400 Madison Avenue

{{Infobox building

| name = 400 Madison Avenue

| image = 400 Madison Avenue Mar 2021 22.jpg

| image_caption = Seen from the north

| image_size =

| completion_date = 1930

| opening =

| location = Manhattan, New York, U.S.

| mapframe-wikidata = yes

| coordinates = {{coord|40.756390|-73.976960|format=dms|region:US-NY|display=inline,title}}

| roof = {{convert|241|ft|m|abbr=on}}

| floor_count = 22

| floor_area =

| start_date = 1928

| architect = H. Craig Severance

| main_contractor = George A. Fuller Company

| embedded =

{{Designation list

| embed = yes

| designation1 = NYCL

| designation1_number = 2576

| designation1_date = November 22, 2016

}}

400 Madison Avenue is a 22-story office building in Midtown Manhattan in New York City. It is along Madison Avenue's western sidewalk between 47th and 48th Streets, near Grand Central Terminal. 400 Madison Avenue was designed by H. Craig Severance with Neo-Gothic architectural detailing.

The building was erected within "Terminal City", a collection of buildings located above Grand Central's underground tracks, and as such, occupies the real-estate air rights above these tracks. 400 Madison Avenue's lot is relatively narrow, being about {{Convert|200|ft}} long and less than {{Convert|45|ft}} wide, but contains a "veneer" of offices along its three primary facades and a small office core at the center. The building contains several setbacks to comply with the 1916 Zoning Resolution. The cream-colored terracotta facade was meant to reflect light.

The building was constructed from 1927 to 1928 by the George A. Fuller Company. Despite being relatively narrow, the building attracted businessmen who sought small, imposing offices. The New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission designated 400 Madison Avenue as an official landmark in 2016.

Site

400 Madison Avenue is in the Midtown Manhattan neighborhood of New York City. It is bounded by Madison Avenue to the east, 48th Street to the north, and 47th Street to the south. The land lot covers {{convert|

8,987 |ft2}} with a frontage of {{convert|200|ft}} on Madison Avenue and {{convert|44.75|ft}} on 47th and 48th Streets. Nearby buildings include the old New York Mercantile Library to the west, Tower 49 to the north, 270 Park Avenue to the east, and 383 Madison Avenue to the southeast.{{Cite web|title=400 Madison Avenue, 10017|url=https://zola.planning.nyc.gov/l/lot/1/1283/17#17.12/40.756378/-73.975669|access-date=March 20, 2020|publisher=New York City Department of City Planning|archive-date=May 6, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210506092357/https://zola.planning.nyc.gov/l/lot/1/1283/17#17.12/40.756378/-73.975669|url-status=live}}

The completion of the underground Grand Central Terminal in 1913 resulted in the rapid development of Terminal City, the area around Grand Central, as well as a corresponding increase in real-estate prices.{{Cite book|url=https://archive.org/stream/grandcentralterm00fitc|title=Grand Central Terminal and Rockefeller Center: A Historic-critical Estimate of Their Significance|last1=Fitch|first1=James Marston|last2=Waite|first2=Diana S.|date=1974|publisher=The Division|location=Albany, New York|pages=6|language=en}} Among these were office buildings such as the Chanin Building, Bowery Savings Bank Building, and New York Central Building, as well as hotels like the Biltmore, Commodore, Waldorf Astoria, and Summit.{{harvnb|Caratzas|2016|ps=.|p=5}} By 1920, the area had become what The New York Times called "a great civic centre".{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1920/09/14/archives/another-building-for-terminal-zone-12story-commercial-structure-to.html|title=Another Building For Terminal Zone; 12-Story Commercial Structure to be Erected Opposite the Commodore Hotel|date=September 14, 1920|work=The New York Times|access-date=October 17, 2019|language=en-US|issn=0362-4331|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191017022805/https://www.nytimes.com/1920/09/14/archives/another-building-for-terminal-zone-12story-commercial-structure-to.html|archive-date=October 17, 2019|url-status=live}} Irwin Chanin, who had developed the Chanin Building, believed the area around Grand Central Terminal had potential for growth because of the construction of hotels and apartment buildings at Tudor City, Sutton Place, and Lexington and Park Avenues.{{Cite news|date=January 6, 1929|title=Midtown Zone is Big Business Area; Skyscraper Development in Grand Central District Exceeding Downtown Locality|language=en-US|page=R201|work=The New York Times|url-access=subscription|url=http://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1929/01/06/95868498.pdf|access-date=March 27, 2021|issn=0362-4331|archive-date=April 11, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220411034924/http://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1929/01/06/95868498.html?pdf_redirect=true&site=false|url-status=live}} Before 400 Madison Avenue's development, the building's site was occupied by the Ritz Chambers and Carlton Chambers, a pair of apartment houses immediately north of the Ritz-Carlton Hotel.{{harvnb|Caratzas|2016|ps=.|p=6}}{{Cite news|date=August 18, 1929|title=Madison Avenue Offices; New Building Near Ritz-Carlton Will Open in September.|language=en-US|page=W16|work=The New York Times|url-access=subscription|url=http://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1929/08/18/91922307.pdf|access-date=March 28, 2021|issn=0362-4331|archive-date=April 11, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220411034923/http://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1929/08/18/91922307.html?pdf_redirect=true&site=false|url-status=live}}

Architecture

The building was designed by H. Craig Severance{{cite NY1930|page=535}}{{Cite web|title=400 Madison Avenue|url=https://www.emporis.com/buildings/114258/400-madison-avenue-new-york-city-ny-usa|access-date=March 28, 2021|publisher=Emporis|archive-date=May 6, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210506092348/https://www.emporis.com/buildings/114258/400-madison-avenue-new-york-city-ny-usa|url-status=usurped}} and erected by the George A. Fuller Company.{{harvnb|Caratzas|2016|ps=.|p=1}}{{cite book|author=George A. Fuller Company|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Vn5QAAAAMAAJ|title=George A. Fuller Company, General Contractors, 1882-1937: A Book Illustrating Recent Works of this Organization|publisher=George A. Fuller Company|year=1937|page=287|access-date=March 29, 2021|archive-date=May 8, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210508024100/https://books.google.com/books?id=vn5qAAAAMAAJ|url-status=live}} It consists of 22 stories, including the attic.{{harvnb|Caratzas|2016|ps=.|p=2}} The building measures {{Convert|241|ft}} tall to its roof. The building's 15th, 17th, and 20th stories contain setbacks to comply with the 1916 Zoning Resolution. The land lot is within a "2X" zoning district, allowing the first setback to be {{Convert|160|ft}} above ground. Unlike similar structures on small lots, such as the Fred F. French Building, 400 Madison Avenue is symmetrical.{{harvnb|Caratzas|2016|ps=.|p=10}}{{efn|Buildings inside a 2X district can rise twice the height of the neighboring street before the first setback. For 400 Madison Avenue, the 160-foot height of the first setback is twice the avenue's 80-foot width.}}

George Shepard Chappell, writing in The New Yorker under the pseudonym "T-Square", lambasted 400 Madison Avenue's shape as "distressingly pretentious" with "entirely unnecessary" detailing on the facade.{{Cite magazine|last=Chappell|first=George S. (T-Square)|date=June 1, 1929|title=The Sky Line; One Silver Lining – Madison Mixture – And Contents Noted|url=https://archives.newyorker.com/newyorker/1930-06-01|magazine=The New Yorker|volume=5|pages=71–73|url-access=subscription|access-date=March 29, 2021|archive-date=May 6, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210506092323/https://archives.newyorker.com/newyorker/1930-06-01|url-status=live}} However, the design was praised in Architecture and Building magazine as "a distinct ornament" to Madison Avenue, with an "exceedingly interesting block front".{{harvnb|Architecture and Building|1929|ps=.|p=299}}{{harvnb|Caratzas|2016|ps=.|p=11}}

= Facade =

The design of 400 Madison Avenue was meant to contain a French motif, but in practice, the design emphasis was on the vertical piers of the facade. The exterior is made of cream-colored architectural terracotta with Neo-Gothic decorative details. William LaZinsk, an architect for Severance's company, explained that cream terracotta was used because it was able to both absorb and reflect sunlight. According to LaZinsk, cream terracotta could be used to form highlights and shadows that "vary with the changing position of the sun", even as these details maintained the same general effect throughout the day.{{harvnb|Caratzas|2016|ps=.|pp=10–11}}{{Cite news|date=June 15, 1929|title=Light Colored Materials Add Beauty and Brighten Neighboring Structures|pages=46|work=The Standard Union|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/74591445/light-colored-materials-add-beauty-and/|access-date=March 28, 2021|archive-date=May 6, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210506092347/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/74591445/light-colored-materials-add-beauty-and/|url-status=live}} The three facades are relatively similar in design, with most ornamentation on the lowest and highest stories. The lowest five stories contain large windows, while the other stories contain smaller windows.

At the base, there are eleven bays on Madison Avenue. The third and ninth bays from south to north are narrow, corresponding to one window on the upper stories, while the other bays are wide, corresponding to two windows. On both 47th and 48th Streets, there are three bays: a narrow bay flanked by two wider ones.{{harvnb|Caratzas|2016|ps=.|p=3}} The primary facade at Madison Avenue contains a ground story clad with pink granite, as well as eight storefronts and two additional windows. This facade originally contained a large entrance portal, which was removed before 1983. The side facade on 47th Street had another arched entrance, which became a store window sometime after 1940.{{harvnb|Caratzas|2016|ps=.|pp=2–3}} The storefront openings are separated by vertical pilasters and contain decorative features such as chevrons, quatrefoils, colonettes, and finials.

The second through fourth stories on all sides are square-headed on the second and third stories and segmentally arched on the fourth story. On Madison Avenue, the narrow bays are flanked by triple-story engaged columns, which are topped by foliated capitals. At the fifth story, the center seven bays on Madison Avenue (comprising the two narrow bays and five wider bays between them) are topped by a thick band with Gothic motifs connected by tabernacles with crockets. The side facades, and outer bays on Madison Avenue, are topped by bands that resemble colonettes.

The sixth through 14th stories are similar in design to each other. On all sides, the windows on each of the sixth through 14th stories are generally separated vertically by slightly projecting piers and horizontally by recessed spandrel panels. The exception is the outermost eight windows on Madison Avenue, which have projecting Gothic-tracery spandrel panels separating the windows on the 12th and 13th stories. Above the 14th story, there are slightly projecting pavilions on the Madison Avenue facade, which contain stylized motifs. The 14th and 16th floors have various stylized motifs in the center bays and less ornate decorative elements in the outer bays. There are recessed panels separating the windows horizontally on the 17th through 20th floors. The 21st story is topped by a "crown" with Gothic tracery.

= Features =

File:400 Madison Avenue Mar 2021 15.jpg

400 Madison Avenue contains about {{Convert|200000|ft2}} of interior area.{{efn|The Real Deal New York cites the building as having {{Convert|190000|ft2}}, while The New York Times says it has {{convert|200000|ft2}}.}} Because of the narrow lot area, all offices were lit by windows along any of the three street frontages and there were no interior light courts.{{Cite news|date=February 10, 1929|title=Tall Building on Narrow Plot|language=en-US|page=166|work=The New York Times|url-access=subscription|url=http://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1929/02/10/95879196.pdf|access-date=March 28, 2021|issn=0362-4331|archive-date=April 11, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220411034923/http://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1929/02/10/95879196.html?pdf_redirect=true&site=false|url-status=live}} The elevators and corridors were clustered at the rear or western section of the building.{{cite news|date=February 10, 1929|title=Skyscraper 45 Feet Wide Will Cover Block Front: 20 Tiers of Offices 27 Feet Wide Feature of Madison Ave. Project|page=D1|work=New York Herald Tribune|issn=1941-0646|id={{ProQuest|1112032294}}}}{{harvnb|Willis|1995|ps=.|p=27}}{{harvnb|Caratzas|2016|ps=.|pp=6–7}} As the 1916 Zoning Resolution typically mandated that buildings' upper stories had to be smaller than the lower stories, the presence of more elevator shafts reduced the amount of usable space in a building. At 400 Madison Avenue, four elevator shafts were deemed sufficient to serve all the interior space. According to Architecture and Building magazine, the building was planned with six elevator shafts; the remaining two would have been used if a never-completed annex to the west had been developed.{{harvnb|Caratzas|2016|ps=.|p=14}} However, this never occurred and the two additional elevator shafts were used as storage space on each floor.

The edges of the building are designed with a "thin veneer" of offices. This meant all office space was within {{Convert|27|ft|0|}}{{harvnb|Caratzas|2016|ps=.|p=7}} or {{Convert|29|ft|0|}} of a window.{{cite news|date=October 6, 1929|title=More Air and Light For Office Workers|page=E1|work=New York Herald Tribune|issn=1941-0646|id={{ProQuest|1112007385}}}} At the time, real estate developers believed that "first quality space" should be amply illuminated by natural light; such space could not be any more than {{Convert|20|to|28|ft}} of a window since office space at a greater depth would lose significant value.{{Harvnb|Willis|1995|ps=.|pp=24–25}} The narrow shape was described by a contemporary New York Herald Tribune article as "an unusual structure both in appearance and as a real estate renting proposition". According to a Severance employee, the windows' surface area was 58 percent of the floor area. Each floor contains an average of {{Convert|8500|ft2}}.{{cite web|last1=Bockmann|first1=Rich|last2=Maurer|first2=Mark|date=September 13, 2016|title=ASB Capital shopping Midtown office building at 400 Madison|url-access=limited|url=https://therealdeal.com/2016/09/13/asb-capital-shopping-midtown-office-building-at-400-madison/|access-date=March 29, 2021|website=The Real Deal New York|archive-date=February 28, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210228073927/https://therealdeal.com/2016/09/13/asb-capital-shopping-midtown-office-building-at-400-madison/|url-status=live}}

The ground floor contained nine storefronts.{{Cite news|date=January 23, 1929|title=New Renting Agents|pages=25|work=The Standard Union|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/74579984/new-renting-agents/|access-date=March 28, 2021|archive-date=May 6, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210506092403/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/74579984/new-renting-agents/|url-status=live}} There was also a main entrance lobby, flanked on either side by marble stairs that rose to the mezzanine.{{cite news|date=June 30, 1929|title=New Building Will Feature High Class Small Office Units: Madison Avenue Structure Designed Especially for Users of Little Space|page=D2|work=New York Herald Tribune|issn=1941-0646|id={{ProQuest|1113712342}}}} The second floor and mezzanine were both intended for the use of a financial institution, such as a bank.

History

= Planning and construction =

The banker George L. Ohrstrom founded the 400 Madison Avenue Corporation in 1928 to erect a building at that address in New York City. In September 1928, the 400 Madison Avenue Corporation proposed to build a 20-story office building on Madison Avenue between 47th and 48th Streets. At the time, there were two leaseholds held by Egmont Estates, each measuring {{Convert|100|ft}} on Madison Avenue and a little less than {{Convert|45|ft}} on either side street.{{cite news|date=September 14, 1928|title=400 Madison Avenue Building|page=17|work=The Wall Street Journal|issn=0099-9660|id={{ProQuest|130540865}}}}{{Cite news|date=September 16, 1928|title=Vast Sum Involved in Building Plans Following Deals|pages=43|work=The Brooklyn Daily Eagle|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/74580704/vast-sum-involved-in-building-plans/|access-date=March 28, 2021|archive-date=May 6, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210506092431/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/74580704/vast-sum-involved-in-building-plans/|url-status=live}} These leases, for the Ritz Chambers and Carlton Chambers apartment houses, did not expire until the 2010s. E. A. Johnson, the 400 Madison Avenue Corporation's vice president, said that Madison Avenue was seeing commercial growth. He cited a mid-1929 survey that found that, during a ten-hour period in a typical weekday, over 600,000 people passed on Madison Avenue between 42nd and 50th Streets.{{Cite news|date=August 31, 1929|title=600,000 Daily Pass On Avenue|pages=8|work=New York Daily News|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/74580338/600000-daily-pass-on-avenue/|url-status=live|access-date=March 28, 2021|archive-date=May 6, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210506092406/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/74580338/600000-daily-pass-on-avenue/}}{{Cite news|date=September 1, 1929|title=Traffic Count Shows Madison Av. Growth; Survey Near Fiftieth Street Shows 500,000 Pedestrians Pass Daily.|language=en-US|page=RE1|work=The New York Times|url-access=subscription|url=http://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1929/09/01/121610587.pdf|url-status=live|access-date=March 28, 2021|issn=0362-4331|archive-date=April 11, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220411034925/http://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1929/09/01/121610587.html?pdf_redirect=true&site=false}}

File:400 Madison Avenue Mar 2021 36.jpg

In October 1928, G. L. Ohrstrom & Co. Inc., along with two other companies associated with the project, issued $1.9 million in first mortgage bonds, to be due in twenty years.{{cite news|date=October 8, 1928|title=Financing 400 Madison Avenue Bldg.|page=6|work=The Wall Street Journal|issn=0099-9660|id={{ProQuest|130533408}}}}{{cite news|date=October 15, 1928|title=Bonds Offered To-day Amount To $3,925,000: Issue of $1,900,000 First Mortgage Leasehold 6s at 97, to Yield Over 6.26|page=30|work=New York Herald Tribune|issn=1941-0646|id={{ProQuest|1113389513}}}}{{Cite news|date=October 8, 1928|title=Financing Building|pages=18|work=The Standard Union|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/74580863/financing-building/|access-date=March 28, 2021|archive-date=May 6, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210506092402/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/74580863/financing-building/|url-status=live}} The same month, H. Craig Severance Inc. filed plans for an office building on the site, to cost $1.25 million.{{cite news|date=October 25, 1928|title=$1,250,000 Office Building For Madison Avenue|page=40|work=New York Herald Tribune|issn=1941-0646|id={{ProQuest|1113583407}}}}{{Cite news|date=October 25, 1928|title=$1,250,000 Structure Planned For Madison Avenue Block|language=en-US|page=52|work=The New York Times|url-access=subscription|url=http://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1928/10/25/91542400.pdf|url-status=live|access-date=March 28, 2021|issn=0362-4331|archive-date=April 11, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220411034927/http://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1928/10/25/91542400.html?pdf_redirect=true&site=false}} The building was intended specifically for small office tenants, and the Charles F. Noyes Company was hired in January 1929 to rent out the space. 400 Madison Avenue contained less than a sixth of the nearby Chrysler Building's floor space, and the developers believed there was a market for firms, professionals, and businesspersons who wanted "small but impressive offices", such as financial firms in Lower Manhattan that desired a Midtown branch office. Most of the other office buildings in the area were intended for large tenants, while small tenants were relegated to "second rate" structures or be "practically submerged" by major tenants in the larger structures.

By August 1929, the building was nearly complete, and advertisements in newspapers such as The New York Times and the New York Herald Tribune were touting the building's small well-lit space and central site. One such advertisement, geared toward lawyers, praised the proximity to "many of America's most prominent business houses", as well as to the area's shops, hotels, and apartments.{{cite news|date=September 24, 1929|title=A Lawyer's Office Affording Quick Contact with a Vast Business Zone|page=14|work=New York Herald Tribune|issn=1941-0646|id={{ProQuest|1111747376}}}} Another advertisement, intended for financial firms, said: "You will be proud to receive your clients in such an environment at this address of dominating prestige."{{cite news|date=September 17, 1929|title=Wall Street Approves These Exceptional Office Locations ... in the Grand Central Zone|page=57|work=New York Herald Tribune|issn=1941-0646|id={{ProQuest|111171435}}}} In other promotional materials, the building's house number, 400, was used to evoke the upper class. At 400 Madison Avenue's opening, the Times characterized the building as being one of several buildings that comprised the "Grand Canyon of midtown business".{{Cite news|date=October 6, 1929|title=Lofty Building Give Manhattan New Skyline Effects; For Easterly Expansion.|language=en-US|page=90|work=The New York Times|url-access=subscription|url=http://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1929/10/06/91967365.pdf|url-status=live|access-date=March 29, 2021|issn=0362-4331|archive-date=April 11, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220411034926/http://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1929/10/06/91967365.html?pdf_redirect=true&site=false}}{{harvnb|Caratzas|2016|ps=.|p=12}}

= 20th century =

The building officially opened on October 1, 1929. The early tenants were largely in advertising, finance, insurance, law, and real estate. Among the early tenants were numerous firms trading on the New York Stock Exchange, such as Cowen & Co.{{cite news|date=October 8, 1929|title=Stock Exchange Concern Takes Madison Ave. Space: Fifth Wall Street House to Locate in Same Building|page=52|work=New York Herald Tribune|issn=1941-0646|id={{ProQuest|1111676548}}}} and Joseph Siven & Co.{{cite news|date=November 12, 1929|title=Another Wall Street Firm Gets Space on Madison Avenue: Given & Co. Sixth Stock Exchange Concern to Have Branch in Same Building|page=45|work=New York Herald Tribune|issn=1941-0646|id={{ProQuest|1111676359}}}} George McAneny, the former president of the New York City Board of Aldermen, leased nearly an entire floor for the Ritz-Carlton chain of hotels, as well as the Regional Plan Association, both of which he had an interest in.{{cite news|date=December 11, 1929|title=George McAneny Rents Madison Avenue Floor|page=50|work=New York Herald Tribune|issn=1941-0646|id={{ProQuest|1112011465}}}}{{Cite news|date=December 11, 1929|title=McAneny Rents in Madison Avenue.|language=en-US|page=54|work=The New York Times|url-access=subscription|url=http://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1929/12/11/92023147.pdf|url-status=live|access-date=March 28, 2021|issn=0362-4331|archive-date=April 11, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220411034926/http://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1929/12/11/92023147.html?pdf_redirect=true&site=false}} A Bulgarian consulate was also housed in the building,{{cite news|date=March 1, 1931|title=Passport Fee, Formerly $10, Has Now Been Reduced to $6: Cost of Visa Is Lowered in Many Nations Tourist Should Consult Consulates for Regulations Governing Travel|page=K7|work=New York Herald Tribune|issn=1941-0646|id={{ProQuest|1114071745}}}} as was the League of Women Voters of New York,{{cite news|date=January 15, 1930|title=Women Voters to Begin Campaign for $60,000: $16.000 on Hand as 62 Districts Start Formally Today Planning Drive for League of Women Voters|page=21|work=New York Herald Tribune|issn=1941-0646|id={{ProQuest|1114344991}}}} the Lefcourt shoe company,{{Cite news|date=October 29, 1938|title=Demand Continues for Retail Stores; Large Space in Building at 400 Madison Ave. Taken by Shoe Concern|language=en-US|page=31|work=The New York Times|url-access=subscription|url=http://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1938/10/29/98204919.pdf|url-status=live|access-date=March 28, 2021|issn=0362-4331|archive-date=April 11, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220411034928/http://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1938/10/29/98204919.html?pdf_redirect=true&site=false}} and an Austrian tourist office. Crouch & Fitzgerald, luggage retailers, opened in the building in 1932 and had space in the building for several decades.{{harvnb|Caratzas|2016|ps=.|pp=11–12}} A committee was organized in 1931 to protect the interests of the building's bondholders.{{cite news|date=April 29, 1932|title=400 Madison Avenue Corp|page=10|work=The Wall Street Journal|issn=0099-9660|id={{ProQuest|131043802}}}}

Other tenants subsequently moved to the building because it was close to Times Square, the Garment District, major publishers, television studios, and music and recording studios. The publications included Family Circle, which had offices there between 1932 and 1945, as well as various news publications through the 1980s. In addition, the Council on Books in Wartime leased some space at 400 Madison Avenue for its headquarters during World War II,{{Cite news|date=April 21, 1943|title=War Book Group Leases; Council Takes Office Space in 400 Madison Avenue|language=en-US|page=45|work=The New York Times|url-access=subscription|url=http://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1943/04/21/87416043.pdf|url-status=live|access-date=March 28, 2021|issn=0362-4331|archive-date=April 11, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220411034923/http://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1943/04/21/87416043.html?pdf_redirect=true&site=false}}{{cite book|last=Hench|first=J.B.|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3bZeDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA83|title=Books As Weapons: Propaganda, Publishing, and the Battle for Global Markets in the Era of World War II|publisher=Cornell University Press|year=2016|isbn=978-1-5017-2727-6|page=83|access-date=March 29, 2021|archive-date=August 13, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210813214003/https://books.google.com/books?id=3bZeDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA83|url-status=live}} shipping close to 123 million books during that time.{{cite web|last=Appelbaum|first=Yoni|date=September 10, 2014|title=Publishers Gave Away 122,951,031 Books During World War II|url=https://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2014/09/publishers-gave-away-122951031-books-during-world-war-ii/379893/|access-date=March 28, 2021|website=The Atlantic|archive-date=May 26, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180526140913/https://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2014/09/publishers-gave-away-122951031-books-during-world-war-ii/379893/|url-status=live}} After World War II, the building contained the offices of producer David O. Selznick and actress Lucille Lortel.

Investors Kimmelman and Zauderer bought a controlling interest in 400 Madison Avenue from the Girard Trust Company and the Starrett Corporation in 1950. At that point, rental income was estimated at $11 million.{{Cite news|date=March 22, 1950|title=Investers Buy a Controlling Interet In Leasehold on Madison Ave. Block|language=en-US|page=54|work=The New York Times|url-access=subscription|url=http://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1950/03/22/94251658.pdf|url-status=live|access-date=March 28, 2021|issn=0362-4331|archive-date=April 11, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220411034930/http://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1950/03/22/94251658.html?pdf_redirect=true&site=false}}{{cite news|date=March 22, 1950|title=Large Midtown Office Building Changes Hands: Kimmelman & Zauderer Buy Madison Ave. Tower|page=42|work=New York Herald Tribune|issn=1941-0646|id={{ProQuest|1327171668}}}} Nine years later, the investors acquired the minority interest in the building from Lefcourt Realty Corporation.{{Cite news|date=August 5, 1959|title=Stock Is Acquired in Office Building; Kimmelman-Zauderer Buy Lefcourt's Interest in Parcel at 400 Madison|language=en-US|page=41|work=The New York Times|url-access=subscription|url=http://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1959/08/05/80542314.pdf|url-status=live|access-date=March 29, 2021|issn=0362-4331|archive-date=April 11, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220411034925/http://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1959/08/05/80542314.html?pdf_redirect=true&site=false}} During the 1960s, the building contained the offices of Hornblower & Weeks brokerage,{{Cite news|last=Vartan|first=Vartanig G.|date=February 5, 1965|title=A Girlhood Dream Is Realized; Negro Woman Now Selling Stocks for Big-Board Firm|language=en-US|page=39|work=The New York Times|url-access=subscription|url=http://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1965/02/05/95529069.pdf|url-status=live|access-date=March 29, 2021|issn=0362-4331|archive-date=April 11, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220411034927/http://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1965/02/05/95529069.html?pdf_redirect=true&site=false}} and in the 1970s, it contained the Association of Black Foundation Executives.

= 21st century =

In 1998, Macklowe Properties acquired the building's $36 million mortgage from the receiver.{{cite web|last=Weiss|first=Lois|date=May 27, 1998|title=Macklowe offer Big Apple REIT|url=https://www.thefreelibrary.com/Macklowe+offer+Big+Apple+REIT-a020827823|access-date=March 29, 2021|work=Real Estate Weekly|via=Free Online Library|archive-date=May 6, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210506092413/https://www.thefreelibrary.com/Macklowe+offer+Big+Apple+REIT-a020827823|url-status=live}} The company's executive vice president William S. Macklowe said the firm was initially looking for large tenants; at the time, thirty percent of the building was vacant and the original electrical system remained in place. Macklowe Properties decided instead to market 400 Madison Avenue for smaller tenants, both because of demand for small tenancies at its property at 540 Madison Avenue, as well as 400 Madison Avenue's proximity to a new Grand Central Terminal entrance at 47th Street.{{efn|The terminal entrance at the northeast corner of Madison Avenue and 47th Street was built in the late 1990s as part of Grand Central North.{{cite news|issn=0362-4331|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1999/10/24/nyregion/shortening-the-commute-at-grand-central.html|title=Shortening the Commute at Grand Central|last=Ames|first=Lynne|date=October 24, 1999|newspaper=The New York Times|access-date=December 6, 2018|archive-date=December 6, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181206235016/https://www.nytimes.com/1999/10/24/nyregion/shortening-the-commute-at-grand-central.html|url-status=live}}}} The company renovated the penthouse and, by 2001, the building had some 50 tenants, many of which were financial firms.{{Cite news|last=Siwolop|first=Sana|date=April 25, 2001|title=Commercial Real Estate; A Building For Tenants Who Want Small Space|language=en-US|work=The New York Times|url-access=limited|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2001/04/25/nyregion/commercial-real-estate-a-building-for-tenants-who-want-small-space.html|access-date=March 27, 2021|issn=0362-4331|archive-date=May 6, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210506092424/https://www.nytimes.com/2001/04/25/nyregion/commercial-real-estate-a-building-for-tenants-who-want-small-space.html|url-status=live}} The building received a $55 million senior loan and an $11.5 million mezzanine loan in 2010.{{Cite periodical|date=August 2, 2010|title=Macklowe Recaps 400 Madison|url=|periodical=Real Estate Finance and Investment}}

ASB bought the building in 2012 for $139 million, assuming a $45 million mortgage,{{Cite web|last=September 17|first=Alessia Pirolo|date=September 17, 2012|title=ASB Real Estate Assumes $55 million Loan on 400 Madison Avenue|url=https://commercialobserver.com/2012/09/asb-real-estate-assumes-55-million-loan-on-400-madison-avenue/|url-status=live|access-date=March 29, 2021|website=Commercial Observer|language=en-US|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121016102549/http://commercialobserver.com/2012/09/asb-real-estate-assumes-55-million-loan-on-400-madison-avenue/ |archive-date=October 16, 2012 }} but placed it for sale four years later. In mid-2016, the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission (LPC) proposed protecting twelve buildings in East Midtown, including 400 Madison Avenue, in advance of proposed changes to the area's zoning.{{cite web | last=Hurowitz | first=Noah | title=12 Midtown East Buildings Are Up for Landmark Consideration, City Says | website=DNAinfo New York | date=2016-05-10 | url=https://www.dnainfo.com/new-york/20160510/midtown-east/12-midtown-east-buildings-are-up-for-landmark-consideration-city-says | access-date=2021-03-30 | archive-date=November 8, 2020 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201108185138/https://www.dnainfo.com/new-york/20160510/midtown-east/12-midtown-east-buildings-are-up-for-landmark-consideration-city-says/ | url-status=dead }} On November 22, 2016, the LPC designated 400 Madison Avenue and ten other nearby buildings as city landmarks.{{cite web|last=Warerkar|first=Tanay|date=November 22, 2016|title=11 historic Midtown East buildings landmarked in one fell swoop|url=https://ny.curbed.com/2016/11/22/13716490/midtown-east-landmark-pershing-square-rezoning|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191018142622/https://ny.curbed.com/2016/11/22/13716490/midtown-east-landmark-pershing-square-rezoning|archive-date=October 18, 2019|access-date=October 18, 2019|website=Curbed NY}} ASB sold 400 Madison Avenue in 2018 to Korean company Daishin Securities for $194.5 million.{{Cite web|last=Campbell|first=Kyle|date=October 29, 2018|title=ASB sells 400 Madison to Korean bank for $194M|url=https://rew-online.com/asb-sells-400-madison-to-korean-bank-for-194m/|access-date=March 29, 2021|website=Real Estate Weekly|language=en-US|archive-date=May 6, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210506092425/https://rew-online.com/asb-sells-400-madison-to-korean-bank-for-194m/|url-status=live}}{{Cite web|last=Kim|first=Betsy|date=October 25, 2018|title=ASB Sells 400 Madison Ave. for $194.5M|url=https://www.globest.com/2018/10/25/asb-sells-400-madison-ave-for-194-5m/|url-status=live|access-date=March 29, 2021|website=GlobeSt|language=en|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200804054345/https://www.globest.com/2018/10/25/asb-sells-400-madison-ave-for-194-5m/ |archive-date=August 4, 2020 }}

References

=Notes=

=Citations=

=Sources=

{{cite magazine|date=October 1929|title=400 Madison Avenue Building, New York City|url=|journal=Architecture and Building|volume=61|at=pp. 299–300, plates 185–187|ref={{harvid|Architecture and Building|1929}}}}
{{cite web|url=http://s-media.nyc.gov/agencies/lpc/lp/2576.pdf|title=400 Madison Avenue|date=November 22, 2016|publisher=New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission|last=Caratzas|first=Michael}}
{{cite book | last=Willis | first=Carol | title=Form Follows Finance: Skyscrapers and Skylines in New York and Chicago | publisher=Princeton Architectural Press | publication-place=New York, New York | year=1995 | isbn=978-1-56898-044-7 | page=}}