a 2-story base and 1-story mezzanine, a 6-story shaft, an additional upper-level transitional zone of two floors, and a1-story capital. The entire facade is clad in limestone. The base is a rusticated Doric pier order with large, originally ornamental, doorways beneath decorative windows in the end bays. Around the entry to the corner store is a decorative frame surmounted by a bracketed hood. Above each entry is a pair of windows enframed by a complex molding. The three central bays of the base are recessed behind rusticated piers.

The 3rd floor mezzanine level consists of five bays of paired windows in a smooth wall. This level is crowned by a projecting belt course of fretwork.

The shaft section, running from the 4th through the 9th floors is the most complex, terminating in an arcade level with giant arches over the three central bays and small paired arches over the end bays. The spandrels of the three central bays on this level are embellished with carved garlands and wreaths. There are bracketed stone balconies in the end bays at the 5th floor, and an elaborate ornamental bronze balcony in the central bay at the 6th floor. Paired windows in the end bays are framed in projecting moldings. The three window groups of the three recessed central bays are unframed but separated vertically by paneled spandrels. The shaft section has a minor projecting belt course below the arcade level and a more prominent one above it. The 2-story upper-level transitional section consists of a central arcade with recessed spandrels, and end bays with a pair of windows on each floor. This section is crowned with a projecting belt course. The 1-story capital section consists of ten single-windows separated by decorative panels. The facade is crowned by a prominent projecting copper roof cornice with modillions and dentils.

The 18th Street facade is a larger version of that on Fifth Avenue, with a few minor differences. In the easternmost end bay ten windows scattered from the 2nd to the 10th floors have been replaced by louvers. Both entries, at either end of the facade are intact, but the freight entry at the eastern end was designed without the bracketed hood.

Throughout its history, the building has housed tenants such as architects, publishers and clothing makers. One major tenant in the 1910's was Goldenberg Bros. & Co. The ground level windows were remodeled in 1955, later becoming home to the first New York City location of the Daffy's discount department store in 1986. That store was founded as Daffy Dan's Discount Town by Irving Shulman.

The ground floor is now occupied by H&M apparel.

digitalcollections.nypl.org/items/510d47dc-9a59-a3d9-e0...
archive.org/details/cu31924015354156/page/n41/mode/2up
1940s.nyc/map/photo/nynyma_rec0040_1_00847_0001#16.86/4...
www.nytimes.com/2011/03/30/business/30shulman.html