20 Exchange Place (Paperback)

High Quality Content by WIKIPEDIA articles 20 Exchange Place is a 59 floor Art Deco building in New York City. Formerly known as the City Bank-Farmers Trust Building, it was built between 1930-1931, for the newly merged National City Bank of New York and the Farmers' Loan and Trust Company, predecessor firms of Citigroup. It remained the company's headquarters until 1956 and was ultimately sold in 1979. The building was designed by the architectural firm of Cross and Cross. Although Cross and Cross described the building as having no particular architectural style, it was described at the time as being in the style then known as "modern classic," with minimal art deco ornamentation. Originally designed in 1929 to be the world's tallest building at 846.4 feet, with a pyramidal top and a budget of $9,500,000, Depression era realities resulted in a scaled back, 741-foot tall building, New York City's fourth tallest building at the time. It remained among the top ten tallest buildings in New York until 1970. Today, as the sixth tallest building in downtown Manhattan, and 27th tallest in New York City, it is still among the most prominent buildings in the city skyline.