The construction contract was awarded to Starrett Brothers & Eken, which had worked closely with Shreve on the Empire State Building and later built the housing developments in Parkchester, Stuyvesant Town, and Peter Cooper Village.

Between Maujer Street and Ten Eyck Walk, on either side of Graham Avenue, are the largest storefronts.

Working with Lescaze, the NYC Federal Arts Project mural division, headed by abstract artist Burgoyne Diller, handled the commissions.

Five abstract murals by Ilya Bolotowsky, Balcomb Greene, Paul Kelpe, and Albert Swinden were installed in basement meeting rooms in the late 1930s.

After careful removal and restoration, the Williamsburg murals were installed at the Brooklyn Museum in 1990, where they remain on long-term loan from NYCHA.

However, Criss's mural was never installed and now forms part of the Whitney Museum of American Art collection.

[13]Other artists engaged for the mural commissions were Jan Matulka, Byron Browne, George McNeil, Willem de Kooning, Harry Bowden, and Eugene Morley.

Abstract sculptures, including work by Martin Craig and Jose de Rivera, were also part of the initial plans.

New York City Mayor Fiorello La Guardia was a strong supporter of the project; he even poured the first shovel of concrete when ground broke.

[19] The site formerly contained Williamsburg Continuation School and the Finco Dye and Print Works Inc.[20][21] The initial tenancy rents were set by WPA Secretary Ickes in August 1937, four months before the first tenants moved in.