[4][5] The building's land lot is nearly rectangular, with a recess at its southeast corner, and has a total area of 17,048 sq ft (1,583.8 m2).

[20] Because the site slopes slightly downward to the south, there was a level platform in front of the Fifth Avenue elevation, which was two to four steps above the ground.

[23][28] The black granite was removed in 2002 and the original design of the ground story was restored, with new square piers and bronze storefronts.

[19][35][36] Above the fourth floor, at the central bay on 37th Street,[32] was a statue of the mythological figure Atlas, designed by Henry Frederick Metzler.

[33][38] The statue was of a bearded, thin man and was sculpted from wood of a fir tree, painted to resemble the patina of weathered bronze.

[36][42] High ceilings and glazed windows allowed natural light to illuminate almost all of the selling spaces on the first to sixth floors.

[24] The ceilings of the basement and top floor were both made of Guastavino tiles,[25][43] manufactured by the National Fire Proofing Company.

[53][40] Though one account described the ceiling as being supported by Corinthian columns,[56] The New York Times cited a press release as saying that the space was "a column-free expanse".

[55] Architect Robert A. M. Stern described the top floor as "an elegant and spartan antidote to the opulence of the main hall at street level".

[67] Tiffany's successor as company president, Charles T. Cook, bought a site at Fifth Avenue and 37th Street from George C. Boldt in April 1903.

[13] McKim, Mead & White filed plans for a seven-story store with the New York City Bureau of Buildings in September 1903.

[76][77] That month, city inspectors alleged that the Tiffany Building's contractors were violating construction codes by hastily erecting steel frames in the winters and then installing the brick-arched floors in the summers.

At the time, New York City law mandated that the top of a development site's steel structure could not progress more than three stories beyond the highest brick-arched floor.

[12][86] In 1910, the New-York Tribune reported that the Altman and Tiffany buildings had prompted high demand "of high-class retail houses for locations on the avenue".

[67] Nonetheless, the corner of 37th Street and Fifth Avenue "stood as the symbol of wealth in the richest shopping area in the country, if not in the world", according to The New York Times.

[87] In May 1939, the company leased a site on 57th Street from First National City Bank, which acted as trustee for the William Waldorf Astor estate, the previous owner of the property.

[90] The same day, Tiffany & Co. deeded the 37th Street site to the Astor estate, with National City Bank paying $1.2 million.

[93] For three years in the early 1940s, the ground floor was leased to the American Red Cross,[94] which hosted events such as home-nursing courses[95] as well as volunteer art exhibitions.

[96] In 1945, Alad Holding Inc., led by Alan N. Adelson, leased the building for $2 million[94] and then sold the leasehold to industrial company Textron.

[97][106] Goelet had planned to lease the lowest stories to a "Midwestern department store", but this deal was canceled after the U.S. federal government demanded that the Office of Price Stabilization use the space.

[22] The Gotham Hosiery Company leased the new mezzanine level in 1953,[27][109] and American Bleached Goods opened a second-story office with two showrooms the same year.

[112] Goelet sold the Tiffany & Co. Building in 1957 to a syndicate of Nelson Properties Inc. and Burnebrook Manor Inc.[113][114] Allied renovated the fifth to seventh floors in 1960, consolidating its marketing department there.

[69] Within four years, the building had an estimated value of $4.3 million, and it housed the English and Spanish editions of the church's daily newspapers.

[15][127] Meanwhile, News World Communications acquired three lots beside the Tiffany Building to enable the construction of a tower with 500,000 sq ft (46,000 m2).

Its broker described the space as being "ideal for a fashion or accessories showroom, or a television or video production company" due to its high ceilings.

[129] The Image Group also produced The People's Court in the building, and American Eagle Outfitters occupied two floors by the end of the 20th century.

[29] In 2000, the Stahl Real Estate Company bought the building, evicted three retail tenants, and began restoring the space.

[24] Henry James described the building as "a great nobleness of white marble... with three fine arched and columned stages above its high basement".

[136] Architectural critic Ada Louise Huxtable described the Burger King's presence at ground level as part of "the mutilation of Fifth Avenue",[117][118] while Robert A. M. Stern described it as an "indignity".

[137] By 1990, Christopher Gray had described the building as "a notorious object lesson in how not to treat a landmark"; at the time, the facade was extremely dirty.