Which building did the Empire State Building succeed as the world's highest building?
Empire State Building proposed floor space near "one of the busiest sections in the world". While plans for the Empire State Building were being finalized, an intense competition in New York for the title of "world's tallest building" was underway. 40 Wall Street (then the Bank of Manhattan Building) and the Chrysler Building in Manhattan both vied for this distinction and were already under construction when work began on the Empire State Building. The "Race into the Sky", as popular media called it at the time, was representative of the country's optimism in the 1920s, fueled by the building boom in major cities.
Empire State Building the legitimate owners, who at that time were Empire State Land Associates. The building's public areas received a $550 million renovation in 2009 (see ). The building received new air conditioning, waterproofing, a renovated observation deck and lobby, and a relocated 80th-floor gift shop. This included $120 million of energy efficient upgrades, which allowed the building to receive a gold Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) rating in September 2011. The new One World Trade Center surpassed the Empire State Building as the tallest LEED-certified building when it opened in 2014. The height of the Empire State Building, to