Nelson Tower

450 7th Avenue | also 208 West 35th Street, 209 West 34th Street, 205 West 34th Street | Garment District | built 1930

Open on the map4 entries

The lot about 1940
About 1940. Via 1940s.nyc
The lot about 1985
About 1985. Via 80s.nyc

The city photographed every building for its tax records around 1940 and again in the 1980s. NYC Municipal Archives.

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

  1. 1929

    Nelson Tower's architect, H. Craig Severance, races ex-partner William Van Alen to build the world's tallest tower

    H. Craig Severance, who would design Nelson Tower, began his career at Carrere and Hastings and later formed a partnership with William Van Alen. It ended badly, and in the late 1920s the two raced to build the world's tallest building: Severance with 40 Wall Street, Van Alen with the Chrysler Building. Chrysler won with its 1,046-foot spire, though Severance argued his tower had the highest usable floor. The Empire State Building made the dispute moot within a year.

    Source: Wikipedia

  2. 1930

    Julius Nelson, a dress-trade executive, builds showrooms and offices for the garment industry

    Julius Nelson, who was both a builder and an executive in dress manufacturing, developed the tower as space for the garment trade, with showrooms and offices for garment-trade businesses. To protect sunlight and ventilation for the new building, he leased the air rights over the properties next door. The Historic Districts Council notes the tower lies inside the boundaries of the Garment Center Historic District.

    Source: 6tocelebrate.org

  3. 1930

    The tower rises from a limestone base in setbacks to a slender central shaft with cut-out corners

    Severance gave the building a four-story limestone base with ground-floor storefronts and Moderne-style details. Above it the mass steps back several times, ending in a slim central tower with notched corners and pavilions. The design made it the tallest building in its neighborhood.

    Source: 6tocelebrate.org

  4. 1931

    Nelson Tower is completed in 1931 as the Garment District's tallest building

    Nelson Tower, at 450 Seventh Avenue between 34th and 35th Streets, was completed in 1931. At 46 stories and 560 feet, it stood higher than anything else in the Garment District. H. Craig Severance designed it, and the New York developer Julius Nelson planned and built it. It is now overshadowed by the 60-story One Penn Plaza across 34th Street, though it remains visible from most directions.

    Source: Wikipedia

Further reading

Nearby

All 10 buildings with stories in Garment District