The building, designed by Stephenson & Wheeler,[1] opened in 1911 to handle the assembly of the chassis for the Brewster cars that were being built since 1905 at 47th Street and Broadway in Times Square in nearby Manhattan.

The building was one of the first major developments at the foot of the Queensboro Bridge, opened in 1909, which reduced car transport from Queens to Times Square to a matter of minutes.

In 1925, the company was bought by Rolls-Royce of America, which had been operating out of a plant in Springfield, Massachusetts.

[3] The building fell into disrepair following the war and its clock tower was dismantled in 1950.

[1] In 1996, Brause Realty extensively remodeled the building and an adjoining 12-story tower and it became an operational center for Metropolitan Life Insurance with 1,500 employees.