245 Fifth Avenue

 office building  Add category

308-foot, 24-story Neo-Gothic office building completed in 1927. Designed by George F. Pelham as a store-and-lofts building, it has a 4-story limestone base with Gothic-inspired ornament. The 5th Avenue facade is five bays wide, with 12 bays along 28th Street. The main entrance is in the 2nd-from-southernmost bay on the avenue, with a 2-story portico topped by Neo-Gothic ornament. There is a service entrance at the far east end on 28th Street, with a single Gothic arch around a window just to the right. Above the storefronts of the ground floor, the base has four windows in each bay, topped with transoms. The corners of the bay openings at rounded at the 4th floor, and metal louvers replace some of the windows at the far eastern bay on 28th Street. A stone cornice caps the base.

The buff-colored brick-clad middle section features projecting piers and paneled spandrels, with three windows per bay. The upper floors have various setbacks and ogee arches above the windows, beginning at the 17th floor. The 18th-21st floors are angled to 45 degrees at the northwest corner. The rooftop water tank is enclosed in a paneled brick and terra-cotta tower with a conical roof. The ground floor is occupied by The UPS Store, and AVO restaurant. The lobby was renovated more recently by PKSB Architects.

www.pksb.com/245-fifth-avenue