224 West 57th Street

224 West 57th Street
Former names	A. T. Demarest & Company Building, Peerless Motor Car Company Building
Alternative names	Argonaut Building
General information
Type	Commercial
Architectural style	Gothic Revival, Romanesque Revival
Address	224 West 57th Street
Town or city	Manhattan, New York
Country	United States
Coordinates	40°45′57″N 73°58′54″W / 40.7658°N 73.9816°W / 40.7658; -73.9816
Groundbreaking	March 1909
Opened	June–September 1909
Client	A. T. Demarest & Company and Peerless Motor Company
Landlord	Eretz Group
Height	132.91 feet (40.51 m)
Technical details
Structural system	Steel frame
Floor count	12
Design and construction
Architect(s)	Francis H. Kimball
Main contractor	George A. Fuller Company
New York City Landmark
Designated	December 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.