Mills Building (New York City)
Encyclopedia
The Mills Building was a 10 story structure which stood at 15 Broad Street
and Exchange Place in Manhattan
, with an L to 35 Wall Street
. It adjoined the building which was the home of Equitable Trust. It also adjoined the J. P. Morgan & Company Building on both Broad and Wall Streets.
George B. Post
was the architect of the edifice.
D.O. Mills, a San Francisco, California
banker, owned the property. Mills built a palatial home in New York
, while maintaining a lovely villa in Millbrae, California
.
. In the future this would be achieved by employing caisson foundations
.
for a thirty-three story edifice which would have cost $8,000,000.
In January 1925 the Mills Building lease was acquired by Equitable Trust. The firm had plans to construct a thirty-four story structure on the site of the Mills Building. Construction was to begin in the spring of 1926, with completion in the spring of 1928.
Broad Street (Manhattan)
Broad Street is located in the Financial District in the New York City borough of Manhattan, stretching from South Street to Wall Street.- History :...
and Exchange Place in Manhattan
Manhattan
Manhattan is the oldest and the most densely populated of the five boroughs of New York City. Located primarily on the island of Manhattan at the mouth of the Hudson River, the boundaries of the borough are identical to those of New York County, an original county of the state of New York...
, with an L to 35 Wall Street
Wall Street
Wall Street refers to the financial district of New York City, named after and centered on the eight-block-long street running from Broadway to South Street on the East River in Lower Manhattan. Over time, the term has become a metonym for the financial markets of the United States as a whole, or...
. It adjoined the building which was the home of Equitable Trust. It also adjoined the J. P. Morgan & Company Building on both Broad and Wall Streets.
George B. Post
George B. Post
George Browne Post was an American architect trained in the Beaux-Arts tradition.-Biography:Post was a student of Richard Morris Hunt , but unlike many architects of his generation, he had previously received a degree in civil engineering...
was the architect of the edifice.
D.O. Mills, a San Francisco, California
San Francisco, California
San Francisco , officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the financial, cultural, and transportation center of the San Francisco Bay Area, a region of 7.15 million people which includes San Jose and Oakland...
banker, owned the property. Mills built a palatial home in New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
, while maintaining a lovely villa in Millbrae, California
Millbrae, California
Millbrae is a city in San Mateo County, California, United States, just west of San Francisco Bay, with San Bruno on the north and Burlingame on the south. The population was 21,532 at the 2010 census.-History:...
.
Construction
The Mills Building was completed in 1882. Wooden piles were driven down to support the edifice until it was found that it was too heavy for its foundation work. It rested on sandy soil and the structure began to settle. Additional supports were driven down after a means of doing this was discovered. This was performed without the building having to be torn down. Finally a secure foundation was accomplished, although it was different from one composed of bedrockBedrock
In stratigraphy, bedrock is the native consolidated rock underlying the surface of a terrestrial planet, usually the Earth. Above the bedrock is usually an area of broken and weathered unconsolidated rock in the basal subsoil...
. In the future this would be achieved by employing caisson foundations
Deep foundation
A deep foundation is a type of foundation distinguished from shallow foundations by the depth they are embedded into the ground. There are many reasons a geotechnical engineer would recommend a deep foundation over a shallow foundation, but some of the common reasons are very large design loads, a...
.
J.P. Morgan & Company lease
Beginning in 1920 the Mills Building was leased for eighty-four years for $27,300,000 to J.P. Morgan & Company. The rent on the structure was fixed at $300,000 for the first forty-two years. It was to have increased to $350,000 in 1962. The lease specified that a building of at least twenty-five stories had to be erected on the site of the Mills Building, by May 1, 1928. The banking business had plans drawn by Trowbridge & LivingstonTrowbridge & Livingston
Trowbridge & Livingston was an architectural practice based in New York City in the early 20th century. The firm's partners were Samuel Beck Parkman Trowbridge and Goodhue Livingston ....
for a thirty-three story edifice which would have cost $8,000,000.
In January 1925 the Mills Building lease was acquired by Equitable Trust. The firm had plans to construct a thirty-four story structure on the site of the Mills Building. Construction was to begin in the spring of 1926, with completion in the spring of 1928.