1552 Broadway | |
---|---|
Alternative names | I. Miller Building |
General information | |
Architectural style | Modern classical |
Location | Manhattan, New York, US |
Coordinates | 40°45′31″N 73°59′05″W / 40.75861°N 73.98472°W |
Construction started | May 1926 |
Completed | December 1926 |
Renovated | 2012–2014 |
Technical details | |
Floor count | 3 |
Design and construction | |
Architect(s) | Louis H. Friedland |
Designated | June 29, 1999[1] |
Reference no. | 2023[1] |
1552 Broadway, also known as the I. Miller Building, is a commercial structure on Times Square in the Theater District of Midtown Manhattan in New York City. Located at the northeast corner of Broadway and 46th Street, the building was designed by Louis H. Friedland, with sculptures by Alexander Stirling Calder. The current building, designed for shoe retailer I. Miller, dates to 1926 and was combined from two 19th-century brownstone residences on the site. It contains decorative elements from several styles.
The building was designed with four stories, though the top story has been removed internally. The facade was designed in a different manner on Broadway and 46th Street. The Broadway elevation is designed with a storefront at the first two stories and billboards on the top two stories. The 46th Street elevation is divided into five vertical bays, with limestone on the two lowest stories and stucco above. Between the third-story windows on 46th Street are niches with statues of actresses Ethel Barrymore, Marilyn Miller, Mary Pickford, and Rosa Ponselle. There are billboards above the roof. Inside, the storefronts were subdivided into space for I. Miller and a retail tenant, while the upper stories contained I. Miller's offices.
Shoe designer Israel Miller had leased space at the previous brownstone at 1554 Broadway in the 1910s. He signed a long-term lease on the buildings in 1920 and, upon taking possession of the lease, remodeled the brownstones in 1926 with new facades by Louis H. Friedland. Miller also commissioned the actresses' sculptures from Calder, which were installed in 1929 shortly after Miller's death. The building remained an I. Miller store until the 1970s, after which the building was sold to investors. The New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission designated 1552 Broadway as a city landmark in 1999, and a TGI Fridays restaurant operated at 1552 Broadway in the early 21st century. The building was sold to SL Green and Wharton Acquisitions in 2011, and the new owners made extensive renovations from 2012 to 2014, converting the building to part of an Express, Inc. store and removing the fourth floor.