Former Currency controller John Skelton Williams objected to the building's projected $25 million cost, including land expenses, and claimed the architects and engineers' fees alone were to cost $1.1 million. In response, Federal Reserve chairman William P. G. Harding said that the original estimated cost was only about $18 million, and that the new building's cost was justified by the size of the New York Fed's staff. The Fed was able to reduce the construction cost by $5 million by early 1924. This was largely because of reduced construction costs after adjusting for inflation. Ultimately, the building cost $13.865 million excluding land acquisition, or $18.715 million in total.