The Metropolitan Life Insurance Company (MetLife), headquartered at 1 Madison Avenue at East 23rd Street, played a significant role in shaping the character of development along East 23rd Street in the early 20th century, constructing six buildings successively along the street and around the block to the corner of 24th. The tallest of these is the Metropolitan Life Insurance Company Tower, built in 1909 at the intersection of 24th Street and Madison Avenue. The tower, with its ornate clocktower faces, was one of Manhattan's first skyscrapers. For four years, until the construction of the Woolworth Building in 1913, it was the tallest building in the world. It also owned a building across the street, which was the location of the 23rd Street Fire that killed 12 firemen. A new apartment building, the current Madison Green, was announced for the site in the 1970s, but the building itself was not constructed until 1982.