Commissioners approved design changes to the top and ground floors of Cosmopolitan Hotel’s proposed building. On September 15, 2009, Landmarks approved the revised expansion proposal for the Cosmopolitan Hotel located on the corner of West Broadway and Chambers Street in the Tribeca South Historic District. The applicants will demolish the two-story, 1967 building adjacent to the hotel, occupied by Mary Ann’s Mexican restaurant, and replace it with a six-story structure.

At an earlier June 2 hearing, local residents and Council Member Alan Gerson had opposed the plan. The Commissioners then rejected the original design, objecting to its non-contextual features and criticizing the building’s “floating” glass-facade base, its metal-paneled sixth floor, and the existing building’s proposed aluminum marquee. 6 CityLand 94 (July 15, 2009).

Matthew Gottsegen, of Franke Gottsegen Cox, revised the proposal, which now featured a newly designed ground floor with a stone base and steel column covers with glass infill. A cast-stone band would separate the commercial ground floor from the floors above. The new design eliminated the top floor’s metal panels and replaced them with brick and a zinc-coated copper cornice. Gottsegen explained that the redesigned storefront would “ground” the building and that the redesigned top floor would “unify” the structure. (read more…)

Expansion plan calls for demolition of neighboring building. On June 2, 2009, Landmarks considered the expansion plans for the Cosmopolitan Hotel located at the corner of West Broadway and Chambers Street within the Tribeca South Historic District. The applicants planned to demolish the two-story 1967 building adjacent to the hotel, home to Mary Ann’s Mexican restaurant, replacing it with a six-story, brick-face building with an aluminum marquee and metal detailing. The district’s designation report lists the 1967 building, proposed for demolition, as a non-contributing structure. The applicants also proposed a new rooftop bulkhead on the existing hotel, which dates back to 1844.

Matthew Gottsegen, of Franke Gottsegen Cox Architects, explained that the new six-story building would match the height of adjacent loft buildings. On its ground floor, a continuous aluminum marquee would crown a wrap-around, glass facade. Gottsegen chose brick for the second through fifth floors to correspond to the original hotel’s brick facade, and a metal-paneled sixth floor. Gottsegen characterized the new building’s design as one that “acknowledges context but is a building of its time.” Gottsegen pointed out that the original hotel had also undergone significant changes over the years, increasing in height from four to seven stories. (read more…)