Fifth Avenue Building (New York City, New York) | office building, high-rise, 1909_construction, Renaissance Revival (architecture)

 office building, high-rise, 1909_construction, Renaissance Revival (architecture)

179-foot, 16-story Renaissance-revival office building completed in 1909. Designed by Maynicke & Franke, it was known as the Fifth Avenue Building when it opened. The limestone facades are characterized by a base articulated with double-height pilasters, a shaft section pierced by paired window openings, and a top organized within a continuous arcade. It replaced the legendary Fifth Avenue Hotel and Madison Square Theater. The lower level was occupied in the 1920's by United Cigar Co., Hanan Shoes, and George Benjamin Tailoring.

The Fifth Avenue Building was one of the largest buildings in the city at that time and a catalyst for the commercial redevelopment of the area. The building became a center for the toy industry during World War I, following restrictions on imports from the traditional European manufacturers, and was renamed the International Toy Center. From 1910 to 1954 the Boy Scouts of America National Council was also located in the building.

On Fifth Avenue the eastern facade has a central 3-bay projection flanked by 3-bay segments. The 2-story base is articulated by simple pilasters, flanking the storefronts, and granite half-columns, framing the round-arched entrance, which support a Doric entablature. On this facade, all the storefronts have been replaced. The main entrance arch has been filled in with glass doors surmounted by a metal-and-glass transom. At the 2nd floor each bay contains three metal-framed windows which are separated by engaged Tuscan colonnettes supporting brackets.

The 9-story shaft section is unified by the paired windows. Except at the transitional (3rd and 11th) floors, the edges of the shaft are embellished with quoining. The 3-story top has, at each bay, double-height piers surmounted by round-arches. On the 12th and 13th floors, the trebled metal-framed windows are capped by molded spandrels; on the 14th floor, the windows are fit within the superimposed arch. A dentiled and modillioned cornice surmounts the facade and, in turn, is topped by a balustrade.

The 11-bay facade on West 23rd Street resembles its Fifth Avenue counterpart in details, but lacks a central projection and replaces the entrance columns with pilasters. Several of the protruding storefronts retain most of their original elements: grilled bulkheads, central doors flanked by large show windows, and dentiled and paneled entablatures. The 2-story round-arched building entrance has been filled in with glass doors surmounted by a multi-paned glass-and-metal transom.

The West 24th Street facade has 13 bays with a narrow, one window-wide, western bay; otherwise, it is similar to the facade on West 23rd Street.

A second 16-story building, at 1107 Broadway was acquired by the Toy Center in 1967, and a pedestrian bridge over 24th Street connecting the two buildings at the 9th floor was constructed in 1968. The skybridge was removed in 2015 when the north building was converted to condominiums and rebranded 10 Madison Park West. On the sidewalk outside the Fifth Avenue entrance, there still stands an ornate gold clock with the inscription "Fifth Avenue Building" on its face.

The ground floor is occupied by Eataly food hall, The Lego Store, Marimekko boutique, an M&T Bank branch, and AT&T wireless store.

www.ll-holding.com/portfolio/200-fifth-avenue/
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