for the renovation. , Mega International still owned the building. Reception and landmark designations When the Chamber of Commerce Building was being constructed, a writer for The Century Magazine stated, "Of non-official buildings projected or already begun, none is more important in its indirect bearing on the commercial greatness of the city than the home of the Chamber of Commerce." Upon its completion, the Architectural Record said the structure "is distinguished at once from the merely business buildings by its sumptuous character, its costly materials, and the obvious freedom from ordinary business limitations, shown by its design." The Brooklyn Daily Eagle, in 1910, stated that the building and its portrait collection were "well worth seeing", despite being relatively unknown to New Yorkers. However, as The New York Times reported upon the building's opening, "Comments on the building as a whole are not always favorable". Among the criticisms was the fact that the colonnade was not genuine and served to "obscure the windows on the top floor", as well as the lack of natural lighting at ground level. Later critics looked favorably on the structure. Ada Louise Huxtable, architectural writer for The New York Times, wrote that "Inside and out, the building is an example of the kind of period architectural opulence [...] that, if you have to ask the cost, you can't afford it". Architectural historian Robert A. M. Stern, in his book New York 1900, compared the design of the exterior to the Paris Opéra House by Charles Garnier. According to Stern, the interior was "one of New York's greatest interior spaces". The Chamber of Commerce Building's exterior was designated by the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission (LPC) as an official city landmark on January 18, 1966. It was one of the first landmarks to be designated by the LPC in Manhattan. The building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1973 and was re-added to the NRHP as a National Historic Landmark in 1977. Following the Chamber's relocation in 1979, the LPC also considered the Great Hall as an interior landmark. The LPC ultimately decided against it because the agency's rules mandated that interior landmarks had to be public spaces, and the Chamber had claimed that the interior was a private space. In 2007, the building was designated as a contributing property to the Wall Street Historic District, an NRHP district. See also List