79 Chambers Street

also 59 Reade Street, 63 Reade Street, 61 Reade Street | Tribeca | built 1857

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.

1856
Carpet wholesaler Alvin Higgins builds store-and-loft buildings on church-owned lots
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Alvin Higgins, a carpet wholesaler and real estate speculator, put up the buildings at 79 and 81 Chambers Street in 1856-57. He built on Church Farm lots he leased from St. Michael's Church (No. 79) and St. James Church (No. 81). The buildings and leaseholds passed to his niece Nathalie Reynal, who in 1903 founded the Franklin Building Co., a real estate holding company for her two sons.
“…constructed in 1856-57 for carpet wholesaler and real estate speculator Alvin Higgins who developed many such properties in the district…”
Source: NYC Landmarks Preservation Commission
1935
A 1935 remodel strips four loft buildings down to two stories of glazed brick
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In 1935-36 architect Frederick J. Hartwig worked for the Franklin Building Co. to merge four store and loft buildings, one of six stories and three of five. He removed their upper floors and covered what was left in glazed brick with new storefronts. The result is a Moderne building two stories tall on Chambers Street and one story on Reade Street.
Source: NYC Landmarks Preservation Commission

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