This is another Kimball building designed in the neo-Gothic style of nearby Trinity Church and the Trinity building. These are among the first Gothic-inspired skyscrapers in New York.It is similar in style to the nearby United States Realty Building which was also designed by Francis H. Kimball during the same time period.Originally conceived as freestanding office buildings to be erected simultaneously. Acquisition delays held that project up, and U. S. Realty went ahead with the Trinity Building first. The north wall of the Trinity Building was left in utilitarian brick, so the building could be expanded.They were actually built two years apart and not as identical structures. To attain maximum exposure to light for both skyscrapers with a minimum of interior offices, it was planned that the buildings would be erected on equal, full-block sites. To secure equal sites, however, municipal consent was needed to move the existing Thames Street approximately twenty-eight feet to the north, and to permanently close the south half of two-block-long Temple Street, which originally ran between Thames and Liberty Streets, bisecting the site of the U.S. Realty Building. The city granted these changes, with the condition that Thames Street be widened from twenty-five to thirty feet.
