640 Broadway, designed by DeLemos & Cordes and completed in 1897, is the original Empire State Building – named for the bank that was housed on the ground floor.
DeLemos & Cordes would go on to design much grander buildings – notably the Keuffel & Esser Company Building, Siegel, Cooper & Co. Department Store, and the R.H. Macy & Co. Department Store at Herald Square.
The building’s original commercial tenants – including the Empire State Bank – have long since departed; a Swatch store now occupies the ground floor; upper floors have been converted to loft apartments.
640 Broadway Vital Statistics
- Location: 640 Broadway at Bleecker Street
- Year completed: 1897
- Architect: DeLemos & Cordes
- Floors: 9
- Style: Classical Revival
- New York City Landmark: 1999
640 Broadway Recommended Reading
- NYC Landmarks Preservation Commission designation report NOHO Historic District – page 50)
- The New York Times Habitats The Domestication of a Dive (February 12, 2010)
- Real Estate Weekly ‘Empire State Building’ sold for $32M (February 17, 2012)
- Forgotten New York blog
- Luxury Rentals Manhattan listing