Cary Building

105 Chambers Street | also 156 Church Street, 166 Church Street, 162 Church Street | Tribeca | built 1857

Open on the map5 entries

Written with AI from the source each entry cites, then fact-checked.

  1. 1857

    King and Kellum's cast-iron Cary Building opens as a luxury emporium

    Architects King and Kellum designed the cast-iron building for William H. Cary's firm, Cary, Howard & Sanger, with ironwork cast by Daniel Badger's Architectural Iron Works. The store sold jewelry, perfume, watches, guns, and other "fancy goods" behind deeply recessed arched windows and innovative rolling iron shutters, and annual sales reached roughly $3 million.

    Source: Daytonian in Manhattan

  2. 1862

    William Cary's death leads to the firm's renaming

    Dry-goods merchant William H. Cary, who had built the emporium bearing his name, died in 1861. His partners renamed the business Howard, Sanger & Co. the following year, and it would change names again in 1882 and 1890 even as the Cary family kept ownership of the building into the 1950s.

    Source: Daytonian in Manhattan

  3. 1973

    Artist Knox Martin wraps the building in a painted canopy

    Artist Knox Martin was commissioned to wrap the cast-iron facade in a brightly patterned 280-foot canopy and matching supersign. Critic Ada Louise Huxtable praised the design in The New York Times as a successful blend of old and new.

    Source: Wikipedia

  4. 1982

    August 24

    The city designates the Cary Building a landmark

    The Landmarks Preservation Commission designated the former Cary, Howard & Sanger store a New York City landmark on August 24, 1982. The building was added to the National Register of Historic Places on September 15, 1983.

    Source: Wikipedia

  5. 2002

    Chambers Street LLC restores the Cary Building and adds lofts

    After decades as warehouse and loft space, the building was purchased and renovated by Chambers Street, L.L.C. Architect Martin J. Marcus updated the lower four floors as commercial space, while Li/Saltzman Architects restored the cast-iron exterior and converted the top floor into three residential apartments.

    Source: Daytonian in Manhattan

Further reading

Nearby

All 564 buildings with stories in Tribeca