East 74th Street elevations. Credit: Beyer Blinder Belle

Proposal, which includes two new buildings and a rooftop addition spanning six rowhouses, deemed appropriate after multiple revisions. On July 10, 2012 Landmarks approved Daniel E. Straus’s plan to alter and redevelop eight buildings along Madison Avenue and East 74th Street in the Upper East Side Historic District. Landmarks considered the Beyer Blinder Belle-designed proposal over the course of four meetings. The buildings are adjacent to the Marcel Breuer-designed Whitney Museum at 945 Madison Avenue, and include six rowhouses along Madison Avenue and two townhouses on East 74th Street. The Whitney once owned the buildings, but sold them to Straus after abandoning its plan to build a 178-foot tower on the site. Straus intends to convert the buildings to residential use.

At a public hearing in October 2011, architect Richard Metsky presented Straus’s initial proposal. The plan included replacing a heavily altered rowhouse abutting the Whitney on Madison Avenue with a new infill structure, and building a set-back two-story addition across the Madison Avenue rowhouses. Straus intended to build a set-back nine-story building that would also serve as a rear extension of the four-story townhouse at 31 East 74th Street, and add a one-story addition to the (more…)