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40 Wall Street

40 Wall Street is a 70-story skyscraper originally known as the Bank of Manhattan Trust building, but then became known by the numerical address when its founding tenant merged with the Chase National Bank to form the Chase Manhattan Bank. It later became The Trump Building. The building, located between Nassau Street and William Street in Manhattan, New York City, was completed in 1930 after only 11 months of construction.

History

Architecture

The building was designed by H. Craig Severance, along with Yasuo Matsui (associate architect), and Shreve & Lamb (consulting architects). Der Scutt of Der Scutt Architect designed the lobby and entrance renovation. Its pinnacle reaches 927 feet (282.5 m) and was very briefly the tallest building in the world, soon surpassed by the Chrysler Building finished that same year.

Race to be the world's tallest building

40 Wall Street was planned to be 135 feet (41 m) taller than the nearby Woolworth Building, which was completed in 1913. Most important, the plans were designed to be two feet taller than the Chrysler Building's planned height of 925 feet (282 m).

However, the Chrysler Building developers secretly changed the projected height of their building after 40 Wall Street was completed. A 125-foot (38 m) spire was secretly assembled in the Chrysler Building's crown and hoisted into place, fulfilling tycoon Walter Chrysler's dream of owning the tallest building on Earth. Such glory was short-lived, however, as the Empire State Building would be finished the next year, 1931.

In 1946, It was hit by a United States Coast Guard airplane during a thick fog. The crash killed five people, and the pyramidal tower was damaged.

Though zoned for commercial use only, it has been said that Governor Thomas A. Dewey took residence below the observation deck for a time.

Decline and revival

In 1982, Joseph J. and Ralph E. Bernstein purchased 40 Wall Street and later found to be acting on behalf of Ferdinand E. Marcos, the late President of the Philippines. However, when Marcos was removed from power and his assets in the United States were frozen, the building was placed in limbo.

In 1995, after years of neglect, 40 Wall Street was bought by Donald Trump for $8 million and later renamed it to The Trump Building. He planned to convert the upper half of it to residential space, leaving the bottom half as commercial space. However, the cost of converting it to residential space proved to be too expensive and it remains 100% commercial space. He attempted to sell the building in 2003, expecting offers in excess of $300 million. However, such offers did not materialize and Trump retains control of the building. In the ninth episode of the fourth season of The Apprentice, Trump claimed he only paid $1 million for the building, but that it is actually worth $400 million. This episode aired November 17, 2005. On CNBC's The Billionaire Inside, Trump again claimed he paid $1 million for the building, but stated the value as $600 million, a $200 million increase from two years previous. The episode aired October 17, 2007 on CNBC.

In 1998, the building was designated a landmark by the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission. The tower is the tallest mid-block building in New York City. However, being a mid-block building results in it losing much of its impact.