Kensington Building

73 5th Avenue | also 3 East 15th Street, 1 East 15th Street | Union Square | built 1907

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Written with AI from the source each entry cites, then fact-checked.

  1. 1906

    Two connected brick buildings of the Kensington Hotel make way for the Kensington Building

    Before the loft building went up at Fifth Avenue and East 15th Street, the site held two linked four-story brick buildings occupied by the Kensington Hotel. The hotel is where the later building got its name. The new eleven-story building, finished in 1906-07, fills an L-shaped lot.

    Source: NYC Landmarks Preservation Commission

  2. 1907

    Samuel Sass designs a fireproof, lavishly detailed loft building for Richman Realty

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    The Kensington Building was designed by Samuel Sass and built in 1906-07 for Richman Realty and Construction Co., whose president was Daniel W. Richman. It rises eleven stories on an L-shaped lot with 125 feet along East 15th Street. Many competing loft buildings were going up nearby, yet this one was unusually costly, with fireproof construction and richly decorated facades.

    “…an unusually expensive building, notable for its fireproof construction and lavish facades…”

    Source: NYC Landmarks Preservation Commission

  3. 1915

    Philanthropist Margaret Olivia Sage owns the Kensington Building by 1915

    After the builder, the Kensington Building belonged to owners the Landmarks Commission calls unusually well known. By 1912 it was held by the 73 Fifth Avenue Company, whose officers included Robert Shaw Minturn, a developer, and I. N. Phelps Stokes, an architect and historian who was Minturn's brother-in-law. By 1915 it had been sold to Margaret Olivia Sage, widow of the railroad builder Russell Sage, who gave away nearly $80 million.

    “By 1915, the building was sold to Margaret Olivia Sage (the widow of Russell Sage, the railroad builder and banker), one of the leading philanthropists of the period…”

    Source: NYC Landmarks Preservation Commission

  4. 1940

    The Kensington Building's main entrance and lobby are remodeled in 1940

    The Kensington Building drew varied tenants: an American Express branch at its opening, then in the 1910s Milton Bradley Publishers along with several showrooms, and the Seamen's Bank for Savings during the 1940s. In 1940 the main entrance and lobby were remodeled, and new storefronts were installed in 1970. The interior has since been converted to apartments.

    “…a branch of the American Express Company when the building opened, Milton Bradley Publishers and several showrooms in the 1910s, and the Seamen's Bank for Savings in the 1940s…”

    Source: NYC Landmarks Preservation Commission

Nearby

All 28 buildings with stories in Union Square