1989Manhattan, New YorkFinancial

Swiss Bank Tower / 623 Fifth Avenue

A late-career masonry job where New York preservation rules shaped the façade itself.

Swiss Bank Tower rising behind 623 Fifth Avenue, photographed in 2010.

Current view · 2010 · Photo: Urbanrenewal · CC BY 3.0 · Source

01The story

Why this project matters

Project identity: Verified
Kelly connection: Family source
Masonry scope: Strong

Rita’s list

Rita Bartscherer’s handwritten entry: Swiss Bank - 49-50 Streets — 1989

Transcription: Swiss Bank - 49-50 Streets — 1989

Recorded by Rita Bartscherer · Bartscherer family record

Entry

KM-197

Sheet

2 of two

As written

“Swiss Bank - 49-50 Streets — 1989”

The Swiss Bank Tower was completed in 1990 as a limestone extension/tower integrated with landmark Saks Fifth Avenue.

Why it matters

Likely CMU/back-up masonry, service/core walls and masonry at the interface between the nine-story Saks extension and Swiss Bank tower. The complex transfer structure was structural steel; the Indiana-limestone facing was a specialty envelope trade and should remain separate absent contract proof.

02What Kelly did

What Kelly did here

Kelly connection

Family source

Scope confidence

Strong

Likely CMU/back-up masonry, interior service/core walls and masonry associated with the limestone-clad envelope. The visible Indiana-limestone facing should remain a separate specialty-stone scope unless period contracts identify Kelly as installer.

This scope is recorded as strong, not documented. It is a disciplined reading of the building and the trade practice of the period, not a contract-level record of Kelly’s work.

03Who built it