Can you believe that the Gillender Building, once a proud skyscraper in Manhattan’s Financial District, stood for a mere 13 years? Its story is one of ambition, rapid construction, and even faster obsolescence. Let’s step back in time to the late 1890s, to the corner of Wall Street and Nassau Street.
Picture a narrow strip of land, only 26 by 73 feet. On this improbably small plot, Helen Gillender Asinari decided to erect a towering office building. She aimed to capitalize on a tenfold increase in land value. The Gillender Building was most likely named after Helen’s father, millionaire tobacco merchant Eccles Gillender.
Designed by Charles I. Berg and Edward H. Clark, the Gillender Building rose to 273 feet with 20 stories. It was considered an engineering marvel. The building featured a fully wind-braced steel frame with masonry infill. Quicksand under the site required special foundations using yellow-pine caissons.
The Gillender Building was completed in 1897. Depending on how you measured, it was the fourth- or eighth-tallest structure in New York City at the time. However, its slender profile and low rentable area of about 30,000 square feet made it economically questionable from the start. The New York Times erroneously called the Gillender Building the “highest office structure in the world”.
Financial firms occupied the Gillender Building throughout its short existence. Despite being advertised as fireproof and modern, the building was seen as obsolete early on. There were a few incidents, like lightning striking its spire in 1897 and 1900. The latter strike sent splinters flying but caused no serious injuries.
By 1909, financial institutions were expanding rapidly in the Financial District. Bankers Trust Company, a tenant in the Gillender Building for six years, decided to acquire the property. They wanted a permanent location near the New York Stock Exchange.
In December 1909, Manhattan Trust Company, connected to Bankers Trust, bought the Gillender Building for a record price of $822 per square foot. This was the highest price ever paid for land in New York City at the time.
Bankers Trust planned to build a larger tower on the site. The Gillender Building was demolished between April and June 1910. Much of the material from the building was saved. At the time, the Gillender Building was the tallest building ever voluntarily demolished.
The demolition was quite a spectacle. A massive timber canopy protected pedestrians from falling debris. Two hundred and fifty workers toiled during the day and another hundred at night. The granite slabs from the Gillender Building were recycled into tombstones.
The Bankers Trust Company Building, now known as 14 Wall Street, was completed in 1912. It became the tallest banking building in the world. Today, 14 Wall Street occupies the site where the Gillender Building once stood.
So, as we stand here, remember the short but remarkable life of the Gillender Building. It was a testament to ambition, innovation, and the ever-changing landscape of New York City.