The Candler Building is a skyscraper at the southern end of Times Square in the Midtown Manhattan neighborhood of New York City.

[2][3] Entrances to the New York City Subway's Times Square–42nd Street and 42nd Street–Port Authority Bus Terminal stations, served by the 1, ​2, ​3​, 7, <7>​​, ​A​, ​C​, ​E​, N, ​Q, ​R, ​W​, and S trains, are on the same block to the west and east.

[13][16] The Candler Building was one of the last high-rises in New York City to be built before the passage of the 1916 Zoning Resolution, which influenced the development of "stepped-tower" skyscrapers with setbacks.

[18] It was originally flanked by five-story wings, which architectural writer Eric Nash likened to a "finned 1950s rocket ship".

According to Christopher Gray, the building measured 352 feet (107 m) tall to the top of the hip roof, above which rose a 36-foot-tall (11 m) flagpole.

"[22] The Craftsman magazine wrote that the Candler Building "is of note among skyscrapers not only for its simplicity of design, its upright lines and beautiful top placed as if crowning a monument, but because of its placid appearance as it stretches skyward above a locality of seething, intense life.

Along the 41st Street elevation of the rear wing, The first story contains a modern-style entrance, while the second- and third-story windows were surrounded by a limestone frame.

[34] There was ornate plasterwork around the proscenium arch, as well as an elaborate saucer dome on the ceiling surrounded by twelve metal lighting fixtures.

[29] These fireproofing measures were included in the aftermath of the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire, which had occurred in 1911, the year before the Candler Building's construction commenced.

[18] Furthermore, in the first two decades of the 20th century, eleven legitimate theaters were built within one block of West 42nd Street between Seventh and Eighth Avenues.

[43] In December 1911, Candler acquired the old Baptist Church building on 220–226 West 42nd Street from Harry Frazee and P. Chauncey Anderson for $425,000.

[47] The New York Times said in March 1912 that, as a result of the construction of the Candler Building and other structures on 42nd Street, the thoroughfare "will present a totally different appearance in respect to business development than has characterized it in the past".

[21] To protect views from the new tower, Candler acquired a three-story house at 218 West 42nd Street, east of his existing site, in June 1912.

[49][50] Later that year, Candler also took a long-term lease on the Bruce branch of the New York Public Library, directly to the west.

[52] The Candler Building's architects, builders, and real-estate agents hosted a party in February 1913 to celebrate its completion.

[63][64] The building's tenants in the 1920s included the New York State Motion Picture Commission[65] and the Radio Artists' Association of America.

[74] The building continued to host a variety of tenants in the 1940s, such as a clubhouse and a dental laboratory,[75] as well as a magic trick shop operated by magician Max Holden.

[78] The following year, Maidman resold the Candler Building (but not the Harris Theatre) to a syndicate represented by Milton Kestenberg.

[84] Kestenberg sold the building in 1966 to a group led by Charles F. Noyes; the sale was subject to a first mortgage of $1.35 million.

Noyes's syndicate planned to spend $600,000 to clean the facade, renovate the lobby, and add new elevators as part of a six-month project.

By the late 1960s, the main tower at 220 West 42nd Street primarily housed entertainment tenants such as Allied Artists International and the Jewish Broadcasting Service.

That February, New York City Taxi and Limousine Commission (TLC) commissioner Michael J. Lazar and a limited partnership led by real-estate investor David I. Burley paid $1.3 million for the Candler Building.

An adult training center for electronics company RCA occupied 30,000 square feet (2,800 m2),[87] and additional space was leased to the TLC and other city agencies.

[1] The Urban Development Corporation (UDC), an agency of the New York state government, had proposed redeveloping the area around a portion of West 42nd Street in 1981.

[96][100] The Brandt family, which operated several neighboring theaters that were to be demolished as part of the project, objected that the city government was giving the Candler Building special treatment by protecting it from redevelopment.

[104][105] The director of the city's Parking Violations Bureau, Lester N. Shafran, had been a limited partner in the building and thus profited from the TLC's lease.

[109][110] Meanwhile, seven performing-arts organizations leased space in the Candler Building between 1985 and 1987, including the Big Apple Circus, the New York Theatre Workshop,[102] and the Women's Project.

Herbert Muschamp wrote in 1993 that the Candler Building's 1950s-era "ditsy paneling" would remain in place "as an integral part of the urban collage".

[42] At the end of 1999, SFX Entertainment leased all of the building's office space as a headquarters, paying $12 million annually.

[37] Following a renovation designed by Beyer Blinder Belle,[118] the fast-food restaurant opened at the base of the Candler Building in September 2002.