The Kensington, 73 Fifth Avenue: Review and Ratings

Review of 73 Fifth Avenue by Carter Horsley

The Kensington, a very handsome, 11-story building at 73 Fifth Avenue on the northeast corner at 15^th Street, was erected as a commercial building in 1906 and was designed by Samuel Sass for the Richman Realty & Construction Company. 

Before its conversion in 1996 to residential co-operatives, the building’s tenants include the Milton Bradley Publishing and American Express.

Joseph Pell Lombardi was the architect for the co-operative conversion.

The building, which is also known as 1-3 East 15^th Street, has 17 apartments and two ground-floor commercial spaces.

At one point, it was owned by Frederick Brown, who sold it in 1933 to the 218 Linden Boulevard Corporation, a group of investors reported to be members of the New York Stock Exchange, according to an October 19, 1933 article in The New York Times.

Bottom Line

This very elegant, pre-war building with large apartments with high ceilings in a prime location between Union Square Park and Chelsea and is only a couple blocks north of the Lower Fifth Avenue neighborhood.

Description

This building is of the most attractive on Fifth Avenue with its limestone façade that is rusticated on all its floors except third.

The building sports an excellent cornice above some impressive garlands topped with lions’ heads.

The center window bay on the avenue is indented with gentle curves as are the two, narrower bays on either end of the building’s side-street and all these bay are topped with slightly protruding arches.  The side-street façade has several balconies.

There are prominent bandcourses above the 3^rd, 4^th, 8^th and 9^th floors.

Amenities

The building has central air-conditioning, storage space and is pet-friendly.

Apartments

Penthouse 11B is a three-bedroom duplex with a 13-foot-long entrance gallery that leads to a 30-foot-wide living/dining room with an 18-foot-long open, pass-through kitchen and a 40-foot-long  second living room and a staircase to the upper level and a large roof deck.

Apartment 6B is a three-bedroom unit with a long entry foyer that leads past a 12-foot-wide dining room adjacent to a 12-foot-long kitchen to a 38-foot-long living/dining room and a 10-foot-wide, windowed office.

Apartment 5B is a two-bedroom unit with a long entry foyer that leads past an angled, large pantry and a 25-foot-long kitchen to a 43-foot-wide living/dining room and a 12-foot-long home office with four-stairs up to the 22-foot-longmaster bedroom with a hot tub.

Apartment 6A is a three-bedroom unit that has a 43-foot-long great room with a curved corner, a 14-foot-long open kitchen and a master bedroom with a small balcony.

Apartment 8A is a one-bedroom unit that has a 34-foot-long living room next to a 15-foot-wide dining area next to a 11-foot-wide, pass-through kitchen.