Reynolds Building
{{Use mdy dates|date=February 2025}}
{{Use American English|date=February 2025}}
{{Infobox NRHP
| name = Reynolds Building
| nrhp_type =
| image = File:Reynolds Building - Winston-Salem, NC.jpg
| caption = Reynolds Building street view
| location = 51 E. 4th St., Winston-Salem, North Carolina
| coordinates = {{coord|36|5|56|N|80|14|40|W|display=inline,title}}
| locmapin = North Carolina#USA
| built = {{Start date|1928}}-1929
| architect = Shreve & Lamb
| builder = James Baird Company
| architecture = Art Deco
| added = August 19, 2014
| area = {{convert|0.55|acre}}
}}
The Reynolds Building is a {{convert|314|ft|m|adj=on}} Art Deco skyscraper at 51 East 4th Street in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. It was completed in 1929 and has 21 floors with {{convert|313996|sqft|m2}} of space.{{cite web|url=http://www.emporis.com/en/wm/bu/?id=reynoldsbuilding-winstonsalem-nc-usa|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070220090805/http://www.emporis.com/en/wm/bu/?id=reynoldsbuilding-winstonsalem-nc-usa|url-status=usurped|archive-date=February 20, 2007|title=Reynolds Building|accessdate=July 10, 2008|publisher=Emporis}} For much of its history the building served as headquarters for R. J. Reynolds Tobacco Company. After a sale to PMC Property Group in 2014, the building went through an estimated $60 million in renovations. In March 2016, The Residences @ the R.J. Reynolds Building, apartments located on the top 11 floors, opened. The first six floors opened as the Kimpton Cardinal Hotel in April. Katharine Brasserie & Bar, a restaurant named for Katharine Smith Reynolds, followed in May.
History
The site of the Reynolds Building at Fourth and Main streets was previously home to Winston's first city hall, built in 1892 and used as the first Winston-Salem city hall after the 1913 merger with the town of Salem. When the city needed a larger city hall, the old one was torn down.{{cite news|url=http://www.journalnow.com/news/local/northwest-almanac-preservation-of-s-city-hall-building-important-to/article_58f17218-6c72-5f91-9a7d-fe38b1e80099.html|title=Northwest Almanac: Preservation of 1920s City Hall building important to Winston-Salem leaders |work=Winston-Salem Journal|date=June 11, 2018|accessdate=June 14, 2018}}
When completed for $2.7 million ($36.3 million in 2016 dollars) as the headquarters of R. J. Reynolds Tobacco Company, it was the tallest building between Baltimore, Maryland; [Birmingham, Alabama]]; and the Miami-Dade County Courthouse, and it won a national architecture award.{{cite news|url=http://www2.journalnow.com/content/2009/nov/23/home-of-rjr-on-the-market/news/|archive-url=https://archive.today/20091125102727/http://www2.journalnow.com/content/2009/nov/23/home-of-rjr-on-the-market/news/|url-status=dead|archive-date=November 25, 2009|title=Home of RJR on the market|work=Winston-Salem Journal|last=Craver|first=Richard|date=November 23, 2009|accessdate=November 23, 2009}} It succeeded the Nissen Building in Winston-Salem as the tallest building in North Carolina.{{cite web|url=https://www.emporis.com/buildings/123869/nissen-building-winston-salem-nc-usa|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150514054448/http://www.emporis.com/buildings/123869/nissen-building-winston-salem-nc-usa|url-status=usurped|archive-date=May 14, 2015|title=Nissen Building|publisher=Emporis|access-date=August 18, 2022}} Winston Tower succeeded the Reynolds Building as tallest in the state.
The building is well known for being a design inspiration for the much larger Empire State Building that was built in 1931 in New York City.{{cite web|url=http://www.allbusiness.com/construction/construction-buildings/167637-1.html |title=Reynolds Building|accessdate=September 18, 2008}} There is a legend that every year the staff of the Empire State Building sends a Father's Day card to the staff at the Reynolds Building in Winston-Salem to pay homage to its role as predecessor to the Empire State Building.{{cite news|url=
https://www.journalnow.com/winstonsalemmonthly/features/r-j-reynolds-building-now-remains-an-architectural-marvel/article_82b38002-8798-11e9-bb89-fbb2d3279cb1.html|title=R.J. Reynolds Building, now 90, remains an architectural marvel|last=Lopez|first=Robert|work=Winston-Salem Journal|date=June 5, 2019}}{{cite news|url=http://www.bizjournals.com/triad/blog/2012/01/a-new-start-for-historic-rj-reynolds.html|title=A look at the historic Reynolds Building|last=Covington|first=Owen|work=Triad Business Journal|date=January 5, 2012|accessdate=May 28, 2014}} It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2014.{{cite news|title='Grand Old Lady' is now 'historic'|work=Winston-Salem Journal|last=Craver|first=Richard|date=October 13, 2014|page=A1}}{{Cite web | author=Jen Hembree | title=Reynolds Building | work = National Register of Historic Places - Nomination and Inventory | date =March 2014| url = https://files.nc.gov/ncdcr/nr/FY2141.pdf | publisher = North Carolina State Historic Preservation Office | accessdate = November 1, 2014}}
The building was designed, just as the Empire State Building, for the purpose of corporate offices with retail outlets on the first floor.{{cite book
|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=NccTgQkmPIEC&dq=rj+reynolds+reynolds+temple&pg=PA593
|publisher=UNC Press
|date=2005|pages=593
|title=North Carolina Architecture |first=Catherine |last=Bishir|isbn=9780807856246
}} Shreve & Lamb, the architects, were asked for "an effect of conservatism along with attractiveness, but to avoid flashiness." But regarding the result, a 1997 Winston-Salem Journal article said, "city residents could be forgiven for wondering whether the architects followed the directive" because "Gray-brown marble from Missouri, black marble from Belgium and buff-colored marble from France covered the walls and floor.
The ceiling was festooned with gold leaves, and the grillwork, elevator doors and door frames were bright, gleaming brass." The stock market crash of 1929 hurt the Reynolds Building's leasing business temporarily, but it was more successful than other similar buildings at leasing offices. Its promotional brochure said that the 14th, 15th, and fourth floors were reserved for doctors and dentists, but this might not have been the case. Most of the offices were occupied by organizations related to the tobacco industry, such as railroads, insurance companies, and attorneys.
=21st century=
On November 23, 2009, the Winston-Salem Journal reported that Reynolds American, Inc., put the building up for sale after cutting jobs and moving many offices into the Plaza Building next door. Forsyth County tax records showed the Reynolds Building's value as $12.3 million. The building offered {{convert|240000|sqft|m2}} of office space, much of that Class B.
In 2012, Davis-Weaver Restaurants and Hotels, which owned the Proximity and O. Henry hotels in nearby Greensboro, considered plans to turn the building into a luxury hotel for business travelers,{{cite news|url=http://www.news-record.com/content/2012/01/05/article/quaintance_weaver_could_open_hotel_in_historic_winston_salem_building|title=Quaintance-Weaver could open hotel in historic Winston-Salem building|work=News & Record|date=January 5, 2012|accessdate=January 25, 2012}} but ultimately chose not to proceed.
In March 2013, Reynolds American selected CBRE to market the building, which the company intended to sell for $15 million. Philadelphia-based PMC Property Group, which renovates historic buildings, and San Francisco-based Kimpton Hotels & Restaurants Group bought the Reynolds Building for $7.8 million. Plans call for "a boutique hotel, restaurant and upscale apartments."{{cite news|url= http://www.news-record.com/news/article_323fa137-927a-5e6f-b79a-9bc6ac32d206.html|title=Former R.J. Reynolds headquarters sold for $7.8 million |last=Craver|first=Richard|work=Winston-Salem Journal|date=May 22, 2014|accessdate=May 22, 2014}}
In August 2014, the Reynolds Building was named to the National Register of Historic Places. Historic status, with its tax incentives, were expected to make the building more attractive.{{cite news|url=http://www.journalnow.com/news/local/panel-oks-nomination-of-rjr-building-for-registry/article_fdb9f50e-3faf-52a5-afb0-95518d803e1f.html|title=Panel OKs nomination of RJR building for register |last=Craver|first=Richard|work=Winston-Salem Journal|date=May 8, 2014|accessdate=May 9, 2014}}{{cite news|title=Process starts for historic registry nomination for Reynolds building |last=Craver|first=Richard|work=Winston-Salem Journal|date=May 2, 2014|page=A1}}
On November 5, 2015, Kimpton said its Kimpton Cardinal Hotel would have 174 rooms on the building's first six floors, along with 36 suites, a fitness center, a restaurant and bar, and 6400 square feet of meeting space.{{cite news|url=http://www.journalnow.com/news/local/historic-reynolds-building-will-be-known-as-kimpton-cardinal-hotel/article_aa0f51c6-7a54-5212-b7b4-5788c927c397.html|title=Historic Reynolds building will be known as Kimpton Cardinal Hotel|last=Craver|first=Richard|work=Winston-Salem Journal|date=November 5, 2015|accessdate=November 5, 2015}} On December 15, Kimpton said the restaurant on the ground floor would be named Katharine Brasserie & Bar after Katharine Smith Reynolds, the wife of R.J. Reynolds, and that it would be separate from the hotel.{{cite news|url=http://www.journalnow.com/home_food/food/restaurant-in-reynolds-building-could-open-in-february/article_5fcdc085-0501-56a2-b58f-99e4a991c36f.html|title=Restaurant in Reynolds Building could open in February|last=Hastings|first=Michael|work=Winston-Salem Journal|date=December 15, 2015|accessdate=December 16, 2015}}
The 7th through 19th floors (there is no 13th floor because of superstition dating to the building's construction) opened in March as The Residences @ the R.J. Reynolds Building, with 20 apartments on the first four of those floors and six on the remaining floors. 65 percent would be 700 square feet with one bedroom and the rest would be 830 to 1000 square feet with two bedrooms. The 19th floor apartments are tied with those in the Nissen Building for highest residential space. Different elevators serve the hotel and the apartments. The 20th floor mezzanine would have meeting space and the top two floors would house mechanical equipment.{{cite news|url=http://www.journalnow.com/news/local/reynolds-residences-offer-iconic-views-from-downtown-winston-salem/article_646ae8ca-b696-5185-9ee5-338461c2a0cb.html|title=Reynolds residences offer iconic views from downtown Winston-Salem|last=Craver|first=Richard|work=Winston-Salem Journal|date=January 9, 2016|accessdate=January 11, 2016}}
The Kimpton's grand opening took place on April 27, 2016, the building's 87th birthday. The restaurant opened on May 2.{{cite news|url=http://www.journalnow.com/news/local/kimpton-opens-door-on-new-life-for-historic-reynolds-building/article_ad78e39f-87cf-503f-acc3-327f4c8c442a.html|title=Kimpton opens door on new life for historic Reynolds building|last=Craver|first=Richard|work=Winston-Salem Journal|date=April 28, 2016|accessdate=April 28, 2016}}
The $60 million in renovations included the lobby that would look familiar to those who worked in the building decades ago, described this way in an article by Robert Lopez that appeared on the Winston-Salem Journal web site.
Straight ahead from the main entrance is the elevator bank, gold and silver leaf ceiling overhead, and brass doors polished to a blinding finish. An octagonal hall just past the elevators is clad is{{sic}} St. Genevieve golden vein marble. All around is metalwork featuring stylized tobacco leaves and diamond patterns.
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
{{Commons cat|Reynolds Building}}
- [http://www.thecardinalhotel.com Kimpton Cardinal Hotel]
{{Reynolds American}}
{{National Register of Historic Places in North Carolina}}
Category:1920s architecture in the United States
Category:1929 establishments in North Carolina
Category:Art Deco architecture in North Carolina
Category:National Register of Historic Places in Winston-Salem, North Carolina
Category:Office buildings completed in 1929
Category:Office buildings on the National Register of Historic Places in North Carolina
Category:R. J. Reynolds Tobacco Company
Category:Residential skyscrapers in North Carolina