770 Broadway (Wanamaker's Annex)

770 Broadway | also 756 Broadway | Greenwich Village | built 1907

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

  1. 1903

    Wanamaker builds his Broadway annex around a corner building he cannot clear

    When John Wanamaker planned his annex in 1903, a lease held by the Broadway Trust Company on the nine-story Jones Building, at Broadway and East 8th Street, stopped him from filling the whole block. The annex went up around that corner instead. Bridges joined it to the Jones Building space Wanamaker's used and across East 9th Street to the older store, and a basement entrance connected it to the Astor Place subway platform.

    “An existing lease with the Broadway Trust Company... prevented Wanamaker from carrying out his expansion as planned, and the annex was constructed around this crucial site.”

    Source: NYC Landmarks Preservation Commission

  2. 1906

    D. H. Burnham & Co. completes the Wanamaker's annex on Broadway

    John Wanamaker's department store hires the Chicago firm D. H. Burnham & Co. to design a 12-story annex covering the block between 8th and 9th Streets. The Italian Renaissance building, clad in terra cotta, takes three years to build. A covered bridge nicknamed the Bridge of Progress, plus a tunnel beneath 9th Street, connect it to the original store.

    Source: Daytonian in Manhattan

  3. 1918

    March 16

    A fire breaks out near the auditorium's organ and sprinklers put it out

    A small fire starts near the 64-stop Austin organ in the annex's three-story, 1,300-seat auditorium, where shoppers enjoyed free, nearly daily concerts. The automatic alarm and sprinklers go off, and the fire is out before fire engines arrive.

    Source: Daytonian in Manhattan

  4. 1924

    Wanamaker's tears down the Jones Building and finishes the annex after a zoning fight

    In 1924 Wanamaker's was finally able to demolish the Jones Building and complete the annex's Broadway and East 8th Street facades as planned. The design dated from twenty years earlier and missed the setback rules of the 1916 Zoning Law, so the store argued its case before the city's Board of Appeals and won. Robert W. Thompson was the architect of record for the finished corner.

    Source: NYC Landmarks Preservation Commission

  5. 1945

    Wanamaker's auditorium becomes one of the city's first television studios

    The annex's 1,300-seat auditorium, built for concerts and orchestras, is converted into a television studio. Village Preservation counts it among the first such studios in New York City. The department store keeps operating around it for another decade.

    Source: Village Preservation

  6. 1949

    An amusement train is hung from the ceiling of Wanamaker's main floor

    The Landmarks Preservation Commission's NoHo report notes that an "amusement train" was hung from the main floor's ceiling in 1949. The annex by then also held a 1,300-seat auditorium and a large restaurant. Wanamaker's closed in early 1955, and the annex was sold to investors who turned it into offices, showrooms and manufacturing lofts.

    “…in 1949, an "amusement train" was suspended from the ceiling of the main floor…”

    Source: NYC Landmarks Preservation Commission

  7. 1954

    Wanamaker's closes as shoppers move to the suburbs and Midtown

    Wanamaker's closes its Broadway store as shoppers drift to the suburbs and the main retail district moves toward Midtown. The annex at 770 Broadway survives and fills with other tenants. In 1958 the ground floor is leased to the U.S. Army, and in 1959 Manhattan Savings Bank leases space for a branch.

    Source: Wikipedia

  8. 1998

    July

    Vornado Realty Trust buys 770 Broadway for $149 million

    Vornado Realty Trust bought the building in July 1998 for $149 million. A Kmart had opened in the ground-floor retail space in November 1996, two years before the sale. Vornado still owns and manages the block-filling building.

    “Two years later in July 1998, Vornado Realty Trust acquired the building for $149 million.”

    Source: Wikipedia

  9. 2007

    AOL moves its headquarters into 770 Broadway, followed by Facebook

    In 2007 AOL moved its headquarters into about 152,000 square feet at 770 Broadway. Facebook, later renamed Meta, then leased space gradually and by the early 2020s occupied most of the structure, roughly 813,000 square feet. Yahoo also holds several floors.

    Source: Wikipedia

  10. 2023

    October

    Wegmans opens an 82,000-square-foot store in the building

    Wegmans opens a store at 770 Broadway, taking over the ground-floor retail space where Kmart had operated since 1996 and closed in 2021. The building's office floors are also changing, with AOL having moved its headquarters in 2007 and NYU agreeing in 2024 to lease 1.1 million square feet.

    Source: Wikipedia

  11. 2024

    New York University agrees to lease 1.1 million square feet as Meta shrinks

    After Meta cut back its space in the building, Vornado signed on in 2024 to rent 1.1 million square feet of offices to New York University. Meta planned to keep roughly 500,000 square feet. The shift came a year after Wegmans opened its large ground-floor store.

    Source: Wikipedia

Further reading

Nearby

All 518 buildings with stories in Greenwich Village