Rendering of 363 Lafayette Street in Manhattan. Image Credit: LPC.

Applicants rescinded proposed double-height rectangular form for a more subtle series of setbacks, and reduced size of windows to bring it into a scale more contextual with the neighborhood. On August 2, 2016, the Landmarks Preservation Commission considered and approved a revised proposal to construct a new ten-story building at 363 Lafayette Street in the NoHo Historic District Extension. The through-block lot also faces Bond and Great Jones Streets. The lot is currently vacant, and adjoins a new building in construction along Great Jones Street and a residential building facing Bond Street. (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…)

Following criticism of earlier design from preservationists and the local Council member, applicants revised design to better integrate with district and reconcile two distinct facades. On October 7, 2014, the Landmarks Preservation Commission voted to approve an application to demolish an existing one-story building and construct a new five-story development at 192 Seventh Avenue South in the Greenwich Village Historic District at the corner of 11th Street. The building will be residential, with ground-floor retail.

The Landmarks Commission first heard a proposal for the development of the site in April of 2014. The April proposal, with a masonry facade facing 11th Street that would reflect historic brownstone architecture in “an abstracted fashion,” would have a contemporary glass-and-metal curtain wall facing the avenue. The proposal was criticized by Council Member Corey Johnson, as well as preservationist organizations. Commissioners found the proposed architecture to read as too commercial, especially along Seventh Avenue, and recommended that the two distinct facades be better woven together so the new structure would be perceived as one building. Commissioners did not object to the existing building’s demolition.

At the October meeting, Edward Carroll of SRA Architecture and Engineering presented the revised plan. The 11th Street facade would have more articulation after the introduction of lintels, coursing, and sills. It would be clad in brick with a granite base, and a glass-faced studio at the upper level. Masonry bands would be added to the glass portion of the building, aligning with those on 11th Street. Metal on the curtain wall would be changed from black to white, and the base on the avenue would be lowered to better match the district’s historic storefronts. The curtain wall would wrap around the corner onto 11th Street for the width of one bay. Carroll said the revisions would serve to make the new structure more “sympathetic” and “subtle,” though still with two distinct facades that would reflect the cutting through of the block by the extension of Seventh Avenue.

Higgins & Quasebarth’s Cas Stachelberg further testified that the proposal was as-of-right under the lot’s zoning. Stachelberg noted that the existing building on the site, constructed in 1920 and reclad in 1946, was in poor condition and not a contributing building to the district.

Commissioners suggested ways in which the design could be improved, but ultimately determined it was appropriate for the site and the historic district as presented. Chair Meenakshi Srinivasan found there were a wide variety of buildings along Seventh Avenue South, and that the revised proposal responded well to its context. Commissioner Michael Goldblum opined that the schism between the two facades was not completely resolved, and the design would be more successful with more masonry added to the base at Seventh Avenue. Goldblum said the proposal “could be a better building,” but still fell within the parameters of appropriateness. Commissioner Adi Shamir-Baron, alternately, wished to see the two facades rendered more distinct to better reflect the cut-through of the extension of Seventh Avenue. Commissioner John Gustafsson commented “I don’t think any of it is inappropriate,” and the Commissioners unanimously concurred.

LPC: 192 Seventh Avenue South, Manhattan (14-7382) (Oct. 7, 2014) (Architects: SRA Architecture and Engineering).

Rendering of the proposed building at 144 Spring Street. Image Credit: Bohlin Cywinski Jackson

In approval of new structure from the architects of the Apple stores, Commissioners included language that would maintain transparency of the facade should the building be repurposed in the future. On September 16, 2014, the Landmarks Preservation Commission voted to approve the construction of a new building at the corner of Spring and Wooster Streets in the SoHo-Cast Iron Historic District. The site has been occupied by a 20-by-80-foot vacant lot for approximately 70 years, long before the district’s designation in 1973. (read more…)

Rendering of proposed building at 192 Seventh Avenue South in the Greenwich Village Historic District. Image Credit: SRAA + E Architecture and Engineering, PC

No opposition voiced against demolition of one-story 20th-century building on site. On April 1, 2014, the Landmarks Preservation Commission considered an application to develop a triangular lot at 192 Seventh Avenue South in the Greenwich Village Historic District. The site, which faces 11th Street to the north, was created by the extension of Seventh Avenue, and is currently occupied by a one-story building constructed in the 1920s, and heavily altered in the 1940s. (read more…)