23 Wall Street
Encyclopedia
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J.P. Morgan & Co.
J.P. Morgan & Co. was a commercial and investment banking institution based in the United States founded by J. Pierpont Morgan and commonly known as the House of Morgan or simply Morgan. Today, J.P...
(later the Morgan Guaranty Trust Company) located at the southeast corner of Wall Street
Wall Street
Wall Street refers to the financial district of New York City, named after and centered on the eight-block-long street running from Broadway to South Street on the East River in Lower Manhattan. Over time, the term has become a metonym for the financial markets of the United States as a whole, or...
and Broad Street
Broad Street (Manhattan)
Broad Street is located in the Financial District in the New York City borough of Manhattan, stretching from South Street to Wall Street.- History :...
, in the heart of New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
's Financial District.
Description
Designed by Trowbridge & LivingstonTrowbridge & Livingston
Trowbridge & Livingston was an architectural practice based in New York City in the early 20th century. The firm's partners were Samuel Beck Parkman Trowbridge and Goodhue Livingston ....
, started in 1913 and completed in 1914, the somewhat inscrutable building was so well-known as the headquarters of J.P. Morgan & Co., the "House of Morgan", that it was deemed unnecessary to mark the exterior with the Morgan name. The building is known for its beautiful classicizing architecture
Classical architecture
Classical architecture is a mode of architecture employing vocabulary derived in part from the Greek and Roman architecture of classical antiquity, enriched by classicizing architectural practice in Europe since the Renaissance...
and formerly for its well-appointed interior, including a massive crystal chandelier and English oak paneling.
Even though property prices in that area are very high, the building was purposely constructed to a height of four stories only; the contrast to the surrounding high-rises is reinforced by the astylar
Astylar
Astylar is an architectural term given to a class of design in which neither columns nor pilasters are used for decorative purposes; thus the Riccardi and Strozzi palaces in Florence are astylar in their design, in contradistinction to Palladio's palaces at Vicenza, which are columnar....
exterior, rendered as a single high piano nobile
Piano nobile
The piano nobile is the principal floor of a large house, usually built in one of the styles of classical renaissance architecture...
over a low basement, with a mezzanine
Mezzanine
Mezzanine may refer to:* Mezzanine , an intermediate floor between main floors of a building* Mezzanine, in technology, can refer to a thin sheet of plastic insulating different parts of circuitry from each other in cramped environments, such as laptop interiors* Mezzanine board, or daughterboard,...
above, and an attic storey above the main cornice. The plain limestone
Limestone
Limestone is a sedimentary rock composed largely of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of calcium carbonate . Many limestones are composed from skeletal fragments of marine organisms such as coral or foraminifera....
walls are pierced by unadorned windows in deep reveals. The foundations were constructed deep and strong enough in order to support a forty-story tower should the need arise in the future.
Across the street from this building is the New York Stock Exchange
New York Stock Exchange
The New York Stock Exchange is a stock exchange located at 11 Wall Street in Lower Manhattan, New York City, USA. It is by far the world's largest stock exchange by market capitalization of its listed companies at 13.39 trillion as of Dec 2010...
and Federal Hall
Federal Hall
Federal Hall, built in 1700 as New York's City Hall, later served as the first capitol building of the United States of America under the Constitution, and was the site of George Washington's inauguration as the first President of the United States. It was also where the United States Bill of...
. Directly outside are entrances to the Broad Street
Broad Street (BMT Nassau Street Line)
Broad Street is a station on the BMT Nassau Street Line of the New York City Subway located at the intersection of Broad and Wall Streets in the Financial District of Manhattan....
station ( trains) on the BMT Nassau Street Line
BMT Nassau Street Line
The BMT Nassau Street Line is a rapid transit line of the B Division of the New York City Subway system in Manhattan. It is served by the and trains which are colored brown on maps and signage...
of the New York City Subway
New York City Subway
The New York City Subway is a rapid transit system owned by the City of New York and leased to the New York City Transit Authority, a subsidiary agency of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority and also known as MTA New York City Transit...
.
1920 Wall Street bombing
On September 16, 1920, the building was the site of the Wall Street bombingWall Street bombing
The Wall Street bombing occurred at 12:01 p.m. on Thursday, September 16, 1920, in the Financial District of New York City. The blast killed 38 and seriously injured 143...
. 38 were killed and 400 injured by the bombing. The building received heavy damage, with shrapnel entering the building through its large wide windows. To this day, the damage to the limestone façade is visible on the outside of the building, as the company said it would never repair the damage in defiance to those who committed the crime.
Because the Morgan building was so well known, many assumed that the target of the assumed anarchist bombing was actually the bank itself.
Recent developments
In 1957 the building was linked to neighboring 15 Broad Street15 Broad Street
15 Broad Street is a former office building now containing luxury apartments, and located on the northeast corner of Exchange Place with entrances at 51 Exchange Place and 37 Wall Street in New York City...
, a 42-story L-shaped tower on a limestone base that tactfully echoes 23 Wall Street's facade. In 1989, JP Morgan moved its operations to 60 Wall Street
60 Wall Street
60 Wall Street is a 55-story skyscraper in Lower Manhattan, which currently serves as the American headquarters of Deutsche Bank.- History :Built between 1987 and 1989 as the headquarters for J.P. Morgan & Co...
, a larger and more modern building two blocks to the east. 23 Wall Street was extensively renovated in the 1990s as a training and conference facility for J.P. Morgan & Co., destroying the grand banking hall.
This building and 15 Broad Street were sold in 2003 for $100 million to Africa Israel
Africa Israel Investments
Africa Israel Investments Ltd. - AFI GROUP - is an international holding and investment company based in Yehud, Israel.AFI Group consists of several private and public companies active in areas such as real estate, construction, infrastructure, manufacturing, tourism and leisure.The company’s...
& Boymelgreen
Shaya Boymelgreen
-Biography:He emigrated from Israel to New York City in 1969 and worked in asbestos abatement. He was involved in small development projects, then in 2001 he became business partners with Lev Leviev....
. The two buildings have become a condominium
Condominium
A condominium, or condo, is the form of housing tenure and other real property where a specified part of a piece of real estate is individually owned while use of and access to common facilities in the piece such as hallways, heating system, elevators, exterior areas is executed under legal rights...
development, Downtown by Philippe Starck, named for French designer Philippe Starck
Philippe Starck
Philippe Patrick Starck is a French product designer and probably the best known designer in the New Design style...
, one of a growing number of residential buildings in the Financial District. Starck made the roof of 23 Wall into a garden and pool, accessible to the residents of the development.
Africa Israel gained full control of 23 Wall Street in 2007; it was sold to a partnership of the China International Fund
China International Fund
China International Fund is a Chinese-owned officially private company based in Hong Kong that describes its major businesses as including "large-scale national reconstruction projects and infrastructure construction in developing countries". The CIF and its associated companies in Hong Kong and...
and Sonangol Group
Sonangol Group
Group Sonangol is a parastatal that oversees petroleum and natural gas production in Angola. Sonangol actually had become a fundraising machine of government. The group consists of Sonangol EP and its many subsidiaries...
in 2008.