Columbus Circle Building (New York City, New York)

 office building, 1921_construction, historical layer / disappeared object

148-foot, 12-story office building completed in 1921. Designed by B. H. & C. N. Whinston, it was formerly known as the COVA Building and was once the headquarters for Atlantic Records. The building consists of two sections - a smaller west section with two paired bays of double-windows, and the wider east section that ends in a prow-like chamfered corner facing towards Columbus Circle; it spans five bays of paired double-windows. Both have buff-colored brick piers, but differ in the material and design of the spandrels and ornament at the top, as well as the east section having a 3-story base that was remodeled in 2013-14. Varied storefronts line the ground floor; the main entrance is in the 3rd bay from the east. This bay is clad in black polished granite and has glass double-doors below a small stainless-steel canopy near the west part of the bay. Stainless-steel lettering to the right reads "1841 BROADWAY". The 2nd & 3rd floors at the east section originally had white terra-cotta with slender colonnettes and Corinthian capitals on the piers. The new design is simplified and re-clad in grey and white stone. The windows read as bands of four, with the black metal mullions in the center being wider than those separating the windows on either side.

Above this base, the east section has brick piers alternating wider and narrower to create pairs of double-windows. The spandrels are beige stone panels, replacing the original green terra-cotta. At the top of the 11th floor the main piers have geometric capitals extending above the main roof line, the intermediate piers have simple caps extending above the roof line, and the mullions between the double-windows are continued as projecting stone ribs across the roof parapet. The smaller west section has grey brick spandrels and no ornament at the top. There is a recessed penthouse level at the 12th floor that is not visible from the street.

Along Broadway, the east facade has two bays of paired double-windows, matching the design of the south facade's east section. The chamfered corner bay has single-windows at each floor. The north facade, overlooking the shorter adjoining buildings, is faced in plain, parged brick. The east end has two bays of double-windows with a bay of small single-windows farther to the west. Here the facade recesses back to a shallow light court with more bays of double-windows. The north face of the west section of the building extends farther north, and is clad in reddish-brown brick. It has four bays of double-windows, except for at the 10th floor, where they are joined into two wide bays of 5 windows each. There are also a couple of bays of windows on the east-facing side wall.

The ground floor is occupied by a Starbucks Coffee, American Apparel, Jacadi Paris children's clothing, and Gabriel's Bar & Restaurant.