Woolworth Building Columbia Records. Columbia Records moved into the building in 1913 and housed a recording studio in it. In 1917, Columbia made what are considered the first jazz recordings, by the Original Dixieland Jass Band, in this studio. During World War II, the Kellex Corporation, part of the Manhattan Project to develop nuclear weapons, was based here. Notes Bibliography Woolworth Building The Woolworth Building, at 233 Broadway, Manhattan, New York City, designed by architect Cass Gilbert and constructed between 1910 and 1912, is an early US skyscraper. The original site for the building was purchased by F. W. Woolworth and his
Arthur Gilbert (real estate developer) in Jerusalem in 1925. He was educated at boarding school from the age of four. Gilbert was a successful businessman in England, selling gowns designed by his first wife. He immigrated to the United States to obviate taxes in 1949. Once in the Los Angeles area, he became a real estate developer. He developed industrial sites under the name of the Gilbert Financial Corporation. Gilbert served on the Board of Trustees of the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA). He loaned a large collection of objets d'art to the Museum from the 1970s to the mid-1990s. He discontinued the