The theater, occupying a city block between Broadway, Wadsworth Avenue, and West 175th and 176th Streets, is both a house of worship and a cultural center.

The architect, Thomas W. Lamb, designed the theater as a movie palace, which opened on February 22, 1930, as one of five Loew's Wonder Theatres in the New York City area.

The theater's interior decor, incorporating elements of numerous architectural styles, was supervised by Lamb and Harold Rambusch.

In addition to concerts, the theater hosts other events such as graduation ceremonies, film shoots, meetings, and recording sessions.

[11] A writer for The New York Times Magazine stated that the design may have been inspired by both the Alhambra palace and the Kailasa Temple.

There is a smaller two-story pavilion to the left (north) of the main entrance, which has display cases at ground level and a pointed arch with a niche on the second story.

Terracotta pilasters divide the upper stories vertically into several wide bays; the theater's cupola rises above the eastern end of the building.

[11][12] Rambusch, who regarded movie palaces as "social safety valves", sought to use the theater's elaborate ornamentation to attract visitors.

The auditorium also has rosettes, acanthus leaves, and tendril motifs that depict birds, cherubs, lions, centaurs, griffins, and buraqs.

[48] Loew's had specifically chosen the site because it was in a growing middle-class neighborhood, close to the New York City Subway stations at 175th Street/Fort Washington Avenue and 181st Street/St.

[47] After the assemblage had been completed, Cohen sold the sites in February 1928 to the Highbridge Realty Corporation, which was controlled by Loew's Inc. president Nicholas Schenck[47] Lamb was hired to design the theater,[2] and he filed plans for the structure with Manhattan's Bureau of Buildings in March 1928.

[60] When the George Washington Bridge opened in 1931, Loew's considered re-adding stage shows as a result of increased patronage from New Jersey residents.

[65] Following the U.S. Supreme Court's 1948 ruling in United States v. Paramount Pictures, Inc., Loew's Theaters was forced to split up its film-production and film-exhibition divisions.

[79][87] Reverend Ike gave sermons from the theater's stage every weekend,[87][89] and he also hosted annual prayer meetings at the United Palace.

[95] The next year, UPCA executive director Mike Fitelson launched a campaign to raise money for a 50-foot (15 m) screen and digital projection system in the theater.

[96] Local resident and librettist Lin-Manuel Miranda, who first visited the theater that year while staging a special performance of his musical In the Heights, helped with the fundraising effort.

[24] The church opposed the landmark designation, citing the added cost and time to do any work on the building, use restrictions, and their fifty-year history of preserving the theater entirely with private funds.

[130] When the Loew's 175th Street Theatre was in operation, Hollywood stars appeared at the theater to host films, including Joan Crawford, Judy Garland, Eleanor Powell, Roy Rogers, and Dale Evans.

[19][131] In addition, Herman Bing performed there in 1937,[132] as did Ed Sullivan in 1946,[133] Al Jolson in 1949,[134] and Alan Freed and his Rock 'n Roll Stage Show in 1958.

[144] Individual performers at the United Palace have included Anuel AA,[145] Bad Bunny,[146] Beck,[147] Björk,[148] Rubén Blades,[149] Tego Calderón,[150] Kenny Lattimore,[151] Annie Lennox,[152] Modest Mouse,[73] Van Morrison,[153] Iggy Pop,[148] Kelly Price,[151] Steve Winwood,[154] and Neil Young.

[155] In 2007, Sir Simon Rattle appeared at the theater conducting the Berlin Philharmonic in Igor Stravinsky's ballet The Rite of Spring danced by public school students and choreographed by Royston Maldoom.

[157] The theater has hosted other events, including a narration of the book Icarus at the Edge of Time in 2012[158] and a single performance of Lin-Manuel Miranda's musical In the Heights in 2013.

When the Loew's 175th Street opened, New York Herald Tribune described the theater as "combining the splendor of ancient Oriental beauty with the utmost in modern construction".

[73] Dunlap wrote later that Lamb borrowed from "the Alhambra in Spain, the Kailasa rock-cut shrine in India, and the Wat Phra Keo temple in Thailand, adding Buddhas, bodhisattvas, elephants, and honeycomb stonework in an Islamic pattern known as muqarnas.

"[22] The AIA Guide to New York City called it "Cambodian neo-Classical" and likened it to Lamb's Loew's Pitkin Theatre in Brownsville, Brooklyn.

[166] Nathaniel Adams of The New York Times called it simply a "kitchen-sink masterpiece",[8] while Vivien Raynor wrote for the same newspaper that the theater was a "preposterous mass" with elaborate terracotta ornamentation.

[167] Writing for Newsday in 1999, Diane Werts said the United Palace's "splendor" provided a contrast with "today's shoebox movie houses".

[84] The United Palace has been used as a filming location for several movies, including Café Society (2016)[169] and John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum (2019).

[17][170] Several TV series have been filmed or set at the theater, such as The Politician, Quantico, Saturday Night Live,[19] Smash,[171] Luke Cage,[172] Pose,[173][174] and Only Murders in the Building.

[175] A 2020 performance of Jefferson Mays's A Christmas Carol Live was filmed at the United Palace,[176] and the venue was also depicted in Billy Joel's music video for his 2024 single "Turn the Lights Back On".