65 Broadway

American Express Building (65 Broadway)

Company type	Commercial office building
Industry	Real estate / Office space
Founded	1916
Founder	J. Lawrence Aspinwall (architect)
Headquarters	Manhattan, New York City , United States
Area served	Financial District, Manhattan
Key people	J. Lawrence Aspinwall (architect), George Chadbourne Taylor (American Express president)
Products	Office and commercial space
Owner	Chetrit Group (since 2019)

65 Broadway, once known as the American Express Building, is a 21-story commercial office tower situated on Broadway between Morris and Rector Streets in Manhattan's Financial District. Conceived by J. Lawrence Aspinwall of the architectural firm Renwick, Aspinwall & Tucker, it showcases the Neoclassical design style. The structure, built with a steel frame and concrete, features an H-shaped layout incorporating light courts that separate its wings, extending westward across the entire block to Trinity Place.

The American Express Company had occupied this location since 1874, acquiring the land in 1903. The present edifice was erected between 1916 and 1917 and functioned as American Express's headquarters until 1974. Later occupants included the American Bureau of Shipping and Standard & Poor's. As of 2019, ownership of the property belongs to the Chetrit Group. The building gained New York City landmark status in 1995 and is a contributing element to the Wall Street Historic District, which was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2007.

Site

The property stretches roughly along Broadway and Trinity Place, measuring approximately on Broadway and on Trinity Place, with a length of connecting these two streets. Its main façades face both Broadway and Trinity Place. Notable neighboring structures include the Empire Building and Trinity Church to the north, 1 Wall Street to the east, and the Adams Express Building to the south.

Subway access points are positioned adjacent to both primary façades: two stairways leading to the Wall Street station on the IRT Lexington Avenue Line () are located within the Empire Building, while an entrance serving the Rector Street station on the BMT Broadway Line () lies on Trinity Place just outside 65 Broadway. Although an original design feature included a direct entrance from 65 Broadway to the Rector Street BMT station—constructed alongside the building—it remains uncertain whether this access was ever operational. Furthermore, from the rear of the first floor, there was an entrance to the elevated Rector Street station on the Sixth Avenue Line.

Architecture

The architectural firm Renwick, Aspinwall & Tucker, led by principal architect J. Lawrence Aspinwall, designed 65 Broadway. Construction was carried out by Cauldwell-Wingate Company, with materials supplied by various vendors. While this building is sometimes referred to as the American Express Building or Standard & Poor's Building, those titles can also pertain to nearby addresses such as 200 Vesey Street, 25 Broadway, or 55 Water Street. Notably, 65 Broadway has earned certification under the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) green building program.

Comprising 21 stories plus a basement level, the building offers between and of interior area. Approximately of this space is designated for commercial use, spanning from the basement through the first floor, mezzanine, and second floor.

Form

65 Broadway is designed in an H-shaped configuration, featuring two light courts positioned between the wings—one oriented eastward toward Broadway and the other westward facing Trinity Place. This arrangement optimizes the amount of interior space adjacent to windows, thereby improving natural illumination and air circulation. Unlike earlier C-shaped structures that incorporated a light court on only one facade, this H-shaped plan provides light courts on both main elevations.

Initially, the entrance lobby on Broadway included a vestibule with revolving doors that opened into retail areas on the left side and an elevator lobby on the right. This vestibule was removed during renovations carried out in 2015.

Facade

The building’s exterior is composed of three distinct parts: a granite base spanning three stories, a vertical shaft, and a three-story capital, reflecting the classical columnar design typical of late 19th and early 20th-century architecture. Both the western and eastern facades are divided into three vertical bays.

Base

The Broadway base covers the first through third floors and is distinguished by three double-height arched windows set within a Corinthian colonnade, creating a "bank front effect." The first floor aligns with Broadway’s street level. Originally, the main entrance consisted of a double door flanked by single doors in the central bay; this configuration was later altered so that double doors were located in the northern bay. The southern bay contained another set of double doors providing access to retail spaces. Above the second-floor entablature, an inscription initially read "American Express Company" but was later replaced with "J.J. Kenny Co., Inc." The third floor features rectangular windows that visually transition to the upper stories.

On Trinity Place, the base extends from the basement through the second story, with the basement level at street grade. The basement’s center and southern bays include loading docks, while the northern bay houses a loading dock along with three doors leading inside. The first and second floors are characterized by large grid-style windows separated by brick pilasters.

Upper stories

The building’s tower primarily consists of terracotta and brick materials. It rises fifteen stories along Broadway and sixteen stories facing Trinity Place, with its highest point reaching the eighteenth floor. The central section is set back slightly, while the outer sections rise vertically from the base, forming an H-shaped floor plan.

The top portion of the facade is crafted from terracotta and features restrained neoclassical detailing. Floors twenty and twenty-one form a two-story colonnade connected by arched "bridges" between the wings, resulting in an "8"-shaped configuration. Each bridge is adorned with large eagle figures bearing the American Express emblem, positioned above coffered arches.

Context

American Express originated as an express mail service in 1850. By the late 1800s, its primary revenue stemmed from transporting currency and valuable items. The company’s first structure was built on Vesey Street in 1854 to serve as stables. Nearby, an Italianate-style headquarters was constructed on Hudson Street between 1857 and 1858; at that time, it was considered New York City’s largest building. Additional stables were added near St. John's Park during 1866–1867.

In 1874, American Express relocated its headquarters to two five-story brownstone buildings at 63-65 Broadway—originally sugar warehouses owned by the Harmony family. Wells Fargo Express also leased space within these buildings. By the 1880s, the Hudson Street headquarters was replaced with a new structure designed by Edward H. Kendall in 1890–1891. American Express acquired the Broadway properties from the Harmony family in 1902; at that time, it was ranked as New York City’s second-largest financial services firm. Discussions were underway to consolidate these properties with adjacent land owned by Adams Express Company at 61 Broadway to develop a unified large-scale building for all three firms.

Construction

In March 1914, plans were unveiled for a new headquarters at 63-65 Broadway, spearheaded by American Express president George Chadbourne Taylor. The architectural firm Renwick, Aspinwall & Tucker was commissioned to design a 32-story skyscraper composed of concrete and steel, intended to centralize American Express’s operations previously spread across four separate sites. This ambitious proposal was ultimately abandoned, likely due to the onset of World War I, with vice president Francis F. Flagg noting an oversupply of vacant office spaces in the vicinity.

By 1916, construction recommenced under a revised and more cost-effective blueprint featuring a 15-story building that would occupy the entire plot for approximately $1 million. This downsizing was probably in response to the 1916 Zoning Resolution, which mandated setbacks above designated heights. At this stage, the original brownstone structures had been cleared away; the completed edifice ultimately reached 21 stories.

The building was largely finished by April 1917, with American Express occupying most levels and leasing out the upper six floors. By October of that year, all floors except one had tenants. Initially, power plants were installed in the sub-basement; the ground floor housed lobbies and the travel department; while foreign operations, finance, accounting, and executive offices were distributed across the upper stories. Upon completion, 65 Broadway joined lower Broadway’s "Express Row," a corridor of express-mail company headquarters along the southern segment of the street. The block was characterized by an unbroken sequence of masonry buildings.

Usage

Shortly after finishing 65 Broadway, during World War I, the U.S. government consolidated all domestic commercial express-mail services into the government-run Railway Express Agency. Despite this merger, American Express remained viable, retaining a 40% ownership stake. In February 1930, American Express expanded its banking operations onto the first floor of 65 Broadway while reducing its travel department footprint; concurrently, the Railway Express Agency moved to the Helmsley Building. The bank launched in April with $15 million in deposits and offered a broad range of financial services. From 1940 until 1974, J. & W. Seligman & Co. occupied the top three floors. Other notable tenants included Moody's Investors Service and National Investors Corporation.

In early 1974, American Express announced plans to relocate to nearby 2 New York Plaza and intended to sell 65 Broadway. The American Bureau of Shipping acquired the property in 1977 for $5 million (including renovations) and took occupancy of floors 12 through 21. Renovations around 1979 introduced a bronze bald eagle sculpture atop the building. Growing space requirements prompted the Bureau to vacate by 1986. The law firm Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft explored purchasing but ultimately deemed it financially unfeasible.

Following a mortgage default by previous owners, Aetna took ownership of 65 Broadway by 1994; at that time J. J. Kenny (a McGraw-Hill subsidiary) was among its occupants. Later that year, McGraw-Hill exercised an option to buy and renamed it after Standard & Poor's. In December 1995, the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission designated the building as a landmark. After Standard & Poor's planned exit in 1998, owner Jeff Wasserman initiated renovations aimed at attracting new tenants. In 2007, it was incorporated into the Wall Street Historic District, which is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Entering the 21st century, ownership of 65 Broadway was shared between Joseph Chetrit's Chetrit Group and AM Property Group; Chetrit acquired AM Property’s share in 2014 in exchange for other real estate assets. Rubin Schron purchased the building for $45.3 million in 2015 alongside partial stakes held by Chetrit and Read Property Group. In 2016, Chetrit engaged RKF to manage office leasing and secured refinancing worth $152 million in 2019. The building experienced declining occupancy amid the COVID-19 pandemic in New York City, resulting in Chetrit's $151.5 million loan entering special servicing in early 2024. By June that year, its valuation dropped to $104 million; Chetrit repaid outstanding debts during that month while vacancy rates stood at approximately 35 percent.

See also

• List of buildings and structures on Broadway in Manhattan
• List of New York City Designated Landmarks in Manhattan below 14th Street

External links

• NYC Architecture