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A historic Upper West Side building with nearly a century of stories behind it is about to begin its next chapter — and it’s one that will bring stability to some of the neighborhood’s most vulnerable residents.
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The West Side Federation for Senior and Supportive Housing (WSFSSH) will break ground Friday morning on the restoration of the Three Arts building at 340 West 85th Street, a Colonial Revival landmark between West End Avenue and Riverside Drive that’s about to become 61 units of permanent supportive housing for low-income older adults — including formerly homeless seniors — according to a press release shared with I Love the Upper West Side.The 10:30 a.m. ceremony will be attended by Manhattan Borough President Brad Hoylman-Sigal, Assemblymember Linda Rosenthal, City Council Member Gale Brewer, State Sen. Erik Bottcher, and WSFSSH leadership and project partners.
All of the units will be reserved for older adults earning between 0% and 50% of the area median income, with 40% of them set aside specifically for formerly homeless individuals. Residents will have access to on-site case management, counseling, and community programming designed to support aging in place, according to WSFSSH.
The building has been vacant during planning and pre-construction, the organization confirmed. Rather than a like-for-like renovation, this is a full repurposing — giving a vulnerable population the stability to remain in a neighborhood many of them have called home for decades.
The Three Arts building has one of the more colorful backstories on the block. Originally constructed in 1927, it was designed by architect George B. de Gersdorff as a residence and clubhouse for young women pursuing careers in music, drama, and the fine arts — the “three arts” the club took its name from. The eight-story Colonial Revival structure included single-occupancy bedrooms, a ground-floor auditorium, a library, and a rooftop painting studio, and over the decades it housed scores of aspiring artists, including a young Ruth Gordon before her stage and screen career took off.
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The club closed in 1952, citing financial pressure, and the building spent the next 60-plus years as the Brandon Residence for Women — a 124-room boarding house for working women and students. WSFSSH purchased the property from Volunteers of America in 2017 and has operated it as supportive housing in the years since, as Patch reported when the building was nominated for the National Register of Historic Places in 2024.The restoration itself is ambitious. According to plans previously reviewed by the Landmarks Preservation Commission, the project — designed by Curtis + Ginsberg Architects — will preserve the building’s historic architectural character while bringing it up to Passive House retrofit standards, with all-electric mechanical systems and significant energy efficiency upgrades. New York YIMBY covered the LPC review of the proposal in early 2024, which included an ADA-accessible ramp and stairway at the main entrance.
The building was designated a New York City Landmark in May 2024.
Friday’s groundbreaking is at 340 West 85th Street, between West End Avenue and Riverside Drive, from 10:30 to 11:30 a.m.
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