modified that June, bringing the building to 29 stories. Thompson-Starrett were announced as the general contractor in July 1916. Work on the Bush Terminal Exhibition Building started the next month, when the existing buildings were razed. The 42nd Street "shaft" was to be constructed first, prior to the development of the 41st Street wings. All material for the project were brought through 42nd Street, a highly used thoroughfare. The brick, stonework, and terracotta were manufactured off-site before the foundation was completed; the materials were delivered at night to minimize traffic disruption. Furthermore, the buildings on either side were fully occupied and had to be shored up, as their foundations only extended to the soil, rather than to the rock. The Bush Terminal Company bought the lease for the underlying land in January 1917. The first steel beam was placed that month and the first column footing was installed the following month. The steel framework was completed in four months and the exterior cladding was completed by October 1917. The building was essentially completed by June 1918 and several tenants had already moved into the structure. The Bush Tower was not officially completed until that December. The structure had cost $2 million to build (equivalent to $ million in ). Early use Upon the structure's completion, Corbett moved his office to the building's top story. The Bush Tower experienced a large fire in December 1919, one year after its opening, but the fireproofing measures prevented the structure from burning down entirely. By then, the Bush Terminal Company was planning to replicate the Bush Tower's mixed commercial and social spaces internationally, starting with a branch in London. Bush succeeded in constructing Bush House on the Strand, London, during the 1920s. The concept there was not fully carried through. In November 1919, the Bush Terminal Company acquired 137 and 139 West 41st Street for a future expansion. Bush rehired Helmle & Corbett to design a nine-story annex there, as well as Thompson-Starrett to construct the annex. The annex was structurally completed by early 1921. The annex, which cost $400,000, was nearly identical in style to the original structure and had direct interior connections to the original building. Also in 1921, the company signed a long-term lease for the adjoining property at 136 West 42nd Street, with the intention of constructing a 20-story addition there. The Buyers' Club on the Bush Tower's lower floors