Rendering of proposed building for 39-41 West 23rd Street. Image credit: COOKFOX Architects

The proposed building would be located in a commercial district on a present-day parking lot.  On April 23, 2015 the City Council Subcommitee on Zoning and Franchises held a public hearing on 39 West 23rd Street, LLC’s proposal for a residential tower at 39-41 West 23rd Street in the Ladies’ Mile Historic District of Manhattan.  The proposal would build the tower, made of two building segments reaching a maximum height of 278 feet, on a through-lot between West 23rd and West 24th Streets.  The tower would feature 43 residential units, 800 square feet of ground floor retail space, and an underground parking garage for fifty vehicles and twenty-nine bicycles.

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Landmarks approved plans for 22-story glass building in 2005, but project stalled. On June 14, 2011, Landmarks approved Anbau Enterprises’ proposal to amend a certificate of appropriateness for a 22-story glass and metal building on a through-block lot at 39 West 23rd Street in the Ladies’ Mile Historic District. In July 2005 Landmarks approved by a 6-3 vote the prior owner’s plans for a 22-story tower fronting West 23rd Street and a five-story townhouse fronting West 24th Street. 3 CityLand 108 (Aug. 15, 2006). The proposal featured a five-story glass and metal base with a seventeen-story glass and metal tower cantilevered over the adjacent building to the east. The tower’s cantilevered “bulge” receded as it reached the top. Manhattan Community Board 5 and preservationists opposed the original plan.

The prior owner obtained a special permit from the City Planning Commission to modify height and setback requirements in December 2006. However, the development stalled and the owner lost control of the property in 2008. Anbau recently purchased the property and sought to amend the C of A, which is set to expire on July 19, 2011. (read more…)

Townhouse and 22-story residential tower approved. Developers of a through lot at 39-41 West 23rd Street within the Ladies’ Mile Historic District received permits for a 22-story residential building to front West 23rd and a five-story glass and metal townhouse facing West 24th Street. The West 23rd Street side will have a five-story base below a 17- story tower, which will be cantilevered over the adjacent lot at 35 West 23rd Street.

Community Board 5 and Jack Taylor from the Drive to Protect the Ladies’ Mile District opposed the project at Landmarks first hearing; the Municipal Art Society testified that its committee divided on the vote. The opposition argued that the building, although exciting, was not right for the location and midblock buildings should not rise to the heights usually seen on corner lots. (read more…)