Insurance Company of North America Building
99 John Street | Financial District | built 2003
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Written with AI from the source each entry cites, then fact-checked.
- 1931
The Insurance Company of North America buys the John Street site for $2.5 million in cash
In June 1931 the Insurance Company of North America handed over $2.5 million, with no mortgage involved, for a John Street lot in Lower Manhattan. The company first pictured a 26-story building costing about the same amount, but the leases on the lot did not run out until May 1932, so work had to wait. In January 1932 the architects Shreve, Lamb & Harmon filed plans for a 25-story tower with a penthouse.
Source: Wikipedia
- 1932
Construction starts on John Street and the steel frame rises in 22 workdays
Work on the new tower began in April 1932, with the A. L. Hartridge Company as the contractor. The steel frame took only 22 workdays to erect, and another 28 days were needed to pour the floor slabs. Shreve, Lamb & Harmon, the firm that had also designed the Empire State Building, set the structure on 434 concrete-filled steel piles driven about 75 feet down to rock.
“It took 22 workdays to build the steel frame, plus another 28 days to pour the floor slabs.”
Source: Wikipedia
- 1933
The Insurance Company of North America opens its new tower
The Insurance Company of North America opened its 28-story Art Deco headquarters at 99 John Street on May 2, 1933, with an opening ceremony attended by more than a thousand people. Architects Shreve, Lamb & Harmon, fresh off designing the Empire State Building, gave the tower a stepped profile and a cruciform lobby finished in marble and chrome-nickel trim.
Source: Wikipedia
- 1955
The Insurance Company of North America agrees to sell its tower to Great American Insurance
In 1955 the Insurance Company of North America agreed to sell 99 John Street, with a two-year delay, because many of its offices had no more need to be downtown. The buyer, Great American Insurance, planned to take over more than half of the building, and the seller relocated to 110 William Street. Turner Construction was hired in 1956 to renovate the tower and add air conditioning to parts of it.
“…agreed in 1955 to sell the building (with a two-year delay), as many of its offices no longer needed a physical presence in Lower Manhattan…”
Source: Wikipedia
- 1970
New owners commission a mural of 1930s Lower Manhattan
In 1970, Great American sold 99 John Street to the 99 John Corporation, a Swiss-owned group, though Great American still occupied twelve floors. The new owners commissioned Italian artist Giancarlo Impiglia to paint a 45-foot-wide mural showing Lower Manhattan as it looked in the 1930s.
Source: Wikipedia
- 1995
David Werner and Tamir Sapir buy 99 John Street for $11 million
The developer David Werner and his partner Tamir Sapir paid $11 million for 99 John Street in 1995. Werner bought several properties in that decade, including 275 Madison Avenue and 400 Madison Avenue. The tower changed hands again the following year, when Rockrose Development bought it.
“David Werner and his partner Tamir Sapir bought 99 John Street for $11 million in 1995.”
Source: Wikipedia
- 1999
Rockrose converts the office tower into apartments and adds a market
Rockrose Development finished converting 99 John Street's offices into about 442 apartments in 1999, its third office-to-residential project in the Financial District. It also added a Korean-American supermarket, the Jubilee Market, which opened in 2000 to attract residents. In 1999 the tower was also listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
Source: Wikipedia
- 2008
Rockrose starts selling apartments at 99 John Street in groups of fifteen
As the 2008 financial crisis set in, Rockrose began selling the apartments at 99 John Street in groups of fifteen. It also offered a rent-to-own arrangement, under which renters could buy their apartments if they chose. In 2009 the Elghanayan brothers, who ran Rockrose Development, split their business into two firms, Rockrose and TF Cornerstone, and kept owning the building together.
Source: Wikipedia
Further reading
- 99 John StreetWikipedia
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