Broad Exchange Building

25 Broad Street | Financial District | built 1902

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

  1. 1900

    August 19

    Caisson crews dig 40 feet to bedrock for the Broad Exchange Building's foundations

    The New York Times reported on August 19, 1900 that workers sinking the caissons for the Broad Exchange Building dug forty feet down before reaching bedrock. Along with a steel frame and high-speed elevators, the caisson foundation carried the 20-story speculative office building that the George A. Fuller Company put up on an irregular T-shaped lot.

    “…men working on the caisson construction of the Broad Exchange Building had to excavate forty feet below ground level before reaching bedrock…”

    Source: NYC Landmarks Preservation Commission

  2. 1902

    The Broad Exchange Building is completed as Manhattan's largest office building

    The Alliance Realty Company hired Clinton & Russell in 1900 to design a speculative office building at 25 Broad Street, with the George A. Fuller Company as contractor. Tenants moved in by early 1901, and the Italian Renaissance Revival building was officially completed in 1902. Its 326,500 square feet of rentable space made it the largest office building in Manhattan.

    Source: Wikipedia

  3. 1909

    Paine Webber settles in as headquarters tenant, starting a stay of about seventy years

    Because the Broad Exchange Building stood so near the New York Stock Exchange, brokers and bankers sought space there. From around 1909 until 1979, it housed the headquarters of the brokerage Paine Webber & Company, a stay of roughly seventy years. Other notable tenants included brokers Carl H. Pforzheimer & Company and investment bankers Spencer Trask & Co.

    Source: NYC Landmarks Preservation Commission

  4. 1911

    The New York Curb Exchange takes space in the building for a decade

    In 1911 the New York Curb Exchange rented space in the Broad Exchange Building, and it stayed there until its own Curb Exchange Building opened in 1921. It joined other financial firms drawn by the nearby New York Stock Exchange, such as Hayden, Stone & Co., which had moved in during 1906, and Paine Webber, which arrived in 1909.

    “The New York Curb Exchange took space in the Broad Exchange Building in 1911, and remained there until the Curb Exchange Building opened in 1921.”

    Source: Wikipedia

  5. 1979

    Paine Webber moves out as J. P. Morgan buys the building, planning to tear it down

    In 1979 Paine Webber left after J. P. Morgan & Co. bought the building with the idea of razing it for a new tower. Morgan's plan failed, and Paul Reichmann of Olympia & York bought it next, also planning a tower that never materialized. The old office building had lost favor because financial firms wanted larger floors and more modern amenities.

    Source: NYC Landmarks Preservation Commission

  6. 1984

    Joseph Neumann buys the building to make room for a Kidder, Peabody headquarters

    In 1984 Joseph Neumann bought the building with plans to put up a headquarters for Kidder, Peabody & Co. The stock market crash of 1987 halted the plan.

    Source: NYC Landmarks Preservation Commission

  7. 1988

    The office tower sits empty for four years

    After decades as an office building for financial firms such as Paine Webber and Hayden, Stone & Co., 25 Broad Street passed through several owners who planned redevelopment, including Morgan Guaranty Trust and Olympia and York. Joseph Neumann bought it in 1984, but after the 1987 stock market crash he locked it up in 1988. It then sat vacant for four years and was described as looted.

    Source: Wikipedia

  8. 1998

    The building reopens as apartments after a $100 million conversion

    Abe Hirschfeld and Bruce Menin bought the vacant tower in 1994 for $4.975 million. Menin's firm Crescent Heights then gutted the interior and converted it into 345 luxury apartments, a project that finished in 1998 and cost $100 million. After a 2013 renovation by LCOR, most of the remaining units were converted to condominiums, with sales launching in 2019.

    Source: Wikipedia

  9. 2000

    June 27

    The Landmarks Preservation Commission designates the Broad Exchange Building a landmark

    The Landmarks Preservation Commission designated the Broad Exchange Building a city landmark on June 27, 2000, after a hearing on May 16 at which three people spoke in favor. The owner sent a letter of support and Community Board 1 passed a supporting resolution. The commission described the building as the largest, and highest-valued, office building built in Manhattan when it was completed.

    Source: NYC Landmarks Preservation Commission

  10. 2013

    The south wing is demolished and the exterior restored in a $50 million renovation

    After the Landmarks Preservation Commission approved the plan, developer LCOR spent another $50 million on the building in 2013. It demolished the south wing and returned the exterior to its early-20th-century look. Most of the apartments became luxury rentals and were mostly occupied by September 2013.

    Source: Wikipedia

Further reading

Nearby

All 276 buildings with stories in Financial District