Building: 565 Broadway

565 Broadway (the Ball, Black & Co Building)

Originally a five story Palladian Palazzo with an East Chester Marble and Cast Iron façade, 565 Broadway was designed in 1859 by architect John Kellum. In 1893 the building received a four-story addition, this time with cream-colored brick to mirror the original marble façade.

One of New York City’s leading jewelers of the 19th century, Ball Black &Co, once leased the whole building: sales and showroom on the first 3 floors, with manufacturing on the higher floors. At this time SoHo was a favorite shopping area of the rich and famous and Tiffany & Co was just across the street. Famous, not only for it’s beautiful classical proportions and prominent tenant, the building was also the first “absolutely fire-proof” building in New York City.

As SoHo became less popular, clothing and hat manufacturers took over. For a while it housed the Metropolitan bank, and finally working artists moved in taking advantage of the cheap rent and great light. The building was declared part of the SoHo Cast-Iron Historic District in 1973. In 1979 architect Joseph Pell Lombardi was commissioned for the restoration and Co-op conversion of the building.

Today this nine-story cast iron building contains 10 residential units (most of them 5,000 ft² full-floor lofts), and Victoria’s Secret leases the ground floor retail space. 565 Broadway is very much what you imaging a real SoHo loft to be like with key-locked elevators and large open interiors. The grand cast iron Corinthian columns, oversized windows, and very tall ceilings are all typical for the cast iron construction this neighborhood is so famous for.

You might recognize the building from the first season The Real World New York (1992).

Description provided by:Filippa Edberg-Manuel