Castro Building

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8-story Renaissance-revival office building completed in 1894 as a store and warehouse for theGeorge C. Flint Furniture Co. Designed by Henry J. Hardenbergh, it extends through the block to 24th Street. The central bay of the West 24th Street facade, also designed by Hardenbergh, was added in 1914-15. The cast-iron storefronts on the West 24th Street facade appear to date from this time.

The original scheme (1892) had an L-shaped plan, with facades at 43-47 West 23rd Street and 28 West 24th Street. The wing at 24 West 24th Street, proposed in an amendment (1893), created a U-shaped building. Erected in 1893-94, replacing six masonry structures, the new edifice surrounded an older 4-story building at 26 West 24th Street. This was replaced by Hardenbergh's rectangular addition which converted the U-shaped building into a nearly rectangular one.

On West 23rd Street the 3-bay limestone facade is given a tripartite organization with a base, midsection, and top. The 2-story limestone base is composed of four piers, which rest on granite plinths and are crowned with lions' heads bearing shields; these support a cornice with a Greek key motif. The eastern bay contains the original door enframement with raised curved pediment, pivoting wood-framed lower transom and fixed multi-paned upper transom with embellished surrounds. The remainder of the ground floor contains modern metal-and-glass storefronts. Foliate stone brackets support entablatures at each bay. Each 2nd-floor bay contains original paired wood-framed pivoting windows separated by a paneled pilaster.

The 3-story midsection is articulated within a Serlian motif. Above the 2nd floor the grouped windows retain original paneled pilasters. 2-story engaged Ionic columns retain the 3-bay division; at the end bays they support an entablature and frame paired windows, and in the center bay they support a round-arch fitted with windows and frame three windows per floor. The arch, embellished with cartouche keystone, is flanked by two windows per side. The 3-story top features a round-arched arcade resting on double-height piers. At the 8th floor, each bay features a central window flanked by fixed panes which conform to the arch above. A cast-iron cornice with cresting surmounts the facade.

The symmetrically arranged 24th Street facade, faced in light-tan brick, terra-cotta, and iron, is composed of slightly projecting end bays and a wider middle bay. The 2-story base features a cast-iron commercial front and brick-faced 2nd floor. On the ground floor fluted Ionic pilasters and strips with an interlaced motif create a tripartite storefront with decorative bulkheads, central doors, and continuous transoms, but service doors have been added to the end bays. The bays are separated by paneled pilasters with pendant-like capitals, which support an entablature containing embellished central panels. The heavily rusticated 2nd floor has two windows per end bay and three windows in the central bay.

The 5-story midsection has each end bay edged with pilasters which are bisected by terra-cotta satyrs' heads. On the 3rd and 4th floors, the pilasters flank three windows per floor and support a round arch which alternates brick and terra-cotta voussoirs. The arch encompasses three windows. On the 6th and 7th floors, pilasters again flank three windows per floor. Each of the stories of the midsection has a central bay with five contiguous windows. All contiguous windows on the 3rd through 8th floors are separated by embellished pilasters. The top, or 8th, floor repeats the number of windows from the arrangement below it and is surmounted by a bracketed metal roof cornice. The eastern elevation is a plain brick wall.

Early tenants included firms which sold furniture, china and glass. In the mid-century, it housed Flint Furniture, which later merged with Horner's, followed by Castro Convertibles, who inscribed their name on the building. In the latter part of the 1900s, it housed Girl Scouts, Moda Furniture, and Touro College, among others.

The ground floor is currently occupied by Spectrum Communications on the 23rd Street side.