Former Interborough Rapid Transit Powerhouse, at 850 Twelfth Avenue in Manhattan. Image Credit: LPC.

Massive West Side powerhouse, designed by Stanford White, continue to operate as steam-generating plant. On December 5, 2017, Landmarks voted to designate the former Interborough Rapid Transit Powerhouse, at 850 Twelfth Avenue, an individual City landmark.  The structure, which occupies an entire block along the West Side Highway, dates to 1905 and was designed by McKim, Mead and White’s Stanford White. The monumental generating station was built to power the Interborough Rapid Transit subway system, and was sited on the Hudson to facilitate the delivery of coal by barge. Consolidated Edison acquired the building in 1959, converting it to a steam generating plant. Cone Edison still operates the plant to generate power. (read more…)

11 Jane Street Rendering. Image Credit: LPC.

Proposal to replace 1920s garage building with residential development was opposed by community members and their elected officials. On July 26 2016, the Landmarks Preservation Commission heard the applicants’ response to public testimony regarding an application to redevelop a lot at 11 Jane Street in the Greenwich Village Historic District, and discussed the proposal. The lot is currently occupied by a two-story 1921 garage building. The applicants proposed to replace the garage with a seven-story residential structure. (read more…)

363 Lafayette Street Rendering. Image Credit: LPC.

Commissioners asked for further refinement to asymmetrical development composed of stacked rectangular forms. On July 12, 2016, the Landmarks Preservation Commission considered an application to develop a vacant lot at 363 Lafayette Street in the NoHo Historic District Extension. The lot extends the width of the block, also fronting Bond and Great Jones Streets. The northern portion of the lot is much wider than the southern section. The proposed new building would be used for commercial purposes with a showroom on the ground floor. The building would adjoin a co-op at 20 Bond Street at the southern portion, and a taller building now under construction at 25 Great Jones Street. (read more…)

85-89 Jane Street rendering. Image Credit: Steven Harris Architects.

Proposal would redevelop two turn-of-the-century utilitarian building into a residence containing an elaborate garden, with a set back protruding tower containing a dining room and study. On July 12, 2016, the Landmarks Preservation Commission considered an application for the residential redevelopment of two adjoining buildings at 85 and 89 Jane Street . The two buildings fall within the Greenwich Village Historic District. Both structures are identified utilitarian in style in the district’s designation report. The building at 85 Jane dates to around 1885, originally built as a stable and carriage house, later converted to a garage and factory, the building rises to two stories. The one-story garage at 89 Jane dates to 1919. Owned by limited liability companies, Curbed reports that the buyer is thought to be Jon Stryker, philanthropist and billionaire heir to a medical supply fortune. (read more…)

Princes Bay Lighthouse in Staten Island. Image Credit: LPC.

Actions taken as part of initiative to address backlog of calendared items; commission intends to dispose of backlog in 2016. On June 28, 2016, the Landmarks Preservation Commission took final dispositive action on four properties in Staten Island, designating them as individual City landmarks. The actions are part of the commission’s initiative to eliminate the backlog of items added to its calendar before 2012 but never brought to a vote. (read more…)

Rendering of approved development. Image credit: BKSK

Commissioners split on simultaneous redevelopment of five buildings, including significant increase in height beyond existing structures in some lots. On June 7, 2016, the Landmarks Preservation voted to approve the issuance of three certificates of appropriateness impacting five buildings spanning an entire block on the south side of Gansevoort Street between Greenwich and Washington Street in the Gansevoort Market Historic District. The five buildings occupy three tax lots. Aurora Capital and William Gottlieb Real Estate are the project’s developers.

(read more…)