25 Broad Street - Broad-Exchange Building Architect: Clinton & Russell Completed: 1902

This 20-story speculative office tower was the largest building in the world at the time of its completion. With 326,500 square feet of revenue- producing space, it was nearly one and a half times larger than its closest rivals. Its proximity to the New York Stock Exchange made it a sought after address for brokers and bankers, and the New York Curb Exchange, which met in the street in front of the building. The 1987 Stock Market Crash and subsequent depression of the Downtown real estate market preempted plans for the Broad Exchange Building’s demolition and redevelopment. From 1988 until 1995, the building was entirely vacant. It was converted into condominiums under the auspices of the 1995 Downtown Revitalization Plan - a state program that provided a fifteen-year abatement of property taxes for owners who converted older office buildings to residential use. The conversion was remarkably sympathetic to the building’s original character, as one can see in the beautifully restored entrance hall. The project, successful both architecturally and economically, is a model for the adaptive re-use of outmoded office buildings in downtown New York.