The House That Goldman Built

But sometimes, in tiny little bursts, especially in the early days, the building had character. “The fifth floor, and every

But sometimes, in tiny little bursts, especially in the early days, the building had character. “The fifth floor, and every other trading floor in the building, was filled with people who smoked—constantly,” Richard E. Witten, a former partner, said. It was loud, it was smelly and it was warm. “The heat that was generated from the equipment was extraordinary. The air-conditioning was on in all the months, even the dead of winter.”

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When the partners were too busy to eat in their dining room, their lunches were delivered on trays with silverware and company china. If there was enough time, they ate on the wondrous 30th floor, where offices would eventually be set up. “When we all first moved in there, there were cigarettes at every table, in a silver holder,” Mr. Witten said. “The chef was famous for his chocolate chip cookies, and they were served at every meal.” A partner running a meeting got a button that looked like a garage door opener. It summoned the uniformed waiter.

As a rule, conspicuousness was deathly. In August 1989, two New York City policemen went up to the 29th floor to serve the co-head of equity, Lew Eisenberg, a criminal harassment complaint filed by his former assistant. He reportedly told his boss that she and her policeman boyfriend “were blowing an old affair all out of proportion,” leaving out that their relationship was ongoing. Mr. Eisenberg was finished when that part leaked, even though charges were dropped (and the boyfriend policeman was fired). Mr. Eisenberg went on to become chairman of the Port Authority and chairman of the Republican National Finance Committee.

Heads stayed down at 85 Broad. The top six floors were evacuated in 1993 after a 25th-floor machinery-room fire. “The fire,” the Associated Press said, “was not thought to have affected trading.”

 

THE DOWDINESS GOT DOWDIER. Mr. Paulson’s new CEO office, a Business Week profile in 2002 said, was “bare of the trappings of money, power, and history.” There were only photos of wild animals. Vanity Fair’s Bethany McLean said the executive, a conservationist, would get very upset when birds flew into the tower’s glass windows.

The brownish tower became a place where the world smartest people didn’t just help their hugely wealthy clients build their fortunes; they gambled tirelessly to make their own. On Sept. 13, 2001, when most of the rest of Wall Street was still a war zone, certain bankers reportedly got the city’s permission to return to Broad Street to trade bonds. Goldman later rented ferries to bring important employees to the building.

Not only did 85 Broad outrun the global subprime meltdown, it did it while helping Alex Rodriguez sign the biggest contract in baseball history. Citigroup and Merrill Lynch fired their CEOs in 2007; Lloyd Blankfein, Mr. Paulson’s replacement, made a record $68.7 million. In September of 2007, along with the rest of the world, Goldman plunged. It took $10 billion in TARP money in October; issued $28 billion in cheap debt thanks to a new November F.D.I.C. program; and was allowed, along with Morgan Stanley, Wall Street’s other last real independent investment bank, to make itself into a bank holding company.

The Times called that “a turning point for the high-rolling culture of Wall Street, with its seven-figure bonuses and lavish perks for even midlevel executives.” The Times was wrong. In July, with Bear Stearns and Lehman Brothers long gone, Goldman announced that it recently had made $3.44 billion, the largest quarterly profit in its history.

Eighty-five Broad Street was back to its velvet-rope ways: Jay-Z, reportedly a wealth management client, was spotted in the building last month. More money brought more affection for inconspicuousness. “Take his office on the 30th floor. The chairs are the same ones that were there when he became CEO three years ago,” last month’s enormous Sunday Times’ interview with Mr. Blankfein cooed. “There’s no sign of irrational exuberance. Only coffee, which arrives cold.”

 

“I THINK THE whole idea of 85 Broad was that it was designed not to be memorable,” The New Yorker’s Paul Goldberger said this week. “It was intended to fade into the background as much as possible.”

It’s magic: The brownish tower looks silvery in some photographs; is mistaken for a “black-tinted box” in magazine cover stories; and disappears, despite its heft, into the weird, windy neighborhood. “The streets are very narrow, so when you look up, all you see is up. There are lots of buildings you look at from across the street, you see the top. Here, you look up and it just keeps going and going,” a former executive said this week. “It was understated, it was meant to be functional and efficient for work, but it was not mean to be showy, not meant to stand out.”

“You can walk down the street and not notice it, which, given how large it is, it can be considered an accomplishment,” Mr. Goldberger said. “The building is far bigger than you think it is. That’s really the point. You can barely see it but there’s more of it than you think.”

The disappearing act is almost complete. Goldman’s lease expires in mid-2011, and MetLife has brought in the real estate brokerage Jones Lang LaSalle to market the building. Goldman’s replacement can put its name on the building—a move few companies that aren’t Goldman can resist. “It’s spectacular,” said its lead broker, Frank Doyle. “It’s one of the few trophy products downtown.”

With additional reporting by
Eliot Brown

The House That Goldman Built