In 1864, William Steinway built elegant showrooms housing over 100 Steinway & Sons pianos at 109 East 14th Street, at the corner of Fourth Ave. (now Park Ave South) in Manhattan.[2] During the next two years, demand for Steinway pianos had increased dramatically. Construction of the first Steinway Hall was pushed by the need for expansion, increased promotion, and better presentation of pianos and music culture through regular live performances.

William Steinway carried planning and construction of the first Steinway Hall with the full support and cooperation from the City of New York. The concert hall was designed with 2,000 seats, and had a concert stage for a full 100-piece symphony orchestra. The concert hall was built in 1866 behind the showrooms on 14th Street in Manhattan and was one of the first concert halls for wider audiences in New York City.[2] Four days after the Academy of Music on 14th Street a few blocks away burned down to the ground, on May 22, 1866, William Steinway laid the first stone of the Steinway Hall building.[3] The hall opened on October 31, 1866.[4] Its four floors had enough space to fit in a showroom for more than 100 pianos, the concert hall and rooms for piano lessons. The hall and the other rooms were illuminated with over 700 gaslights. The ground floor was occupied by the showroom and the office. The first floor there was taken by the concert hall. With 2,500 seats at that time, it was one of the biggest halls in the city of New York, becoming soon one of the cultural centers of the United States.[5] One critic wrote, "no larger auditorium—before or since—has ever been built by a musical instrument manufacturer."[3] Another observer, Moses King, called Steinway Hall "the cradle of classical music in this country".[4]