The Spears Building

 condominium, art museum / art gallery, 1893_construction, Renaissance Revival (architecture)

6-story Renaissance-revival residential building completed in 1893 as a manufacturing building for the Kinney Tobacco Company. It is clad in red brick, with connected stone sills and lintels.A pair of prominent water tanks are visible on the roof. In 1926, the building was altered to include a second factory structure to the west; a small divide between the original structure and the extension can be seen above the current awning. In 1931, the eastern portion of the factory and warehouse was demolished to make way for the New York Central railroad viaduct, the structure of today’s High Line, and loading docks were added at that time that directly connected to the rail.

The facade is dotted with exposed shutter hinges (the shutter have since been removed) and air-conditioning vents below most of the windows. In 1996 it was converted by architect Arpad Baksa into condominiumns, with 30 units. The Spears Building also houses several art galleries on the ground floor. The main entrance has a suspended metal canopy angled upwards.