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The first 26 floors were occupied by GM while the other 24 stories bangkok apartments for sale were rented out. By January 1967, all of the space in the building had been leased. In addition, cosmetics manufacturers Estee Lauder, Revlon, and Helena Rubinstein Inc., as well as advertising firm Wells, Rich, Greene, took space in the building. Unlike at other structures, Savoy Fifth Avenue Corp did not offer to assume prospective occupants’ leases. Because of the large concentration of perfume and cosmetics firms, the building was also initially nicknamed the “General Odors Building”. GM opened the building and its ground-floor showroom on September 26, 1968, with a display of the company’s 1969 car models. Morgan Guaranty took ground-story space on the Madison Avenue side for a bank branch.

The next month, an anti-Vietnam War bombing occurred on the 19th floor, damaging an elevator and slightly injuring one person. GM moved 700 of the 1,100 employees working in the building to Detroit in February 1981, reducing their occupancy to 12 floors of the building or roughly 400,000 square feet (37,000 m2). A pipe bomb, linked to the terrorist group Fuerzas Armadas de Liberación Nacional Puertorriqueña, was placed outside the GM Building in 1977, but a homeless man dismantled the bomb before it could detonate.

Metz, Robert (August 26, 1965). “New G.M. Building To House Branch Of Morgan Trust”. The New York Times. Fowler, Glenn (July 10, 1967). “News of Realty: $2-million Lease; Moore-McCormack Takes Space in G.M. Building”. November 21, 1967. p. The New York Times. The New York Times. Whitehouse, Franklin (October 18, 1967). “News of Realty: It’s Moving Time; Agency Gets G.M. Building Space–Other Leases”. The New York Times. The New York Times. August 14, 1967. p. The New York Times.

Trump secured $900 million from Deutsche Bank to refinance the building and, in July 2001, Trump agreed to pay Conseco $295 million in cash, notes, and residual interest, though Conseco wanted Deutsche Bank to guarantee the notes’ value. Trump then filed a lawsuit against Conseco, alleging that the company had blocked him from refinancing the building. After the September 11 attacks, Deutsche Bank was unable to provide such a guarantee because the General Motors Building was seen as a “trophy” property vulnerable to terrorism.

Hailey, Foster (August 21, 1964). “Savoy Plaza to Be Razed for G.M. Offices”. Stern, Mellins & Fishman 1995, pp. Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat. The New York Times. White, Norval; Willensky, Elliot; Leadon, Fran (2010). AIA Guide to New York City (5th ed.). Huxtable, Ada Louise (October 1, 1968). “The Newest Skyscraper in Manhattan; G.M. Building Draws Crowds, but Gets Mixed Reviews”. White, Norval; Willensky, Elliot (1968). AIA Guide to New York City (first ed.). Stern, Mellins & Fishman 1995, p. New York: Oxford University Press.

By the early 1900s, that section of Fifth Avenue was becoming a commercial area. The site of the General Motors Building was then occupied by the Savoy, which would be replaced in 1927 by the Savoy-Plaza Hotel. By the 1950s, almost all of the 19th-century structures on Grand Army Plaza had been either destroyed or renovated. The building also has two basement levels. It is 50 stories tall with a roof of 705 feet (215 m). The General Motors Building was designed by Edward Durell Stone of the firm Emery Roth & Sons. The only other structures on the Savoy-Plaza block were the four-story Emmet Arcade and the 15-story Madison Hotel.