Tontine Building, Wall Street Hotel

The historic 12-story Beaux-Arts Tontine Building, now the Paspaley Building, on the block front of Wall Street, between Pearl and Water streets, was originally completed in 1902 and enlarged later. It houses the Wall Street Hotel, opened in August 2022.

This was the third Tontine Building erected on this same site. The Tontine Coffee House, was completed here in 1793 and was renamed Tontine Building in 1834. Another Tontine Building was constructed in 1855 and demolished to make way for this early skyscraper, with the same name.

On December 28, 1900, the New-York Tribune reported that it was understood that a syndicate led by William K. Aston was attempting to purchase the Tontine Building, negotiations were pending. In February 9, 1901, the New York Times announced that Aston was to erect a 14-story building on the plot occupied by the old Tontine Building and the adjoining structure at 82 Wall Street. The properties were bought from the estate of Peter J. O'Donohue (1836-1888), a prominent coffee merchant.

This 12-story Tontine Building (82 - 88 Wall Street) was designed in Beaux-Arts style by architects Clinton & Russell and work upon it was to begin by the George A. Fuller Company on May 1. On February 23, 1902, the building, owned by the Tontine Company (41 Wall Street), offered a space of 1,200 square feet on the ground floor, thoroughly equipped, for stock brokers in the New-York Tribune. At the time the Tontine Building was still under construction. It was completed later, in the same year, by the Fuller Company.

On December 15, 1901, an enlargement of the Tontine Building, already under construction, was announced in the New-York Tribune, using the adjoining site, on the corner of Pearl Street. Plans for this annex were filled by March, 1904, Jay Herbert Morgan (1868-1938) was the architect.

On October 6, 1908, the Tontine Building was transferred by Warren E. Scoville to Charles A. and John B. O'Donohue. They transferred it to the Tontine Estates Corporation on December 9, 1915. On July 19, 1920, the Tontine Estates Corporation sold the building to the Federal Sugar Refining Company. Allan Gerdau, president of Otto Gerdau & Co., bought the Tontine Building in 1937. Gerdau died in 1986. This Tontine Building was added to the U.S. National Register of Historic Places in 1989.

Paspaley family acquired the building. In 2021, architects with Stonehill Taylor began a renovation of the building to function as a hotel. The Wall Street Hotel, at 88 Wall Street, opened in August 2022.