Eighty residential units, ground-floor retail and parking garage to replace SoHo parking lot. The developer Albert Laboz sought Landmarks approval for the construction of a nine-story, 110 ft. metal and glass building at 311 West Broadway in the SoHo-Cast Iron Historic District on a through-block lot with frontage on both Wooster Street and West Broadway. The building, designed by Gwathmey Siegel & Associates Architects to replace the existing at-grade parking lot, included eight stories along the West Broadway streetwall with a single-story glass setback, a central courtyard, and seven stories along the Wooster Street streetwall with a single-story glass setback. Gwathmey Siegel had modified its original proposal, which included several layers of setbacks at the roof. The building would include eighty, 1,200 square-foot residential units, street-level retail on West Broadway and a 150-space parking garage, which would compensate for the parking lost with the building’s development.

Landmarks approved, finding that the overall massing of the building related to the buildings along West Broadway and Wooster Street, that the glass material on the one-story setback blended into the surroundings, and that the metal and glass modernist design recalled the evolution of the materials used in the historic district.

The development requires a special permit from the Planning Commission to allow residential use on the ground floor along Wooster Street. Laboz’s application for a special permit is pending with the Planning Department.

LPC: 311 West Broadway (COFA# 05-5520) (February 16, 2005) (Howard Zipser, Stadtmauer Bailkin Biggins, LLC; Albert Laboz, United American Land Co.; Robert Siegel, Gwathmey Siegel & Assoc. Architects). CITYADMIN

A.I. Namm & Son Department Store and Offerman Building Designated. On March 15, 2005, Landmarks designated the A.I. Namm & Son Department Store and the Offerman Building, both located on Fulton Street in downtown Brooklyn.

The A.I. Namm & Son Department Store, 450-458 Fulton Street, first opened in 1891 at 452 Fulton Street and gradually expanded in 1924-25 and 1928-29. Robert D. Kohn and Charles Butler created a modern design with a structural steel frame reinforced by concrete floors, Indiana limestone cladding and a horizontal tripartite division. In approving, Landmarks noted that the building is a significant architectural remnant of Brooklyn’s late nineteenth and early twentieth century commercial nucleus. (read more…)

Owners claimed designation will force them to close their business or hinder needed repair. On March 15, 2005, Landmarks held public hearings on its proposed designations of two separate commercial buildings in Queens: the Sohmer & Co. Piano Factory building in Long Island City and Elmhurst’s Jamaica Savings Bank.

The six-story Sohmer & Company Piano Factory building, built in 1886 and designed by Berger & Baylies, has a unique mansardroofed clock tower, making the building one of the most prominent structures along the Queens East River waterfront. After it was calendared for designation, public hearings followed in 1983, 1984 and 1990; however, the building was never designated. (read more…)

Summit Hotel and Crawford Clothes Building considered for designation. On March 29, 2005, Landmarks held a joint public hearing on two buildings designed by the modern architect Morris Lapidus: the 1961 sea-foam brick Summit Hotel at Lexington and East 51st Street and the 1948 Crawford Clothes Building, also known as the Paterson Silk building, at West 14th Street and University Place.

brothers Preston Robert and Laurence Tisch, following the success of his modern Florida hotels, designed a dramatic 21-story, S-curved slab facade hotel, clad in turquoise brick and green Italian tile. The S-curve shape, both dramatic and practical, permitted Lapidus to increase the hotel room count to 800 from the 500 projected from a traditional box design. When challenged about the dramatic shape and its bright interior following its opening, Lapidus responded, “Why be exotic in private.” The three-story Crawford Clothes store, one of Lapidus’ earliest distinguished works, was noted for the slanted center glass tower that separated its metal-screen and Roman brick facades. (read more…)

Landmarks takes first step towards designation of the Plaza’s interiors. On March 8, 2005, Landmarks voted to hold a hearing on the designation of five public interior rooms of the Plaza Hotel: the Oak Room, the Oak Bar, the Palm Court and the entrance lobbies at West 59th Street and Grand Army Plaza. By a second vote on March 15, 2005, Landmarks added the Plaza’s Terrace Room and first floor of the Grand Ballroom to its consideration.

The Oak Room, the Oak Bar and the West 59th Street lobby retain most of Henry Hardenbergh’s original 1905 design. Landmarks noted that the Palm Court, which still contains the original mirrored arched openings, marble Corinthian columns, and carytids, carved supporting columns, was modified in 1941 by Conrad Hilton when he acquired the hotel. The Grand Army Plaza lobby, the Terrace Room, and the Grand Ballroom date to a 1921 addition to the Plaza completed by Warren & Wetmore. Landmarks noted that the Grand Ballroom, known for its ornate chandeliers and balconies, was the location of Truman Capote’s famous 1966 Black & White Costume Ball. To be designated, Landmarks must first hold a public hearing, which has not yet been scheduled. (read more…)