Film Center Building

Film Center Building
U.S. National Register of Historic Places
New York City Landmark No. 1220
(2012)
Location	630 Ninth Avenue Manhattan, New York City
Coordinates	40°45′36″N 73°59′28″W / 40.76000°N 73.99111°W / 40.76000; -73.99111
Area	18,000 sq ft (1,700 m2)
Built	1928
Architect	Ely Jacques Kahn
Architectural style	Art Deco
NRHP reference No.	84002768[1]
NYCL No.	1220
Significant dates
Added to NRHP	September 7, 1984
Designated NYCL	November 9, 1982

The Film Center Building, also known as 630 Ninth Avenue, is a 13-story office building on the east side of Ninth Avenue between 44th and 45th Streets in the Hell's Kitchen neighborhood of Manhattan in New York City. Built in 1928–1929, the structure has historically catered to businesses involved in film, theater, television and music and audio production. The building was designed in the Art Deco style, with Ely Jacques Kahn as the architect of record. The lobby's interior is a New York City landmark, and the building is on the National Register of Historic Places.

The Film Center Building occupies a rectangular site. Its facade is largely made of brown brick, with windows on all sides, although the ground story has a marble facade and the second story has a white-stone facade. The main entrance on Ninth Avenue leads to a rectangular vestibule, which in turn leads to the main lobby, an elevator lobby, and a passageway leading to a secondary entrances. The lobby's walls and ceilings resemble tapestries, while details such as stair risers, ventilation grilles, directory signs, and elevator doors were designed in a multicolored scheme. The upper stories contain offices, which were initially used largely by major film companies such as Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. There were also nearly 100 film vaults, some of which have been converted to office space over the years.

In the 1910s and 1920s, New York City's film industry was centered around Times Square, prompting developer Abe N. Adelson to acquire a site for a film-distribution building in April 1928. Tenants began moving to the building in January 1929, coinciding with the construction of other film-exchange buildings in the immediate vicinity. The Film Center Building was sold at a foreclosure auction in 1936 and was subsequently sold again in 1950. By the mid-20th century, television and independent film producers began taking space there. The First Republic Bank bought the Film Center Building in 1968, and Newmark & Company acquired it in 1971. GFP Real Estate, which split from Newmark & Company, further renovated the Film Center Building in the 2010s.