20 Exchange Place

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20 Exchange Place
General information
Location New York, New York USA
Coordinates 40°42′20″N 74°0′35″W / 40.70556°N 74.00972°W / 40.70556; -74.00972Coordinates: 40°42′20″N 74°0′35″W / 40.70556°N 74.00972°W / 40.70556; -74.00972
Construction started 1930
Completed 1931
Height
Antenna spire 741 ft (226 m)
Technical details
Floor count 59
Design and construction
Main contractor George A. Fuller Company
Architect Cross and Cross
References
[1][2]

20 Exchange Place is a 59-floor Art Deco building in New York City. Formerly known as the City Bank-Farmers Trust Building, it was built between 1930–1931, for the newly merged National City Bank of New York and the Farmers' Loan and Trust Company, predecessor firms of Citigroup. It remained the company's headquarters until 1956 and was ultimately sold in 1979.

20 Exchange Place Closeup.jpg

The building was designed by the architectural firm of Cross and Cross. Although Cross and Cross described the building as having no particular architectural style, it was described at the time as being in the style then known as "modern classic", with minimal art deco ornamentation. Originally designed in 1929 to be the world's tallest building at 846.4 feet (258.0 m), with a pyramidal top and a budget of $9,500,000[3], Depression era realities resulted in a scaled back, 741-foot (226 m) tall building, New York City's fourth tallest building at the time. It remained among the top ten tallest buildings in New York until 1970. Today, as the sixth tallest building in downtown Manhattan, and the 27th tallest in New York City, it is still among the most prominent buildings in the city skyline.

In 1996, the building was designated a City Landmark by the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission. [4] In 2006, the building served as a fictional branch location of the "Manhattan Trust Bank", in the movie, Inside Man, and, in 2009, it served as several different bank locations in the Fringe episode "Safe." The building also makes an appearance in the film Wall Street.

Currently, the 16th through 57th floors of the building are being converted from commercial to residential space by Manhattan developers and real estate managers Metro Loft Management. [5][6][7] As a part of this conversion, the building's exterior is being restored, including cleaning the building's bricks, which had turned black over the years, to their original white color.

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