"Topless Towers"

Two famed Manhattan theatres--Daly's and the Century--were last week included in a parcel of real estate bought by Building Brothers Irwin S. and Henry I. Chanin. The entire block bounded by Broadway, Central Park West, 62nd street and 63rd street, sold for $12,000,000, will be the site of a 65-story office building. The Century was dedicated in 1909 as a great national theatre where Art was to prevail over Commerce. But Art lost so much money that Commerce finally took over the theatre, where Morris Gest produced Aphrodite and The Miracle. No details of the proposed building have been announced but its 65 stories will undoubtedly rank it with the world's highest. Cost of land and building is estimated at $50,000,000.

Active, vigorous, fast-moving, the Chanin Brothers have made many a contribution to Manhattan's new midtown skyline. Their Chanin Building "56 Stories of Sunlight" has been completed for only a few months. In April, they bought the Majestic Hotel, Central Park West, between 71st and 72nd streets. Here they will soon begin a 45-story apartment hotel.

Despite reports of comparative inactivity in the building industry, figures on high and highest buildings change rapidly. According to the American Institute of Steel Construction, tallest U. S. buildings, either completed or under construction are:

HEIGHT

Crane Tower* (Chicago).........................880

Chrysler Building/- (New York)..............808

Woolworth Building (New York)............792

Terminal Tower (Cleveland)....................708

Lincoln Building* (New York).................700

Metropolitan Building (New York)...........700

STORIES

Crane Tower (Chicago)...........................75

Chrysler Building (New York).................63

Woolworth Building (New York).............58

Chanin Building (New York)....................56

Terminal Tower (Cleveland).....................52

Lincoln Building (New York)...................52

RENTING AREAS (IN SQ. FT.)

Crane Tower (Chicago)............................3,639,104

Furniture Mart* (Chicago)........................1,514,637

Equitable Building (New York).................1,236,000

General Motors Building (Detroit).............1,125,871

Railway Exchange Building (St. Louis).......1,118,683

*Under construction.

/-Recent changes in plans give Chrysler Building a height of 870 ft.