the Home Life's building. The design was accordingly revised to 16 stories, with of frontage on Broadway. At the time, the superstructure had already reached the seventh floor, and the roof was not significantly changed. Use Completion and fire The Postal Telegraph and Commercial Cable companies had held a dinner in May 1894 to celebrate the completion of 253 Broadway. Work on both buildings was formally completed that August, with a city building inspector approving occupancy certificates for both buildings on the same day. Upon the structures' completion, the Real Estate Record and Guide stated that both buildings had "a good deal of unoccupied space", but that leasing agents for the buildings stated that there were many tenants coming into the Home Life Building, and that the Postal Telegraph Building was seeing high profits from leasing. One of the early tenants in the Home Life Building was the New York City Rapid Transit Commission, forerunner to the New York City Board of Transportation. At 253 Broadway, Postal Telegraph took the top three floors, a section of the basement, and a ground-floor corner office. Sprague Electric also occupied offices there. Postal Telegraph acquired the ground lease for 253 Broadway in 1897. The buildings were damaged in a December 1898 fire that started at the Rogers Peet Building at 258 Broadway. The New York City Fire Department was unable to reach the top stories of 256 Broadway, although external damage only reached that building's 8th floor. 256 Broadway suffered a loss worth about 22% of its $900,000 estimated value. The floor materials used in the two buildings affected the amount of damage they sustained. The interior of 256 Broadway was completely gutted, except for walls, ceilings, and floor slabs, because the fire had been able to spread through the wooden floors of that structure. 253 Broadway, which featured cement floors, saw comparatively minor damage, with only the 13th floor being affected. After the fire, opponents of skyscrapers used the damage at 256 Broadway as an example for their cause, while supporters cited the fact that both structures were still structurally sound. Fire codes had been changed in 1897 so that buildings taller than had to be fireproof. The lowest eight floors of 256 Broadway's facade, severely damaged by the fire, were rebuilt. Another fire broke out at the top floor of 253 Broadway in 1900, but as with the fire two years