Starrett–Lehigh Building

The Starrett–Lehigh Building is at 601-625 West 26th Street in the Chelsea neighborhood of Manhattan in New York City. It occupies a full city block bounded by Eleventh Avenue to the east, 26th Street to the south, Twelfth Avenue to the west, and 27th Street to the north. The trapezoidal site covers The building was developed by the Starrett Corporation and the Lehigh Valley Railroad (LV), on the site of a former freight terminal for the latter. The building stands on filled land along the eastern shore of the North River (the southernmost portion of the Hudson River). Until the early 19th century, the shoreline had been located just west of modern-day Tenth Avenue, further east. The neighborhood was expanded west to Eleventh Avenue in the 1850s through land reclamation, but it took several more decades to expand the land area further westward to Twelfth Avenue. The land lots on the city block were first platted in 1858, when records indicate that Isaac E. Smith and Ichabod T. Williams operated lumber yards on the site. The LV leased all of the land lots on the block in 1900 ==Architecture==

The Starrett–Lehigh Building was designed by brothers Walter and Russell Cory. Yasuo Matsui was the associate architect, and the firm of Purdy & Henderson were the consulting structural engineers. The design, unconventional for industrial buildings of its time, has also been characterized as expressionist. Form The Starrett–Lehigh Building consists of various sections that are up to 19 stories high, excluding a mezzanine above the first story. The Skyscraper Center and Emporis give the building's height as , although another source published shortly after the building's completion cited the building as tall. The building had been planned as a 15-story structure, with each story covering the entire site. The lowest seven stories fill the entire block. The 8th and 9th stories are shaped like double "H"s, with two setbacks on the facade's north and south elevations. These setbacks divide the building into five sections from west to east; the first, third, and fifth sections from the west (respectively the westernmost, central, and easternmost pavilions) protrude outward, while the other two sections are recessed. There are polygonal corners along most of the facade, which form S-curves where the projecting and recessed sections meet, except for parts of the central section. There is also a roof garden on the terrace. , the roof terrace was planned to be redesigned with landscaping, seating areas, a pergola, a fountain, an art garden, and glass parapets. Facade The western and eastern elevations of the facade are each divided vertically into nine bays. On the southern elevation, the facade is divided into 12 bays to the west of the central section and 11 bays to the east of that section. The central utilities section itself is six bays wide. On the northern elevation, the facade is divided into 12 bays on either side of the central utilities section, which is also six bays wide. The interior of the western part of the ground story is partially visible from the street. At ground level, there are vehicular ramps on the western and eastern elevations; some of the ground-level openings on the western elevation have been walled up, and the eastern elevation also contains storefronts. On both the western and eastern elevations, there are sash windows on the mezzanine and second story. On all elevations above the second floor, the facade is generally oriented horizontally, with windows stretching across much of the facade. Brick spandrel panels separate windows on different stories. The floor slabs were cantilevered from behind the facade, which increased the risk that the windows could break if heavy loads caused the floor slabs to move. As a result, the builders installed custom windows that could expand and contract slightly whenever the floor slabs moved. Many of the original windows have been replaced by ventilation openings and louvers over the years. It has of space and of rentable floor area. Utilities were grouped in a mechanical core at the center of the building. This mechanical core was constructed of steel and was completed before the upper stories' concrete superstructure was finished. The entire ground floor included rail sidings; loading and unloading facilities for trucks; warehouse areas for storage, repackaging, redistribution, and manufacturing facilities; and areas to display goods. The railroad tracks extended west–east across the ground floor, which also contained driveways and platforms. The columns on the first two stories are spaced irregularly As such, the second story only occupies part of its site. The railroad tracks were removed in the mid-20th century. This eliminated the need for truck drivers to idle at the curb and block traffic. The elevators themselves were known as "vertical streets", and the use of the elevators allowed the building to operate as if "every floor is a first floor". Trucks left the building from 26th Street, During the 2000s, two of the three truck elevators were replaced with passenger elevators, Tenants such as Martha Stewart continued to use the remaining freight elevator. Offices and amenities The lowest floors covered and measured as much as long. The concrete floor slabs are supported by columns that are set back from the facade; this allowed the architects to place continuous horizontal strips of windows on the facade. Some of the building's larger tenants furnished their spaces with executive suites, decorated with materials such as wood paneling. By the late 20th and early 21st centuries, the building had attracted many office tenants, some of whom redesigned their spaces using replicas or recreations of the building's original materials. When the building opened, it had a gas station and auto repair shop, a newsstand, a barbershop, a clinic, cafeterias, executive offices, and other amenities. Around 2000, the lobby was redesigned, and Maria Hellerstein and Nikolai Katz created an etched glass wall for the lobby measuring . By the early 2020s, some of the upper stories' truck bays had been repurposed with amenities such as a billiard room, indoor golf machines, and a shuffleboard court. ==History==

The LV was one of several freight railroads that operated within the Port of New York and New Jersey; these railroads carried about two-thirds of the port's freight tonnage during the early 20th century. Nearly all of the freight railroads in the area terminated in New Jersey, on the western shore of the Hudson River, and barges were used to carry freight to Manhattan, on the eastern shore. Among these was the LV, which used car floats to transport freight from its terminal in New Jersey to a dock on 27th Street. To accommodate high freight and industrial demand, several railroads had built rail freight terminals on the Manhattan side of the Hudson River, and many freight terminals and warehouses were built in the western part of Chelsea by the late 19th century. The first of these was the Central Stores, constructed immediately to the north of the Starrett-Lehigh site in 1891. By the early 20th century, the West Side of Manhattan was heavily congested because of the tangle of street-level passenger and freight trains on the West Side Line, cargo unloading from the busy Hudson River piers, and the lack of suitable warehouse facilities. Freight operations on Manhattan's far west side were improved when the elevated West Side Freight Line and the West Side Elevated Highway were built in the 1930s, replacing a surface-level railroad and roadway. He planned to build a 12-story warehouse on the site, The Thirteenth Avenue and West Twenty-sixth Street Corporation acquired the city block that April and hired the George A. Fuller Company as the main contractor. The LV announced in April 1929 that it would occupy the new warehouse, which would cost $10 million and was to be called the Lehigh Valley Terminal Warehouse. The railroad had already leased the ground floor of the facility, which was to include space for 54 railroad cars; 72 vehicular loading docks; and a driveway connecting Eleventh and Twelfth Avenues. The rest of the building would have of office space. In addition to the Fuller Company, architecture firm Wescott & Mapes and construction engineer Alexander D. Stark would have been involved with the project. The 15-story building was to contain about of space above the LV's existing tracks, as well as truck elevators serving each floor. Starrett Brothers would construct the building, while Russell G. Cory had been hired to design the edifice, which was to have a facade largely made of glass. The LV retained ownership of the ground level, and Gimbel Brothers had already agreed to lease on the upper floors. The LV submitted plans to the New York City Department of Buildings for an 18-story edifice in July 1930, at which point excavations at the site were underway. Although a fire on the 18th floor at the end of that month caused an estimated $150,000 in damage, Colonel William A. Starrett, head of the Starrett Brothers, said at the time that the completion of the Starrett–Lehigh Building and other West Side freight terminals would reduce freight congestion and turn Manhattan's West Side into an industrial hub. The cost of construction increased unexpectedly due to the difficulties of erecting the foundation, which had forced the architects to modify their plans to an 18-story building. The final cost was estimated at between $6.37 million and $10 million. Industrial use Opening and early years |alt=View of the Starrett-Lehigh Building as seen from Hudson River Park to the west. The building has a brick facade with large glass windows. The building was substantially completed on October 1, 1931, and members of a local civic group, the 23rd Street Association, toured the edifice the next month. The structure officially opened during the first week of December 1931. Early tenants included trucking firm W. C. Mulligan & Co., and sales representatives William Iselin & Co., the Westminster Tire Company, the Gimbel Brothers, and various food and wine distributors. In addition, architect R. Buckminster Fuller lived on the building's top floors. After William A. Starrett died in March 1932, the LV bought the building outright that June, assuming the $4.5 million mortgage. This allowed the LV to retain the land while continuing to earn income from tenants. The railroad had bought the Starrett–Lehigh Building at a discount; although the building had been valued at $8 million, the railroad had only taken over the mortgage without paying any cash. The building was not immediately financially successful for several reasons, including declining demand for warehouse space during the Great Depression; the high cost of construction; and direct competition from the Port Authority Building, which rented space at lower rates. The construction of fixed crossings across the Hudson River, namely the Holland Tunnel, Lincoln Tunnel, and George Washington Bridge, also contributed to reduced demand for the Starrett–Lehigh Building, which relied mainly on business from car floats. At the time, the building was about 55 percent occupied, with 90 tenants. Friedus and his partners obtained a $3.75 million mortgage for the building in July 1945, and Harry Helmsley began managing the building in 1946. Several newspapers profiled Friedus in detail after he purchased the Starrett–Lehigh Building; the large amount of media coverage prompted the Internal Revenue Service to investigate him, and the IRS prosecuted Friedus in 1949 for tax evasion. Occupancy peaked in the 1940s and early 1950s, when over 5,000 people worked in the building. Many of the companies with offices in the building were printers. and the railroad tracks were removed in either 1956 including a subsidiary of Genesco. The building also attracted companies such as Hearst Communications' magazine division and Ilford Photo during that decade. Friedus refinanced the Starrett–Lehigh Building in 1968, taking out a $9.8 million first mortgage and a $1.2 million second mortgage from the New York Bank for Savings. He received a third mortgage of $1.3 million in 1973, by which point only about 2,000 people continued to work at the Starrett–Lehigh Building amid a decline in demand for loft space in Manhattan. slightly higher than the 30–35 percent vacancy rate across Manhattan's 4,200 loft buildings. He bid $2.21 million, beating out the company that had foreclosed on the building by $10,000. Helmsley wanted to renovate the structure "to make it once again a first‐class manufacturing and warehouse facility". Mayor Abraham Beame proposed that the vacant space be leased to garment manufacturers, but many garment firms were reluctant to relocate, as the structure was far from Manhattan's Garment District. By the end of the decade, vacancies had declined to 20 percent, and most tenants were using the building as a warehouse. The Starrett–Lehigh Building was fully occupied in the early 1980s. Several large tenants had gone bankrupt during the early 1990s recession, while other tenants (mainly in the printing industry) had been disadvantaged by the increasing popularity of computers and photocopy machines. The building was 30 to 40 percent vacant by the early 1990s. The 12th and 14th floors were divided into spaces covering , which were rented to art galleries. Rents remained low, averaging . One tenant at the time characterized the building as having "virtual shantytowns" with dozens of squatters. Conversion to office building Sale and renovation A group of investors bid $152 million for the building at an auction in June 1998. Among the new owners were Mark Karasick, as well as David Werner and First Boston. they intended to re-rent the building's space at . To attract tenants, the owners also added a ground-level food court and evicted a diner on 12th Avenue to make way for an upscale restaurant. The new owners rented the space for , Media firms and art galleries began replacing the industrial tenants, and many photography studios, which had moved into the building in the mid-1990s, were forced out. By 1999, the owners had leased out and were in the process of leasing out another 500,000 square feet. As demand for office space increased, the owners relocated or bought out the leases of many small tenants, allowing larger tenants to rent large amounts of space. By the early 2000s, tenants had expressed dissatisfaction over the building's dilapidated condition and the lack of a nearby subway station. A quarter of the building, , was vacant by 2003; Gramercy Capital also placed a $38.7 million mezzanine loan on the building, and SL Green Realty took over the mezzanine loan in 2010. RXR ownership In April 2011, a joint venture between Mark Karasick and Douglas W. Shorenstein's firm Shorenstein Properties agreed to sell the Starrett–Lehigh Building to Scott Rechler's RXR Realty for $900 million. At the time, the building's tenants included Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia, advertising agency McGarryBowen, and several fashion companies; In part because of the development of the nearby High Line park, a wide variety of residential and commercial tenants had begun to move into the area, and, as such, RXR wished to attract more retail and office tenants. The sale was finalized in August 2011 for $920 million. Rechler announced plans to spend $50 million on renovating the lobby, as he believed that the upcoming 7 Subway Extension to 34th Street–Hudson Yards would increase the area's desirability. RXR also rented the building's space out for as high as . A vice president for the company said: "There were tenants in there that were enjoying a much lower rent than what the market bears now." RXR replaced the mechanical systems and many of the windows during the 2010s. Because of a shortage of restaurants in the area, in 2012, RXR began operating a "food truck court" for employees and visitors on the upper floors during weekdays. The building was nearly fully occupied by the mid-2010s; through the end of the decade, many of the tenants were fashion companies. RXR sold a 50 percent stake in the Starrett–Lehigh Building and five other properties to Blackstone Inc. in early 2015; the sale valued these structures at $4 billion. The owners also spent $23 million to replace the building's windows with more energy-efficient units, RXR refinanced the building in September 2018 with a $900 million loan originated by Morgan Stanley and New York Community Bank. The same year, RXR hired the firm ICRAVE to design of exposition space in the building, including an food hall. The project involved adding of retail space and of event space. The food hall was leased in 2020 to Chicago-based company 16" on Center, and RXR leased one of the storefronts to chef Marcus Samuelsson in 2021. with 11 food stalls. The building hosted many arts and fashion tenants by the 2020s, ==Notable tenants==

As of 2024, the building's tenants included: • Canada Goose, clothing company • Centre for Social Innovation • Elite World Group, talent management firm • Fashionphile, fashion retail company • McGarryBowen, advertising agency • Populous, architectural firm • Tommy Hilfiger USA, clothing company; the building's largest tenant • Under Armour, clothing and accessories company In addition, New York Fashion Week has been hosted at the building since 2024. ==Impact==

Critical reception When the building was completed, The New York Times characterized the structure as being "in modern style, with an unusual amount of the usual wall space taken up by windows". Similarly, the Real Estate Record and Guide described it as "a structure which, from an engineering and architectural point of view, is as unusual as it is striking." In 1931, Lewis Mumford wrote in The New Yorker that "the contrast between the long, continuous red-brick bands and the green-framed windows, with sapphire reflections or depths, is as sound a use of color as one can see about the city"; he objected only to the presence of water towers and the central bay. Christopher Gray, of the same paper, characterized the Starrett–Lehigh Building as "the flashy main course" as compared with the "chastely elegant appetizer" of the B&O terminal to the south. John Freeman Gill of the Times wrote in 2022 that the building was "hailed as a masterwork of industrial modernism, a triumph both of engineering and of International Style architectural aesthetics" when completed. Awards and influences The Starrett–Lehigh Building received an award of merit from the 23rd Street Association when it was completed. The building was displayed in Henry-Russell Hitchcock and Philip Johnson's "Modern Architecture: International Exhibition" show at the Museum of Modern Art in 1932; it was one of ten buildings in New York City, and one of six not designed by a major architectural firm, to appear at the show. Compared to the McGraw-Hill Building on 42nd Street, Hitchcock and Johnson described the Starrett–Lehigh Building as "a more radical example of the same tendency [of horizontal emphasis], but it was less conscious aesthetically". In the late 20th and early 21st centuries, the Starrett–Lehigh Building's architecture also inspired that of the Lipstick Building, an office building in Midtown Manhattan; the Bromley, an apartment tower on the Upper West Side; and 495 West Street, a residential condominium in the West Village. The building's corners were also copied in Zaha Hadid's design of 520 West 28th Street, a nearby residential building constructed in the 2010s. The LPC had considered designating the Starrett–Lehigh Building as a city landmark in 1982, and the LPC declared the structure a New York City landmark in 1986. ==See also==