on George Street. After their accenting to power, a major store was opened on Broadway, outside of the central business district. In 1926, the Grace brothers purchased a block of land on the corner of York, Clarence and King Street, on which the "jewel crown" of their business empire would be built. They believed the site was perfectly positioned for the building that they planned would become "The Showpiece of the Company", with new public transport routes and the coming Sydney Harbour Bridge turning York and Clarence Streets into the major city thoroughfares that they are today. Company letterhead billed the building as being "...on the Harbour Bridge Highway." Broadway, location of the other Grace Bros. building, had been affected by the shift of the city's commercial district toward Circular Quay in the 1920s and the changing public transport routes away from Sydney's South end, and so the Grace Building would become the company's saviour. The Grace Building was officially opened by Sydney Lord Mayor Ernest Marks on 3 July 1930. Its designed was heavily influenced by the Chicago's Tribune Tower, another remnant of 1930s art deco architecture in the United States. York Street, however, did not become the shopping thoroughfare the Grace Brothers had envisaged and, combined with the effects of the Great Depression of the 1930s, the building never lived up to expectations. By the onset of the Second World War Grace Bros. was experiencing difficulty in leasing office suites and much of the space was allocated to government departments. In 1943 the Grace Building was requisitioned under national security regulations by the Federal Government for use as headquarters by the Supreme Commander of allied forces in the south-west Pacific, General Douglas MacArthur. In 1945, the Grace Building was compulsorily acquired by the Commonwealth. In 1995, it was purchased by the Low Yat Group of Kuala Lumpur for adaptive reuse as a 382-room hotel, opening in 1997. It remains a hotel to this day. Description A fine example of commercial Gothic, with a soaring vertical emphasis and prominent "Gothic" corner tower, complete with flying buttresses, pointed windows and quatrefoils. Sheathed in glazed cream terra cotta, details are picked out in green. Decoration is limited, skyscraper fashion, to the summit and lower portion of the building. The street level facade has been altered, but the facade above the awning remains intact. Condition Physical condition good. Archaeological potential is low.