Owner of renaissance-style building willing to accommodate landmark status. On December 18, 2007, Landmarks heard testimony on the Allerton 39th Street House, built between 1916 and 1918 at 145 East 39th Street in the East Side of Manhattan. The building was one of six Allerton Houses in the City, a chain of residences and clubs that served young middle-class men until the mid- 1920s. Arthur Loomis Harmon, who later worked on the Empire State Building, designed the 39th Street House in a Northern Italian Renaissance style with a granite base and red brick three-bay facade. The onetime Salvation Army building currently serves as a residence.

At the hearing, the attorney for the owner, Jesse Masyr of the law firm Wachtel & Masyr, stated that the owner planned to convert the building to a hotel, a use no longer permitted as-of-right. Masyr argued that the proposed conversion is a return to the building’s original use. (more…)

Plans for glass tower win approval after modifications. On January 15, 2008, Landmarks granted a Certificate of Appropriateness to A&R Development to construct a new 14- story building at 16 West 21st Street in the Ladies’ Mile Historic District. The Morris Adjmi-designed tower will replace a two-story parking garage and will feature sandblasted brick blocks to echo the area’s characteristic light stone brick buildings. A similar building was proposed for West 18th Street in 2005, but Landmarks rejected that proposal because it called for the demolition of an 1867stable. 2 CityLand 169 (Dec. 2005).

At an earlier December 11th public hearing, Leo Blackman of the Drive to Protect the Ladies’ Mile District testified that the tower would “evoke the ghost of a historic structure, made fresh and of its time.” Blackman, however, objected to the tower’s illuminated residential canopy and to the fact it did not have a proper storefront. Similarly, the Historic Districts Council applauded the “creative use of glass,” but objected to the proposed canopy and atypical storefront, which it claimed were out of step with the district’s historic architecture. Commissioners Margery Perlmutter, Roberta Brandes-Gratz, and Pablo Vengochea agreed, praising the proposal but calling for “minor tweaking.” (more…)

Proposed DUMBO Historic District. Map: LPC.

Local elected officials behind push for designation. On December 18, 2007, Landmarks voted to designate a portion of the DUMBO area as an historic district. DUMBO, an acronym for Down Under the Manhattan Bridge Overpass, served as a center for American manufacturing beginning in the 19th century. The architecture of its industrial buildings range in materials from brick and timber to reinforced concrete. In the 1970s, young artists began moving to the area and converting the buildings into lofts and studios.

At the October 30th public hearing, several elected officials, including City Council Member David Yassky, Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz and representatives for Congresswoman Nydia Velazquez and State Senator Martin Connor, joined local residents and supported designation. 4 CityLand 157 (Nov. 15, 2007). (more…)

Fractional-ownership of transient units will minimize influx of tourists. On January 9, 2008, the Planning Commission approved Millennium Partners’ application for a special permit to facilitate the conversion of six floors of extended-stay hotel units into transient hotel units. The Phillips Club consists of two buildings on the same zoning lot: the 10- story Phillips Club Building, formerly the Chinese Mission to the United Nations, located at 155 West 66th Street; and floors four through seven of the 32-story Tower Records Building located at 1965 Broadway. The club is located within the Special Lincoln Square District, which limits commercial floor area to 100,000 sq.ft. in order to discourage high-intensity commercial uses.

Currently, the Phillips Club offers 106 extended-stay rental units with minimum stays of 30 days. The club also has 64 transient hotel units with typical stays of less than seven days, but no more than 28 days. The proposal seeks to convert all the extended-stay units into 98 transient units, which would make all 162 units operated by the Phillips Club transient hotel units. The conversion would not affect the buildings’ structure, but would bring the total commercial floor area to 226,774 sq.ft., necessitating a special permit. (more…)

Plan seeks to address pressure for residential development in the area. On January 7, 2008, the Planning Commission launched public consideration regarding KMG Greenwich’s proposal to rezone a five and a half block northern portion of Hudson Square, roughly bounded by Morton, Hudson, Clarkson, and West Streets. The proposed rezoning would facilitate the conversion of the building located at 627 Greenwich Street from commercial to residential as well as the development of a new 80,000-square-foot residential building on 111-115 Leroy Street.

In 2002, a Department of City Planning study on land use conditions and trends in Hudson Square recommended that the City rezone portions of the historically industrial area to allow residential use. City Planning proposed such a rezoning in 2003, which the Commission approved. The City Council, however, excluded from the plan the northern portion of Hudson Square, the same portion which is the subject of KMG’s proposal, because of concerns that the proposed rezoning would have a detrimental impact on the nearby Mitchell-Lama development known as the West Village Houses. The West Village Houses, however, are no longer part of the Mitchell-Lama program, clearing the way for a re-analysis of the issue. (more…)