517-525 West 45th Street (New York City, New York) | apartment building

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4-story/5-story commercial building (with 3- and 5-story rear buildings) originally completed as five separate structures between 1881 and 1910, all clad in red brick. Designed by James J.F. Gavigan, the front 5-story building (on the west side) is seven bays wide. The west end has three bays with double-windows separated by iron mullions, although the western window half in the end bay is replaced by a secondary entrance with a glass door, sidelight, and transom atop two small steps. The windows all have iron grilles. The next bay to the east has a commercial entrance with glass double-doors recessed between sidelights that are framed by fluted black iron pilasters with acanthus-leaf capitals. The next bay is an open corridor back to the rear buildings, fronted by a metal gate, and with another iron pilasters on the right. The next bay has a main entrance, with glass double-doors below a transom. The final, eastern bay has been filled-in with stucco, including on the upper floors. An iron lintel decorated with small rosettes runs across the top of all of these bays.

The upper floors have double-windows with iron mullions in the first six bays, the last one being filled-in. They have simple stone sills and thin, iron lintels, and the windows are slightly recessed between the brick piers. An elevator bulkhead extends above the roof line at the 7th bay.

The 4-story east facade has a segmental-arched secondary entrance at the west end of its ground floor, with a glass door and sidelight. To the right is a segmental-arched window, two taller square-headed windows, a main entrance similar to the other one, and two more windows, the last one wider. The upper floors have four bays of paired windows with rough-faced stone sills and segmental-arched brick lintels. Star-shaped iron tie-rods dot the facade, which has a black iron fire escape over the east end bay, and is topped by a brick roof parapet with a stone coping.

The east elevation is white-parged brick, with three window openings at the top floor, the first two of which have been bricked-in. Part of the 5-story rear building is visible, partially parged in white paint, with several bays of single-windows, and another fire escape near the east end, with a metal railing at the roof line. Part of the ground floor is occupied by LaDuca Shoes, with another by Hell's Kitchen Pet.

The complex has a total of 53 apartment units.