Sofia Warehouse
About this property
The Sofia (formerly the Kent Automatic Garage and the Sofia Brothers Warehouse) is a condominium building at the corner of Columbus Avenue and 61st Street on the Upper West Side of Manhattan in New York City. It was constructed from 1929 to 1930 and was designed by the firm of Jardine, Hill & Murdock in the Art Deco style for Kent Automatic Garages. The Sofia is 27 stories tall; the first nine stories above the ground level are used as offices, while the top 17 stories contain residential condominiums. The building is a New York City designated landmark and on the National Register of Historic Places. The building originally functioned as a 1,000-spot garage, with a gas station at the corner of Columbus Avenue and 61st Street. The ground level contains multiple entrances, surrounded by multicolored pieces of terracotta. There was a vehicular entrance on Columbus Avenue and an exit on 61st Street. On the upper floors, the facade is made largely of orange brick, interspersed with bands of black brick, and there are several setbacks with terracotta parapets. The building contains an extremely strong steel superstructure inside. Originally, the building had large vehicular elevators, as well as electric trolleys on each floor, which automatically transported vehicles to parking spots. Since the 1980s, the building has contained 94 apartments, ranging from studio apartments to three-bedroom units. Kent Automatic Garages bought the site from automobile company Packard in 1928, and the garage opened on July 30, 1930. Kent obtained various loans to finance the building's construction but lost the building to foreclosure within a year. The building was then acquired by the Central Savings Bank in 1936 and by the Sofia Brothers Warehousing Company in 1944. The Sofia family converted the building into a warehouse, though the structure also housed offices and studios. Aaron Green and Growth Realty Companies bought the building for $9.3 million in August 1983 and converted it into a residential and commercial condominium over the next year. College Board occupied the commercial portion of the building from the 1980s until 2015, when Fordham University acquired the commercial space.
Location
Categories
Property data from the National Register of Historic Places, National Park Service (public domain).
Description adapted from Wikipedia under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
Everything a full report reveals about Sofia Warehouse
This page lists Sofia Warehouse. A full Aubrey report for an address near it pulls together this listing alongside battlefield records, land patents, and every other historical record within a chosen radius:
Every location is different. Not every section appears for every place, only what the historical record actually holds turns up in a report.
Questions about this property
When was Sofia Warehouse listed on the National Register?
Sofia Warehouse was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on September 26, 1984.
What type of historic resource is Sofia Warehouse?
Sofia Warehouse is classified as a building in the National Register of Historic Places.
What is the period of significance for Sofia Warehouse?
The period of significance for Sofia Warehouse is recorded as the industrial era.
Can I research the history near Sofia Warehouse?
Yes. Aubrey Research reports search National Register listings, battlefield records, land patents, and other primary historical sources within any radius of a US address. A report for an address near Sofia Warehouse will include this listing and all other historical records in the area.
More in New York County
Historic places, battles, and census history across New York County.
Explore New YorkCounty ›More historic places in New York
Browse all historic places in New York.
View New Yorkhistoric sites ›Research the history near this site
An Aubrey US report for an address near Sofia Warehouse will include this listing alongside battlefield records and other historical sources within your chosen radius.