It’s fairly common, among buildings from the early 1900s that have terra-cotta or limestone veneer, to have have a tougher material (often granite) used as veneer at the bottom of the building. Sometimes covering a basement, sometimes the first floor, sometimes a few floors. The reason is simple: the bottom of the building is exposed to friction from people and to splash damage from rain, and so is more likely to be damaged.
The picture above shows an all-EIFS facade on a high-rise, where it meets the sidewalk. On the left is a service entrance. The missing and broken EIFS is perhaps the least-surprising damage I’ve seen on a building. I wouldn’t expect granite on a building like this, but even stuccoed concrete block would be better than this.
