City Investing Building


The City Investing Building was an early skyscraper in Manhattan, New York City erected in 1908 as one of the largest buildings of its era. Located on Broadway in the Financial District of Lower Manhattan, it was razed in 1968.

History

The building stood at 56 Cortlandt Street, between Broadway and Church Street, and was constructed between 1906 and 1908. The architect was Francis Kimball, and construction was done by the Hedden Construction Company of New Jersey. With a single 33-story tower, the main body mass extended to 26 stories, and an asymmetrical F-shaped footprint because of a real estate holdout, the Gilsey Building.
Along with the neighboring 1908 Singer Building the 1908 Hudson Terminal, the mammoth 1915 Equitable Building, and others, the City Investing Building stood as one of the most frequently photographed downtown skyscrapers, and a demonstration, for good or bad, of urban density. The Equitable Building threw the City Investing Building into permanent shadow up to the 24th floor. The situation led to New York City's 1916 Zoning Resolution, which required buildings to be set back above a certain height.
From 1928 through 1932 it was known as the Benenson Building, then simply as its address, 165 Broadway.
The City Investing and Singer buildings were razed in 1968 to make room for One Liberty Plaza, which had more than twice the interior area than the two former buildings combined. At the time of their destruction, the Singer Building was the tallest building ever demolished and the City Investing Building was the third. As of 2011, they are the third- and eighth-tallest buildings to have been destroyed.