224 West 57th Street

This article is about the building on 57th Street named for General Motors and the Demarest Company. For the buildings on Fifth Avenue, see General Motors Building (Manhattan) and Demarest Building. For the building in Detroit, see Argonaut Building.
224 West 57th Street
Map
Former namesA. T. Demarest & Company Building, Peerless Motor Car Company Building
Alternative namesArgonaut Building
General information
TypeCommercial
Architectural styleGothic Revival, Romanesque Revival
Address224 West 57th Street
Town or cityManhattan, New York
CountryUnited States
Coordinates40°45′57″N 73°58′54″W / 40.7658°N 73.9816°W / 40.7658; -73.9816
GroundbreakingMarch 1909
OpenedJune–September 1909
ClientA. T. Demarest & Company and Peerless Motor Company
LandlordEretz Group
Height132.91 feet (40.51 m)
Technical details
Structural systemSteel frame
Floor count12
Design and construction
Architect(s)Francis H. Kimball
Main contractorGeorge A. Fuller Company
DesignatedDecember 19, 2000[2]
Reference no.2082[2]
References
[1]

224 West 57th Street, also known as the Argonaut Building and formerly as the Demarest and Peerless Company Building, is a commercial building on the southeast corner of Broadway and 57th Street in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, just south of Columbus Circle. The building consists of two formerly separate structures, the A. T. Demarest & Company Building and the Peerless Motor Car Company Building, both used by automobile companies. Both structures were designed by Francis H. Kimball and erected by the George A. Fuller Company with similar Gothic Revival and Romanesque Revival architectural details.

The portion of the building at the corner of 57th Street and Broadway was built for car manufacturer Aaron T. Demarest and his company. The section belonging to the former Peerless Motor Company is an L-shaped structure wrapping around the A. T. Demarest Building. 224 West 57th Street is 11 stories tall; the former Demarest section rises nine stories, while the Peerless section contains a partial tenth floor and an additional two-story tower. 224 West 57th Street contains a steel-frame curtain wall, concrete piers, and a facade of glazed architectural terracotta. Inside, both of the former structures had automotive storerooms at ground level and warehouses and repair facilities on the upper floors.

The Demarest and Peerless buildings were constructed simultaneously in 1909. General Motors (GM) bought both buildings in 1918 and combined them internally. After GM constructed other buildings in Manhattan, 224 West 57th Street was renamed the Argonaut Building to avoid confusion. The Hearst Corporation bought 224 West 57th Street in 1977 and housed its Hearst Magazine department there until 2006. The New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission designated the building as a city landmark in 2000. The building was renovated from 2008 to 2011 and subsequently became the headquarters of Open Society Foundations.

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