Griffith Building

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Griffith Building
Griffith Building sunny jeh.jpg
Griffith Building in 2020
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Location605-607 Broad Street
Newark, New Jersey
Coordinates 40°44′27″N74°10′11″W / 40.74083°N 74.16972°W / 40.74083; -74.16972
Area0.3 acres (0.12 ha)
Built1927
ArchitectGeorge Elwood Jones
Architectural styleGothic
Part of Military Park Commons Historic District (ID04000649 [1] )
NRHP reference No. 84002641 [2]
NJRHP No.1263 [3]
Significant dates
Added to NRHPMay 24, 1984
Designated CPJune 18, 2004
Designated NJRHPApril 17, 1984

The Griffith Building, also known as the Griffith Piano Company Building, is a high-rise located at 605-607 Broad Street by Military Park in the city of Newark in Essex County, New Jersey, United States. It was built in 1927 to serve as headquarters of the Griffith Piano Company and the Griffith Foundation, and was added to the National Register of Historic Places on May 24, 1984, for its significance in architecture, commerce, and music. [4] It was added as a contributing property to the Military Park Commons Historic District on June 18, 2004. [5]

Contents

Site

The building is located at 605-607 Broad Street, abutting the Hahne and Company department store on the left, and a two-story commercial building on the right. It overlooks Military Park, bordered by office high-rises and the prominent Robert Treat Hotel. [6]

Architecture

The base of the building, comprising the ground floor, mezzanine and first floor, is clad in scored granite. It is pierced by a recess with a central showcase window, made up of three sections of nine, eighteen and nine panes, and with angled walls on either side. The window and other ground floor openings have bronze surrounds and muntins, and the angled walls are pierced by double-leaf French doors with fanlights. The recess is surmounted by the name "GRIFFITH" carved in Roman-block letters approximately 1 foot high, with garland medallions on either side, and six semicircular windows above. [7]

History

Planning

The construction of the building was comissioned by the Griffith Piano Company, founded in 1911 by Parker O. Griffith. Original plans by William E. Lehman, a prolific architect in Downtown Newark, were rejected in favour of the designs of George Elwood Jones (1886–1952), another Newark architect. [6]

Construction

Construction started in 1927, and the building opened on June 1, 1928. [4] It has 14 floors and is 64.01 m (210.0 ft) tall. [8] The company erected the building as a showroom, workshop, office tower and recital auditorium. [9] Under the direction of Mrs. Parker O. Griffith, a foundation supported by the company was responsible for the direction, support, and programming at Newark Symphony Hall. [10] [11]

Vacancy and renovation

The Griffith Piano Company went bankrupt in 1973 and the building stood vacant for ten years, until its purchase in June 1983 by New York-based developer Sol Gillman for $500,000. Gillman planned to restore the building inside and out, a project which he estimated to cost from $1.6 million to $2 million. Gillman intended to lease the whole building to a corporation, citing the auditorium as an ideal space to hold conferences; though Gillman was also willing to lease to individual tenants, charging $10 a square foot and leaving utilities bills to the tenants' care. However, this project never bore fruit. [12] In 2008, another project by Manhattan-based Cogswell Realty Group to convert the building into condos was proposed but never went ahead. [13]

In April 2025, MIG Real Estate, the building's leasing agent, presented plans to revitalise the building with "luxury studio and one-bedroom rentals" and a penthouse, alongside 20,000 square feet of retail space spanning the ground and first floors. The project was to be conducted by Brooklyn-based Park Builders Group, and residential leasing was due to begin in July or August 2025. The building's original owner was granted land use approvals for the project courtesy of Murphy Schiller & Wilkes LLP. [14] [15]

See also

References

  1. ↑ "National Register Information System – Military Park Commons Historic District (#04000649)". National Register of Historic Places . National Park Service. November 2, 2013.
  2. ↑ "National Register Information System – (#84002641)". National Register of Historic Places . National Park Service. November 2, 2013.
  3. ↑ "New Jersey and National Registers of Historic Places – Essex County" (PDF). New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection – Historic Preservation Office. March 23, 2022. p. 17.
  4. 1 2 Wyatt, Charles E. (January 1984). "National Register of Historic Places Inventory/Nomination: Griffith Building". National Park Service. With accompanying 25 photos
  5. ↑ Zakalak, Ulana D. (February 2003). "National Register of Historic Places Inventory/Nomination: Military Park Commons Historic District". National Park Service. With accompanying 46 photos
  6. 1 2 Wyatt, Charles E. (January 1984). "National Register of Historic Places Inventory/Nomination: Griffith Building". National Park Service. p. 3. With accompanying 25 photos
  7. ↑ Wyatt, Charles E. (January 1984). "National Register of Historic Places Inventory/Nomination: Griffith Building". National Park Service. p. 2. With accompanying 25 photos
  8. ↑ "Griffith Building". Emporis. Archived from the original on September 8, 2012.
  9. ↑ DePalma, Anthony (June 12, 1983). "OUTSIDER SHOWS FAITH IN NEWARK". The New York Times . Retrieved July 22, 2010.
  10. ↑ https://www.newarksymphonyhall.org/about-main.shtml Archived 2010-07-11 at the Wayback Machine Newark Symphony Hall website
  11. ↑ Sills, JoAnne (November 23, 2008). "Newark's forgotten music center". Newark Star Ledger. Retrieved September 11, 2010.
  12. ↑ Depalma, Anthony (June 12, 1983). "Outsider Shows Faith in Newark". The New York Times.
  13. ↑ "NYC developers crossing the river to Newark". The Real Deal. Archived from the original on February 15, 2010. Retrieved July 22, 2010.
  14. ↑ "Could Newark's Historic Griffith Building Finally be Restored?". August 27, 2018.
  15. ↑ Burd, Joshua (June 30, 2025). "MIG Real Estate: New apartments, retail space coming to Newark's iconic Griffith Building". Real Estate NJ. Retrieved January 10, 2026.
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