City Bank-Farmers Trust Company Building

Infobox Skyscraper
building_name= City Bank-Farmers Trust Company Building


year_built=1931
location= New York, New York USA
antenna_spire=741 feet (225.8 m)
height_stories= 59
construction_period= 1930-1931
emporis_id=115455
architect= Cross and Cross
contractor=George A. Fuller Company

City Bank-Farmers Trust Company Building, New York is a 59 floor Art Deco building in New York City. It was built between 1930-1931, for the newly merged National City Bank of New York and the Farmers' Loan and Trust Company, a predecessor firm of Citigroup. It remained the company's headquarters until 1956 and was ultimately sold in 1979.

The building was designed by the architectural firm of Cross and Cross. Although Cross and Cross described the building as having no particular architectural style, it was described at the time as being in the style then known as "modern classic", with minimal art deco ornamentation. Originally designed in 1929 to be the world's tallest building at convert|846.4|ft|m, with a pyramidal top and a budget of $9,500,000 [ [http://select.nytimes.com/mem/archive/pdf?res=F00B14F73454167A93C1A9178BD95F4D8285F9 NY Times 20 Exchange Place] ] , Depression era realities resulted in a scaled back, convert|741|ft|m|sing=on tall building, New York City's fourth tallest building at the time. It remained among the top ten tallest buildings in New York until 1970. Today, as the sixth tallest building in downtown Manhattan, and 27th tallest in New York City, it is still among the most prominent buildings in the city skyline.

In 1996, the building was designated a City Landmark by the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission. In 2006, the building served as a fictional branch location of the "Manhattan Trust Bank", in the movie, "Inside Man".

Currently, the 16th through 57th floors of the building are being converted from commercial to residential space. [ [http://www.therealdeal.net/issues/JULY_2006/1151611405.php The Real Deal - New Residential Developments ] ] [ [http://www.mortgagebankers.org/cmnewslink/issues/2004/06/17.asp MBA Commercial/Multifamily NewsLink - A Publication of the Mortgage Bankers Association ] ] As a part of this conversion, the building's exterior is being restored, including cleaning the building's bricks which had turned black over the years, to their original white color.

ee also

*List of tallest buildings in New York City
*Lower Manhattan
*American International Building
*60 Wall Street

References

* [http://www.skyscraperpage.com/cities/?buildingID=231/ Skyscraperpage - 20 Exchange Place]
* [http://nyc.gov/html/lpc/downloads/pdf/reports/citybankfarmers.pdf NYC Landmarks Preservation Commission Order]
* [http://www.greatgridlock.net/NYC_Images/cbft2.html Great Gridlock - 20 Exchange Place]
* [http://www.greatgridlock.net/NYC_Images/cbft5.html Great Gridlock - Original Design Sketch]

Notes