In the late nineteenth century, 461Fifth Avenue was the residence of the Misses Furniss, who were known for hosting musicals and other social functions.[3] They had acquired the address from a J. M. Bixby sometime after 1873.[4]
Sometime between 1911 and 1915, the private house was replaced with an eleven-story office building, which in 1945 was renovated to become aLane Bryant store.[5][6][7] By 1988 the Lane Bryant building was demolished.[8]
The current structure was built in 1988 by a Japanese-lead development group using a design byRaul de Armas ofSkidmore, Owings & Merrill.[9][10] Within a year of completion, the building had a 90% occupancy rate and had spurred a building boom in the Fifth Avenue area.[11] By 1992 it was fully leased.[12][13] The first floor shopping level was occupied by aPier 1 Imports until 2007, when it was leased toBCBGMAXAZRIA.[14]
The building was sold to its current owner,SL Green Realty, in 2003 for $62.3 million.[15]
The building uses modern materials, creating a stone-finish look, as well as asetback at the base, which is at the same height as older buildings in the neighborhood. The building is also notedarchitecturally for its combination of a 10-story 19th-century base, which mirrors nearby older buildings, and an 18-storypost-modern tower.[9][16]
The exterior uses apre-cast concrete finish to mimic the appearance of limestone and has a coppermansard roof similar to other buildings in the area.[10][17]
