Proposed addition approved almost three years after initial proposal. On October 13, 2009, Landmarks voted to approve Aby Rosen and RFR Holdings LLC’s proposal to build a four-story addition to the former Parke- Bernet Galleries building at 980 Madison Avenue in Manhattan’s Upper East Side Historic District. The application had changed dramatically since January 2007 when Landmarks rejected architect Norman Foster’s proposal calling for a 26- story tower on top of the existing five-story building. 4 CityLand 9 (Feb. 15, 2007). The original plan drew significant comment from local residents and prominent citizens, including artist Jeff Koons, who spoke in support, and author Tom Wolfe, who opposed the project.

Foster and Partners architect Brandon Haw presented the revised design, which proposed a three-story addition plus a penthouse. Haw said that the addition’s “appropriateness to the Upper East Side” was a guiding principle in the revised proposal. The addition will be flush with the existing building’s cornice, but will feature an indentation that separates it from the original structure. Haw explained that a light-colored aluminum scrim will cover the addition’s facade, which will setback two feet. The scrim will create a varying amount of transparency of the layered facade depending on the viewer’s perspective. The design includes curved corners that Haw described as “a moderne, streamlined architectural motif.” Other aspects of the project include restoring the original building’s facade and removing its non-historic roof and rear additions. (read more…)

Transfer of air rights from landmarked Seagram Building facilitates construction. On July 2, 2008, the City Planning Commission approved the special permit and zoning text amendment proposed by developer Aby Rosen, allowing his 63-story project at 610 Lexington to proceed to City Council for a vote. The proposed mixed-use building on the southwest corner of 53rd Street and Lexington Avenue would stand approximately 712 feet tall, with 282,027 sq.ft. of floor area, including a restaurant, bar, and hotel uses on the first through 52nd floors and residential use on the top ten stories.

Rosen requested a special permit to transfer 200,965 sq.ft. of unused floor area from the landmarked Seagram Building, a building owned by Rosen, leaving 212 sq.ft. of unused floor area on the Seagram lot. This transfer required Landmarks’ approval of a preservation plan for the Seagram Building, which Rosen obtained in 2007. (read more…)

Developer invited to submit another design. Following a lengthy presentation by real estate developer Aby Rosen’s team, Landmarks indicated its clear unwillingness to approve the 26-story tower addition proposed to top the Parke-Bernet building at 980 Madison Avenue within the Upper East Side Historic District.

The project architect Lord Norman Foster started the January 16th presentation with a photograph of the original 1949 Parke-Bernet building and its appearance now, after a 1950s alteration added another full-block story. Foster argued that the heavy, horizontal addition detracted from the original building, leading to the “paradox,” that, as Foster referred to it, a vertical contrast, or tower, would best preserve the design intactness of the original building. (read more…)

Public hearing held on 26-story, Norman Foster-designed addition to Madison Ave. building. On October 24, 2006, Landmarks held the first public hearing on the controversial proposal of Aby Rosen and RFR Holdings LLC to add a 26-story addition to the existing five-story building at 980 Madison between East 76th and East 77th Streets in Manhattan’s Upper East Side Historic District. The new tower, designed by architect Norman Foster, who also designed the tower addition to the Hearst Building on West 57th Street, would require a permit from Landmarks as well as a use and bulk modification from the Planning Commission.

During a four-hour hearing, Rosen and Foster explained the design and the intention for the tower to contain 18 to 19 residential units. The existing Parke-Bernet building would be converted into artist work and gallery space that would include a publicly accessible sculpture garden on its roof. Bill Higgins, Rosen’s preservation expert, called the tower design a “vertical evolution” of the original building, commenting that the tower would not detract from surrounding buildings. (read more…)