Behind the brick and terra-cotta facade of 5 Beekman Street is a soaring wrought-iron detailed atrium reminiscent of LA's Bradbury Building - when it was occupied by one J.F. Sebastian.


From the excellent Scouting NY blog: Once known as Temple Court, 5 Beekman Street was built in 1882 and today is the earliest surviving “fireproof” office building of the pre-skyscraper period. It is also the third building in the city to have had an elevator installed... In 1940, the atrium was boarded up due to firecode violations. Completely hidden, later tenants would never know of its existence, seeing only a walled corridor.

The current owners are planning on converting it into a hotel, tentatively named The Beekman Palace, which, if restored correctly, could make it one of the most incredible hotels in the city... Yeah, I probably won’t be able to afford to stay here, but one of the reasons I much prefer a hotel conversion, as opposed to offices or condos, is that at very least I can walk in the lobby and admire its beauty.

Read on + lots of photos at Scouting NY