In 2008, 23 Wall Street was sold to interests associated with the billionaire industrialist Sam Pa but mostly remained empty afterward.

[10][11] Anthony Drexel had bought the site in 1872 for $348 per square foot ($3,750/m2), making it the city's most expensive plot of land at the time.

The acute angle of the intersection led Trowbridge & Livingston to design that entrance as a chamfer, which was more architecturally appealing.

[1][17] The facade contains several divots caused by flying shrapnel from the Wall Street bombing, which occurred outside the building in 1920.

[21][29] The main cornice, between the second and third stories, is inspired by Italian Renaissance architecture and wraps around the north, northwest, and west sides.

[8] A short flight of five steps leads from the sidewalk to the large rectangular entrance opening, which is slightly recessed from the facade.

The entrance opening contains a bronze-and-glass set of doors underneath a transom window made of bronze and glass.

[26][37] The basement was accessed through an elevator and stairs in the rear of the ground story, as well as through the secondary entrance on Broad Street.

[17][24] Just inside the main entrance was an anteroom with a staircase on the left and an elevator on the right, which led to the upper-story executive offices.

[6] During a renovation in the early 1960s, plaster replaced the glass dome,[37] and a massive crystal chandelier was installed at the center.

[47] At the center of the room was a main lobby shaped like an irregular hexagon,[24] which, according to author Ron Chernow, was intended to resemble the layout of a "London merchant bank".

[50] Along the hexagonal lobby's western and southern walls, to the right of the main entrance, there were conference rooms and partners' offices.

On the eastern wall of the hexagonal lobby, doors led to a rectangular banking space flanked by various offices.

[18][54][56] The fourth floor contained janitors' quarters, other minor divisions, and a roof garden facing the New York Stock Exchange.

[58][59] During the late 19th century, the bank evolved into one of the most influential institutions in the United States, and the elder Morgan became one of the country's most powerful financiers.

[67] That September, the company finalized its purchase of the neighboring Mechanics and Metals National Bank building at 29–33 Wall Street.

[70][71] The senior Morgan leased a temporary office on the 31st floor of 14 Wall Street, where he was able to observe work on his new building.

Although the means of their selection was not mentioned in published literature, an unpublished memoir by one of the firm's principals, Goodhue Livingston, indicated that they had won an architectural design competition.

[78] 23 Wall Street officially opened on November 11, 1914, although the bank's departments had gradually moved to the building from temporary headquarters during that month.

According to Livingston, a wire net across the roof would deflect any missile or bomb dropped onto the building, and the thick walls would prevent against damage from explosions.

[101] Morgan Guaranty considered constructing additional stories atop 23 Wall Street as well as replacing both structures with one headquarters.

[37] A major renovation commenced in the two buildings in 1962, to prepare for their conversion into a headquarters for Morgan Guaranty, and the interior spaces of 23 Wall Street were reconfigured.

[105] 23 Wall Street was renovated extensively in the 1990s as a training and conference facility for J.P. Morgan & Co.[53][106] The New York Stock Exchange (NYSE), American Stock Exchange (AMEX), and J.P. Morgan & Co. considered a plan to create a financial "supercenter" on the block containing 23 Wall Street in 1992.

[107] The supercenter, to be developed by Olympia and York and designed by Skidmore, Owings & Merrill (SOM), would have consisted of a 50-story tower above two 50,000-square-foot (4,600 m2) trading floors.

After Olympia and York withdrew from the proposed supercenter because of its own financial difficulties, a team composed of J.P. Morgan & Co., Lewis Rudin, Gerald D. Hines, and Fred Wilpon took up the project.

[134] Sam Pa, believed[d] to be a key leader of the China International Fund and the Sonangol Group, was arrested the same year.

[136] Shortly afterward, artist Simon Birch planned to run a temporary art exhibition in the unused space,[137] but the show was postponed and ultimately canceled because of a lack of funding.

[139] That December, Terzi began negotiating with clothing retailer Uniqlo, which wanted to lease 100,000 square feet (9,300 m2) in the building.

[146] John Tauranac and Christopher Little wrote in their 1985 book Elegant New York that the plain design was "an act of conspicuous consumption on the grandest scale", considering the site's high price.

[151] The Whitney Museum of American Art described the photograph, taken from Federal Hall, as notable for "abstract formal patterns and structures".