The Morgan Studios was the second of two “studio” buildings designed by Rogers and Poor Architects for East 78th Street. Early plans to remove the Third Avenue El stimulated apartment construction on the Lexington and Third Avenue blocks in the late twenties, although the elevated trains were not actually removed until 1950. Rogers & Poor designed 170 East 78th Street in 1926, and shortly thereafter were hired to work on lots 167-173 across the street. Both buildings reflect the high and wide windows of their well-proportioned “studio” living rooms.

The design for 169, referred to as early as 1927 as The Morgan Studios, perfected the difficult plan and section aspects of combining so many double height spaces. Each floor at 169 was to have access to four apartments arranged off a central, square, elevator hall, with each apartment taking advantage of at least two orientations. Construction was started in 1927 and finished in 1928. Initially conceived as a rental building, the plans were none the less customized to fit the prospective renters needs, with numerous maids’ rooms available on various floors. When the building was converted to a cooperative in 1954, the maids’ rooms were turned into separate small apartments, leaving the building with a mix of studios, one, two and three bedroom apartments.