Chrysler Building New York State Senator William H. Reynolds, the building was constructed by Walter Chrysler, the head of the Chrysler Corporation, and served as the corporation's headquarters from 1930 until the mid-1950s. The Chrysler Building's construction was characterized by a competition with 40 Wall Street and the Empire State Building to become the world's tallest building. Although the Chrysler Building was built and designed specifically for the car manufacturer, the corporation did not pay for its construction and never owned it, as Walter Chrysler decided to pay for it himself, so that his children could inherit it. When the Chrysler Building
MetLife Building MetLife Building The MetLife Building is a 59-story skyscraper at 200 Park Avenue at East 45th Street above Grand Central Terminal in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. Built in 1960–63 as the Pan Am Building, the then-headquarters of Pan American World Airways, it was designed by Emery Roth & Sons, Pietro Belluschi and Walter Gropius in the International style. The world's largest commercial office space by square footage at its opening, it remains one of the 100 tallest buildings in the United States. In September 1960, Pan Am founder Juan Trippe signed a 25-year, $115,500,000 lease with the building's developer,