Owner of Crawford Clothes Building justifies tower demolition based on contract to construct new building. On April 21, 2005, Landmarks held a second public hearing on the proposed designation of the Morris Lapidus designed Crawford Clothes Building, also known as the Paterson Silk Building, at East 14th Street and University Place. At the hearing, the owner responded to accusations that the building’s central glass tower was demolished to quash Landmarks interest in its designation. See 2 CityLand 42 (April 15, 2005).

The building owner, Lloyd Goldman, testified that he was in contract with the Claremont Group, as developers, to demolish the building, purchase adjacent air rights, and construct a 14-story residential building with ground floor retail space, which had already been leased to Bank of America. Claremont’s counsel, Robert Davis, explained that negotiations had commenced in March 2004 on the development agreement, and that the final sale agreement was signed in December of 2004. Claiming that over $11 million had already been spent or incurred, Davis stated that the construction loan closed on February 28, 2005 and further claimed Claremont first learned of Landmarks’ interest in the building in The New York Times’ March 9th article. Landmarks Chair Robert Tierney responded that a letter of interest was sent from Landmarks to the property owner on February 7, 2005. Davis asked that Landmarks consider the effect that a designation would have on adding uncertainty to the lending and development markets. (read more…)