One Fifth Avenue (Manhattan)
One Fifth Avenue is a residential skyscraper in the Washington Square area of Greenwich Village. It was designed by Harvey Wiley Corbett of the firm Helme & Corbett. In 1926, developer Joseph G. Siegel leased the lot on the southeast corner of 8th Street and Fifth Avenue from Sailors' Snug Harbor. Construction began in 1926, and the building opened in 1927 as an apartment hotel with 2- and 3-room units. When first built, it was received with both acclaim and controversy, called "a 27-story apartment hotel, a thing of rare beauty" and "a modern skyscraper  in a neighborhood of brownstones". It was converted to a co-op in 1976, and is "one of the Village's most desirable co-ops." Architecture. The architectural style has been described as Art Deco and modern, and having "a vaguely Venetian or Gothic cast", although "The New York Times" assessed it as "astylar, more 'tall building' than anything else." The flat exterior incorporates brick of different colors to create the illusion of depth.