The 40 Wall Street building is one of the oldest skyscrapers in New York. Its total height is 283 meters. Built-in 1930, it has had several owners.
It was bought by the billionaire Donald Trump in 1995. The building then benefits from a remarkable renovation to become one of the most emblematic skyscrapers in the United States.
The building is now called the Trump Building and is listed in the National Register of Historic Places and Monuments.
40 Wall Street: an iconic skyscraper
The Trump Building is a skyscraper located in the borough of Manhattan, at number 40 Wall Street. Its architecture is inspired by art deco and neo-gothic styles.
The building is based on a large area that concentrates on different buildings. These small buildings seem to play the role of guardians to the huge skyscraper that emerges from the whole. The roof of the building has 4 very pronounced slopes of green-gray color.
It is a building intended for commercial use that houses exclusively offices. The structure of the building is made of steel and its cladding is made of stone extracted from limestone quarries.
Decadence and grandeur of a historical monument
The skyscraper was commissioned by the Bank of Manhattan in 1929. The work was entrusted to the architects H. Craig Severance and Yasuo Matsui.
At that time, the ambition of the sponsors was to own the highest building in the world, a title that was then held by the Woolworth Building (241 m).
However, other companies had the same project, notably the owners of the Chrysler Building, which was being built at the same time. A clever last-minute subterfuge allowed the Chrysler company to exceed the total height of the Bank of Manhattan Building by 2 meters.
This skyscraper has had different owners. This explains why its name is often changed: the Bank of Manhattan Trust building, the 40 Wall Street, and currently the Trump Building.
During the 1990s, the building which became the property of the Philippine president, Ferdinand E. Marcos will sink into abandonment because of a court decision that freezes the use of the property of the politician.
It was not until 1995 that the building was finally bought by billionaire Donald Trump. The latter will proceed to an important renovation of the building. He changed 3,500 Wassau windows, installed two 1,300-ton chillers, a security system, and a state-of-the-art communication system, and above all, he transformed the lobby by generously using bronze and marble from Italy.
This skyscraper became even more popular when it hosted episodes of the famous show “The Appendix” in which Donald Trump was the protagonist.
The Trump Building in numbers
The building was inaugurated in 1930. It has 70 floors. Its roof is located at 836 feet and its antenna is at 928 feet. There are 36 elevators. Bought, for less than 10 million dollars by Donald Trump in 1995, the building is currently valued at over 500 million.
