The Equitable Building is an office skyscraper located at 120 Broadway, between Pine and Cedar streets, in the Financial District of Lower Manhattan, in New York City. The skyscraper was designed by Ernest R. Graham in the Neoclassical style, with Peirce Anderson as the architect-in-charge. It is tall, with 38 stories and of floor space. The building's articulation consists of three horizontal sections similar to the components of a column, namely a base, shaft, and capital.
The Equitable Building replaced the Equitable Life Building, the previous headquarters of the Equitable Life Insurance Company, which burned down in 1912. Work on the Equitable Building started in 1913 and was completed in 1915. Upon opening, it was the largest office building in the world by floor area. The Equitable Building hosted a variety of tenants and, by the 1920s, was the most valuable building in New York City. The Equitable Life Insurance Company, the building's namesake, occupied a small portion of the building until it moved out during 1960. The owner , Silverstein Properties, purchased the Equitable Building in 1980 and has renovated it multiple times.
Upon its completion, the Equitable Building was controversial because of its lack of setbacks, which in turn does not allow sunlight to reach the surrounding ground. This contributed to the adoption of the first modern building and zoning restrictions on vertical structures in Manhattan, the 1916 Zoning Resolution. The building was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1978 and was designated a city landmark by the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission in 1996. It is also a contributing property to the Wall Street Historic District, a NRHP district created in 2007.
Site
The building occupies the entire block bounded by Broadway to the west, Cedar Street to the north, Nassau Street to the east, and Pine Street to the south. The dimensions of the block are irregular. The building has a frontage of approximately on Broadway, on Cedar Street, on Nassau Street, and on Pine Street.