Somehow the “Foot Locker” Building Just Doesn’t Ring the Same

June 7, 2007 by jack petrie.

A short while ago, I wrote about the excitement of negotiating leases in some of the landmark and iconic properties that comprise much of the Manhattan’s commercial real estate market. Last week, I was asked to comment on one such iconic property, The Woolworth Building, by Alison Gregor of the New York Times.

An Icon on the Cusp of Lower Manhattan

While not as well known as the Empire State Building or the Chrysler Building, perhaps because of its Downtown location (between Barclay Street & Park Place), Woolworth is still architecturally and historically significant.

I’ve never worked in the Woolworth Building, but I did have a large corporate client that routinely included it on any building tour for any of the company’s subsidiaries, of which there were many. Don’t ask me why, but here are some possible reasons:

Woolworth Building Factoids

• The Woolworth Building, while constructed in 1913, remains one of the 50 tallest buildings in the U.S. and the 20 tallest buildings in NYC;
• It’s one of less than 2,500 National Historic Landmarks (a designation by the U.S. Secretary of the Interior) and therefore, on the National Register of Historic Places;
• The building was designed by architect Cass Gilbert, who worked for legendary NYC firm, McKim Mead & White;
• The Woolworth Building was immortalized in Alfred Steiglitz’s photography, which at the time, helped elevate photography to a “fine” art;
• Bas reliefs in the building lobby depict Woolworth, Gilbert, as well as the building’s engineer and leasing agent. In Woolworth’s depiction, he is holding nickels and dimes;
• The building eclipsed 1 Madison Avenue (MetLife Tower) as tallest building in the world in 1913, only to be eclipsed by 40 Wall Street (Trump Building) in 1930;
• The property was owned by the F.W. Woolworth Company for eighty-five years when the successor entity, Venator Group (now Foot Locker) sold the building to present owner, The Witkoff Group for $155 million.

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