In 1909, financial institutions began rapidly expanding their properties within the Financial District.
The Bankers Trust Company joined the process after the Bank of Montreal, the Fourth National Bank, and the Germania Life Insurance Company acquired their properties on Wall and Nassau Streets.
Bankers Trust, which was established in 1902, had been a tenant at the Gillender Building for six years and their choice of site was motivated by its location near the New York Stock Exchange.
The company, with J. P. Morgan on the board, grew rapidly and intended to land itself permanently in the "vortex of America's financial life".

In July 1909, Bankers Trust signed a long-term lease agreement with the Sampson family, owners of the Stevens Building; the company preferred leasing over purchasing due to the high price of land on Wall Street.
Located on the same block as the Gillender Building, the L-shaped, seven-story Stevens Building wrapped around it and possessed far longer facades on both Wall and Nassau Streets.
Initially, the press reported that Bankers Trust planned to build a 16-story office building wrapping around the Gillender Building, with the two bottom floors outfitted to be "one of the finest banking rooms in the city".
Later, it was disclosed that the trust had been negotiating purchase of the Gillender Building since April 1909; the deal would have consolidated enough land for a new tower, with a roughly square footprint measuring about 100 by 100 feet (30 by 30 m).

The Manhattan Trust Company, a bank connected to Bankers Trust through common control by J. P. Morgan, acquired the Gillender Building from Helen Gillender Asinari in December 1909, paying approximately $1,500,000 for the 1,825-square-foot (169.5 m²) property (equivalent to $42,683,000 in 2019), or $822 per foot ($2,700/m).
This was considered a record amount for land in New York City: the previous record was for 1 Wall Street, the land under which had sold for $558.65 per foot ($1,832.8/m).
The land had been worth $55,000 sixty years earlier (equivalent to $1,565,000 in 2019).
Negotiations had progressed since April 1909 and the sale was virtually closed in November.

On January 2, 1910, the press reported that the Manhattan Trust had resold the building to Bankers Trust, which had completed land acquisition for its large corner property.
By April 1910, the final cash price paid to Manhattan Trust was adjusted to $1,250,000; in exchange for the $250,000 difference, the Manhattan Trust retained long-term lease rights for the ground floor "and some other space in the building".
This brought nominal cash price per foot on par or below the earlier record ($700 per square foot for a lot on the corner of Wall Street and Broadway).
Contemporaries agreed that the Manhattan Trust and Bankers Trust acted in accord and that the latter targeted the Gillender Building from the start.
Bankers Trust absorbed Manhattan Trust Company in February 1912.

The press anticipated the upcoming demolition of the Gillender Building "as the first time when such a high-class office building representing the best type of fire-proof construction" would be torn down and "one of the largest building operations ever undertaken in New York".
Bankers Trust publicized the drafts by Trowbridge & Livingston to build a 39-story tower that, when announced, would be New York City's third tallest building after the Metropolitan Life Insurance Company Tower and the Singer Building.
At the time, the Gillender Building was the tallest building ever demolished voluntarily.
In 1909, financial institutions began rapidly expanding their properties within the Financial District. The Bankers Trust Company joined the process after the Bank of Montreal, the Fourth National Bank, and the Germania Life Insurance Company acquired their properties on Wall and Nassau Streets. Bankers Trust, which was established in 1902, had been a tenant at the Gillender Building for six years and their choice of site was motivated by its location near the New York Stock Exchange. The company, with J. P. Morgan on the board, grew rapidly and intended to land itself permanently in the "vortex of America's financial life".
In July 1909, Bankers Trust signed a long-term lease agreement with the Sampson family, owners of the Stevens Building; the company preferred leasing over purchasing due to the high price of land on Wall Street. Located on the same block as the Gillender Building, the L-shaped, seven-story Stevens Building wrapped around it and possessed far longer facades on both Wall and Nassau Streets. Initially, the press reported that Bankers Trust planned to build a 16-story office building wrapping around the Gillender Building, with the two bottom floors outfitted to be "one of the finest banking rooms in the city". Later, it was disclosed that the trust had been negotiating purchase of the Gillender Building since April 1909; the deal would have consolidated enough land for a new tower, with a roughly square footprint measuring about 100 by 100 feet (30 by 30 m).
The Manhattan Trust Company, a bank connected to Bankers Trust through common control by J. P. Morgan, acquired the Gillender Building from Helen Gillender Asinari in December 1909, paying approximately $1,500,000 for the 1,825-square-foot (169.5 m²) property (equivalent to $42,683,000 in 2019), or $822 per foot ($2,700/m). This was considered a record amount for land in New York City: the previous record was for 1 Wall Street, the land under which had sold for $558.65 per foot ($1,832.8/m). The land had been worth $55,000 sixty years earlier (equivalent to $1,565,000 in 2019). Negotiations had progressed since April 1909 and the sale was virtually closed in November.
On January 2, 1910, the press reported that the Manhattan Trust had resold the building to Bankers Trust, which had completed land acquisition for its large corner property. By April 1910, the final cash price paid to Manhattan Trust was adjusted to $1,250,000; in exchange for the $250,000 difference, the Manhattan Trust retained long-term lease rights for the ground floor "and some other space in the building". This brought nominal cash price per foot on par or below the earlier record ($700 per square foot for a lot on the corner of Wall Street and Broadway). Contemporaries agreed that the Manhattan Trust and Bankers Trust acted in accord and that the latter targeted the Gillender Building from the start. Bankers Trust absorbed Manhattan Trust Company in February 1912.
The press anticipated the upcoming demolition of the Gillender Building "as the first time when such a high-class office building representing the best type of fire-proof construction" would be torn down and "one of the largest building operations ever undertaken in New York". Bankers Trust publicized the drafts by Trowbridge & Livingston to build a 39-story tower that, when announced, would be New York City's third tallest building after the Metropolitan Life Insurance Company Tower and the Singer Building. At the time, the Gillender Building was the tallest building ever demolished voluntarily.
Gillender Building