page_title: 14 Wall Street
section_title: First stage of construction
hierarchical_section_title: 14 Wall Street / History / Construction and early use / First stage of construction
caption_attribution_description: English: Bankers Trust Company Building (14 Wall Street), New York, circa 1919
context_page_description: 14 Wall Street, originally the Bankers Trust Company Building, is a skyscraper at the intersection of Wall Street and Nassau Street in the Financial District of Manhattan in New York City. The building is 540 feet tall, with 32 usable floors. It is composed of the original 540-foot tower at the southeastern corner of the site, as well as a shorter annex wrapping around the original tower.
  The original tower was erected on the site of the Stevens Building at 12–14 Wall Street and the Gillender Building at 16 Wall Street. It was built in 1910–1912 and was designed by Trowbridge & Livingston in the neoclassical style as the headquarters for Bankers Trust. An 25-story addition with Art Deco detailing, designed by Shreve, Lamb & Harmon, was constructed in 1931–1933 to replace three other structures. The interior of the building contained numerous amenities that were considered state-of-the-art at the time of its construction.
  14 Wall Street's tower incorporates a pyramidal roof inspired by the Mausoleum at Halicarnassus. A notable building in Manhattan's skyline in the early 20th century, the building was featured prominently in Bankers Trust's early imagery.
context_section_description: The first stage of construction commenced in April 1910 with the demolition of the Gillender Building, which The New York Times claimed to be the first skyscraper that was demolished to make way for a taller skyscraper. Demolition of the Stevens Building started the same month, and both buildings had been demolished by June 1910. After the site had been cleared, foundation work was started. Foundational work was stymied due to the quicksand in the ground, as well as the presence of redundant supports underneath the Gillender Building's site and the proximity of other buildings. Steel superstructure construction commenced after foundational work was completed in November 1910. Facade work commenced in February 1911, with contractor Marc Eidlitz & Son erecting the facade at a rate of three-and-a-half stories per week. The stonework was completed by September 15, 1911, except for the pyramid, for which there had been a minor change in design. 
  The basements and the three lower floors were to contain the headquarters of Bankers Trust, although its main operations would be housed elsewhere in less expensive offices. Most of the upper floors were slated to be rented to other companies. By May 1911, The Wall Street Journal reported that "a large amount of office space" had already been rented in the building. Asking rates for rental space was $4 per square foot ($43/m²), equivalent to $110 per square foot ($1,200/m²) in 2019; this rate was higher than in other buildings in the area due to 14 Wall Street's proximity to the New York Stock Exchange. That November, The Wall Street Journal reported that the building was 65% rented. In April 1912, a month before the building's opening, a parachutist jumped from the 32nd floor of 14 Wall Street, landing on the roof of 26 Wall Street. 
  14 Wall Street was officially opened on May 20, 1912, at which point it was 85% rented. J.P. Morgan & Co. had originally planned to move into 14 Wall Street, with Morgan occupying the 32nd-story apartment. After Bankers Trust was investigated by the U.S. Congress's Pujo Committee for monopolistic practices, these plans were canceled and J.P. Morgan & Co. built another structure to the southeast at 23 Wall Street. By 1917, Bankers Trust had become a full-service bank, and one of the country's wealthiest financial institutions. Bankers Trust, having rented out the upper floors, found their existing space to be inadequate by the 1920s, with more than four times as many staff as in 1912. As a result, the company took up space in the Astor and Hanover Bank buildings.
caption: Seen circa 1919
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