Image: A.T. Stewart Dry Goods Sun Building 280 Broadway

Description: The building at 280 Broadway at the corner of Chambers Street in the Civic Center district of Manhattan, New York City was built in 1845-46 and was designed by John B. Snook in the Italiante style, the first commercial building in that style in the city. It was originally the A. T. Stewart Dry Goods Store, the first department in the city, and was located only at the Broadway and Reade Street, and over the years expanded down Broadway and along Chambers Street. The 1850-51 and 1851-52 additions were designed by Trench & Snook, the one in 1872 by Frederick Schmidt. Clad in Tuckahoe marble – after 1850 supported by cast-iron on the ground floors – one of the first commercial buildings to do do, it became known as "The Marble Palace".The store moved uptown in 1862 to a new full-block building on Broadway betweeen 9th and 10th Streets, and that building acquired a full-block annex between 8th and 9th Streets in 1902, although by that time A. T. Stewart had died and the company had been sold to John Wanamaker's.After the store moved, the building at 280 Broadway became a warehouse. In 1884 Edward D. Harris designed an addition in which two floors were added to the original five, and the building was converted into offices; in 1917 it was bought by the New York Sun newspaper, which renamed it the Sun Building. In 1966, New York City acquired the building for what was a planned Civic Center redevelopment plan that not came to fruition. The building was rehabilitated from 1995-2002, overseen by Beyer Blinder Belle. The city's Department of Building uses the upper floors, and the first and second floors are used to retail stores. The building is a designated NYC landmark and a Nationmal Historic Landmark. (Sources: Guide to NYC Landmarks (4th ed.), AIA Guide to NYC (5th ed.) and NYC DCAS page)
Title: A.T. Stewart Dry Goods Sun Building 280 Broadway
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Author: Beyond My Ken
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