CMX Group: 40 Wall Street

The History of 40 Wall Street

Originally named the Bank of Manhattan Trust Building, 40 Wall Street was remarkably completed in less than one year.

In a race to build the world's tallest building, architect H. Craig Severance designed a 927-foot structure in 1929 to stand at the heart of New York's financial district. His competition was his former partner and then bitter foe William Van Alen who was at the time building the now iconic Chrysler Building on 42nd Street.

The building at 40 Wall Street was to tower 135 feet above Cass Gilbert's gothic Woolworth Building, which was completed a decade earlier.

More importantly, Severance's plans edged the projected 925-foot height of Van Alen's Chrysler Building by a significant two feet.

When completed in 1930, 40 Wall Street briefly held the title of world's tallest building. (Currently it ranks 33rd in the world, 3th in NYC).

In a sly maneuver, Van Alen secretly changed the projected height of the Chrysler Building after 40 Wall Street had been completed. A 185-foot spire was secretly assembled in the building's crown and hoisted into place, fulfilling tycoon Walter Chrysler's dream of owning the tallest building on Earth.

Despite losing the status of world's tallest building, 40 Wall Street, dubbed "The Crown Jewel of Wall Street," would long dominate the skyline of lower Manhattan with its ornate pyramidal crown and gothic spire.

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