Fred F. French Building

Height is not the only measure of a skyscraper's worth - this alliterative edifice has a lovely Art Deco/Moorish flavor. The Fred F. French Building is a 38-story skyscraper on the northeast corner of 45th Street at 551 Fifth Avenue, Manhattan, New York City. It was erected in 1927 with a striking art deco facade contributing significantly to the international reputation of Fifth Avenue. The building measures approximately 430,000 rentable square feet and is currently owned by The Feil Organization. It is used primarily as an office building and also houses classrooms of Pace University. The building is one of the better known projects of the real estate developer Frederick Fillmore French. The lead architects were H. Douglas Ives and Sloan & Robertson. The tallest building on Fifth Avenue when completed, by the 1990s underwent a complete restoration, subsequently earning the Building Owners and Managers Association 1994/1995 Historic Building of the Year Award. The National Register of Historic Places listed the building in January 2004.