109 Third Avenue | Block : 469 | Lot #7501

Description & Building Alterations

Formerly two separate lots, the buildings at 109 Third Avenue have been combined as Lot 7501. The larger building on this corner lot, formerly 105 Third Avenue, was constructed in 1879. While the tax records list P.J. Seiler as the owner, the Real Estate Record and Builders’ Guide suggests that R. Stuyvesant was the owner instead. Prior to the construction of this building, a smaller building stood on the lot, built in 1838. The present Neo-Grec Pre-Law tenement building, with its incised lintels and limestone beltcourses, housed three families on each of the upper floors over ground floor shops. The first floor held one apartment as well. The rooftop additions were added circa 1984.

These two buildings have been combined and house the flagship store for Kiehl’s Since 1851. Founder John Kiehl started his career as an employee at Englehardt & Huber Apothecary at the corner of Third Avenue and East 13^th Street. Englehardt and Huber were the store’s second owners, and had purchased it from German immigrant Louis Brunswick. Brunswick has started selling herbs and oils at his Brusnwick Apotheke in 1851. John Kiehl began working at the apothecary when he was approximately 20 years old, and in 1921, his apprentice Irving Moskovitz took over the store. In 1959, Moskovitz (now using the surname Morse) was running the store and Kiehl’s was moved next door to 109 Third Avenue. In 1961, Morse’s son began operating Kiehl’s and revamped the brand into what it is today. For more information on the evolution of Kiehl’s and its life in this building and the one next door, click on the link to our Off the Grid blog post.