Following the Stock Market Crash of 1929 and the onset of the Great Depression, Corbett and Waid resubmitted plans for the building in November 1930. The new plans called for a 28-story brick, granite, and limestone structure. Starrett Brothers &amp; Eken were selected as contractors the following month. Initially, only the eastern half of the block was developed; that structure was finished in 1932. Upon the first stage's completion, Corbett said, "it is a highly specialized building designed primarily as a machine to do as efficiently as possible the particular headquarters' work of our largest insurance company". The new structure contained of new office space. The original 16-story Metropolitan Life annex, at the northeast corner of Madison Avenue and 24th Street, remained in place.