Operation: Corporate Takeover at 153 Franklin Street

Listen up. At 153 Franklin Street stands a 10 story tower of tan brick and sandstone accents. Local architects Green and Wicks finished construction between 1901 and 1902. They gave the structure an English-Flemish Revival look, which is fancy talk for building something that looks sturdy enough to survive a siege.

For decades, this base served as the headquarters for the third oldest YMCA chapter in North America. It held the line as a community hub until the early 1980s. Then, the mission changed. The building was stripped of its original purpose and converted into office space. It was a total rebranding of the tactical environment.

Modernity hit the AO in 1986 when the site was expanded with a 4 story glass and steel office structure plus a 4 story connecting atrium. The National Register of Historic Places officially noted the building's status in 1983, though it was already undergoing its transformation. It was moving faster than a supply convoy.

Today, the old YMCA Central Building is known as Olympic Towers. It changed hands for 2.5 million dollars in January 2012. It continues to function as an office complex in the Theatre District. Mission accomplished.

Sources: Wikipedia, OpenStreetMap, Wikidata, Wikimedia Commons