Why New York’s Flatiron Building is Empty

at the heart of the Flatiron District in New York City sits one of the most beloved buildings in the United States for over a hundred years this iconic triangular shaped structure has stood holding various Industries within its office spaces but to my astonishment the building has suffered from Mass vacancies it may very well have outlived its usefulness leading me to ask will it go the way of the wrecking ball join us to find out because today we discover New York's Flatiron Building I'm your host Ryan silkash and you're watching it's history [Music] with 22 stories and 285 feet in height the Flatiron Building has been declared a Historic Landmark and registered as a historic Place both federally and by the state of New York within the Flatiron District itself the building is surrounded by other iconic New York landmarks around Each corner the location couldn't be more Prime with Fifth Avenue to the West Broadway to the East and East 22nd Street to the South it's just adjacent to Madison Square Park the district was named after the building and the building got its name from comparing the Triangular shape of its exterior to a clothing iron however some sources claim that the nickname Flatiron had been used since the early days of construction rather than originating from a comparison to a household object in the 1930s the Flatiron Building is made mainly of Steel with the facade covered in Limestone and terracotta the building's style is considered bowarts which was popular in post-revolutionary Friends throughout its 122 year long history the Flatiron Building has passed through various owners that have each brought life to the landmark in their own way 50 years before the Flatiron Building was even imagined the Saint Germain hotel was built in that same space several hotels were developed in the city throughout the 1850s and the Saint Germain hotel stood from 1855 to the early 1880s local investor Amos emo bought the property along with the entire block and built another hotel the fifth avenue hotel adjacent to Saint Germain Eno also used the land to build additional structures including a seven-story apartment building and smaller commercial facilities one of the most notable features of his buildings was the addition of projectors that showed news bulletins a Contraption best compared to modern day projectors Amos Eno passed away on February the 21st 1899 and the property was put on the market following his passing however the property would go through multiple owners before the Flatiron Building Construction began many high-profile investors including local governments were eager to buy the space that would one day become the flat iron building the New York assembly legislated three million dollars to purchase the land unfortunately this fell through and it was later revealed that this campaign was part of a graft scheme led by Tammany Hall leader Richard Crocker a craft scheme involves using public funds for private personal gain a newspaper exposed Crocker's corrupt plan and the assembly was no longer in the running to buy the land without government involvement the rights to the ground were sold at auction in April of 1899 William Eno amos's son purchased the rights for six hundred and ninety thousand dollars however the younger Eno quickly resold the lot to Samuel and Matt Newhouse in May the new houses paid just over eight hundred thousand dollars and planned to build a 12-story apartment and Retail building which they announced in November of 1900. these plans didn't come to fruition and the land was once again sold to Cumberland Realty Company in March of 1901 Cumberland realty company was created by the CEO of the Fuller company harryus black the Fuller company was a Pioneer in the architecture world and its Innovations would shape the future architecture in the 20th century George a fuller dedicated his entire life to the world of architecture starting his career working at his uncle's office in Worcester Massachusetts early in his career Fuller became fascinated with the newly possible skyscrapers following the invention of the safety elevator Fuller Rose through the ranks of the architecture industry eventually moving to Chicago and starting his own company in 1882 the George a fuller company was an immediate innovator because Fuller decided that his firm would do everything except design the buildings they built these days the business practice is standard for hiring a general contractor anyhow one of the earliest projects for the George a fuller company was building the Chicago Opera House in 1885 designed by esteemed Henry Cobb and Charles Frost Fuller was criticized for his decision to use steel for the floor beams the opera house did suffer damages only three years after its complete completion and was demolished in 1913 but by then the Fuller company had moved to New York City construction of what would become the Flatiron Building began in 1901 as George a fuller company decided to build its headquarters in the heart of New York City George Fuller passed away on December the 14th in 1900 with his son-in-law Harry S black stepping in and taking control of the company black was responsible for building construction after the purchase was finished in 1901 following the general contractor tradition his father had pioneered black hired Chicago architect Daniel Burnham to design the iconic triangular skyscraper when the construction began most of the on-site tenants ended their leases and the remaining tenants were financially compensated for vacating the premises so that the existing building could be demolished and the project could start one resident a retired Colonel named Winfield Scott proski fused the buyout staying for another year until his lease expired Cumberland realty company fought with proski trying to force him out by turning off his apartment's utilities still in May of that year they discovered he was bankrupt and he was soon removed from the apartment and the demolition concluded on June the 2nd 1901 the land was photographed during the early phases of construction for the New York Herald which described it as quote flat iron building in August of that year plans were filed to build a 20-story building in that space even in these early plans The Architects were hard set on the Triangular shape by August the first pieces of the structure were produced the Atlantic terracotta company was chosen to create architectural terracotta pieces that would be used for the building's exterior the New York City Department of buildings threatened to not approve of the building's plans unless the Architects shared detailed logistical information about the building's construction The Architects complied and this was quickly sorted then by January of the following year the steel frame was produced by Pennsylvania's American Bridge Company and added to the growing structure there was a brief pause in construction due to shipping delays which was immediately followed by a blizzard otherwise construction moved smoothly and the building was completed in June upon its completion and opening the skyscraper was named the Fuller building after the late George Fuller but it was already known by most as the Flatiron locals were not interested in honoring Fuller continuing to call the building by the local name under the Fuller company's ownership the Flatiron Building offered most of its floors and offices to rent while occupying the 19th floor for their headquarters far more enormous than the surrounding buildings in New York City initially it was considered by most to be the seventh most prominent structure in the city soon after the building was completed another floor was added and Harry S black was determined to include rental space in the building after fighting with the Department of buildings again United cigar stores set up shop at the top of the building in 1905 a penthouse was also added for the purpose of creating space for artists some of the most notable early tenants included murder Incorporated and organized crime group the New York athletic commission and the Roebling construction company which was owned by the sons of Richard Crocker the same corrupt politician who attempted to buy the land for the graph scheme tourists were immediately drawn to the Flatiron Building with sightseeing buses stopping there despite the popularity with visitors however locals and the Press were very critical of the building often worrying that the Flatiron was contributing to wind turbulence in 1903 the building was also blamed for the death of a bicyclist caused by wind pushing the bike into a car by World War One the Flatiron Building donated its space to the U.S Navy for recruitment but this was in the united cigar store rather than anything directly associated with the Fuller company in March of 1925 the Fuller company decided to sell the Flatiron Building to a Syndicate owned by Louis Rosenbaum many businesses renting space in the building left including the Fuller company headquarters by 1927 Walgreens occupied the retail space in 1930 the building was officially renamed the Flatiron as the Great Depression approached the cost of maintaining the sky skyscraper became challenging to manage and Rosenbaum quickly struggled to afford the building then things got worse in March of 1933 Equitable life Assurance Society sued the Flatiron Building because the owners had stopped paying their mortgages Rosenbaum owed over a million dollars in mortgage alone on June the 30th of that year Equitable paid just one hundred thousand dollars at auction for the building but they could have offered anything because they were the only party that bid Equitable focused their efforts on maintenance repairs to the building hoping to gain some new renters in 1941 the building received a central overhaul explicitly updating the Lobby's elevators and partitions these efforts worked and the Flatiron Building became fully occupied in just a few years however Equitable decided to sell the building in October of 1945. it was purchased by Max Silverstein Syndicate and managed by Helmsley spear the following year Flatiron associate it's owned the majority of the company in the 1950s there was some minor construction mainly for internal Aesthetics however by the 1980s the little adjustments that were made were long gone and the Flatiron Building was in need of a significant renovation and hence improvements were made in 1991 the lobby was updated and a clothing store was built on the ground floor and opened in February of that same year by the end of the 20th century some of the firms renting offices in the building were Publishers for example Saint Martin's press renting since 1959 renewed its lease in 1993 expanding its office space when more minor occupants moved out but in 1995 Flatiron Associates became unsatisfied with Helmsley Spears management claiming they overpaid for the building's utilities mainly elevator services and cleaning two years later some investors sold their shares to Newmark and Company effectively removing Hemsley spear years from its management position in the new Millennia the Flatiron Building became popular with service companies and rent skyrocketed along with the area's gentrification soon the building became almost entirely occupied by the two most prominent publishing companies Martin's press and Springer verlag in June of 2008 an Italian investment firm purchased a majority stake in the building despite previously owning less than 20 percent and this is when it was announced that the new owners wished to turn the building into a hotel the following January however these plans were not feasible because one of the largest tenants MacMillan maintained their lease for the next 10 years the hotel plans never got any further MacMillan Departed the Flatiron Building in June of 2019 leaving offices on every floor vacant gfp real estate took over the plans to renovate the building taking advantage of the empty space by June of 2021 the building was completely vacant and four out of five owners decided to sell their Stakes because they could not agree to the renovations with the fifth owner this was resolved however when a state judge permitted the four co-owners to buy out their colleague then a New York Supreme Court judge ordered the owners to put the Flatiron Building up for public auction in March of 2023 because the co-owners failed to resolve their differences Jacob garlic won the auction for 190 million dollars but he failed to pay his down payment in time and the building was offered to the second highest bidder the building's previous owner Jeffrey girl but he refused the offer the ethics of this auction have come into question because the participants did not have to provide a deposit beforehand others have also pointed out how garlic was related to Nathan Silverstein the co-owner in a years-long dispute with the other co-owners collusion was suspected but garlic and Silverstein claimed their relationship is distant on May the 20 23rd the second auction was held and garlic was absent but a coalition of syndicates and previous owners won the bid and purchased the building for 161 million dollars even so the future remains very unclear today the Flatiron Building remains in transition to its new owners however when the second auction was held in May of 2023 the city government wanted to use the facility to house migrants traveling from the Mexican border still because the building had no working bathrooms this concept was rejected outright my point is that the Flatiron Building remains one of the most iconic pieces of American architecture and a focal point of New York City yet its future remains unclear leading me to wonder will New York's most famous building go the way of the wrecking ball hopefully its status as a landmark will protect it from that outcome but let me know your thoughts in the comments section or over on Instagram and until next time I'm Ryan silkash signing off

Channel: IT'S HISTORY

Views: 1,115,174

Keywords: flatiron building, building, flatiron building new york, flat iron building, the flatiron building, flatiron building auction, new york buildings, flatiron building sold, flatiron building vacant, flatiron building inside, flatiron building condos, flatiron building history, restored flatiron building, historic flatiron building, flatiron building conversion, flatiron building apartments, buildings, flatiron building renovations, at&t building nyc

Id: NLrB61I38lE

Length: 14min 50sec (890 seconds)

Published: Thu Aug 10 2023