Developer obtained building permit for thirteen-story building before Landmarks extended NoHo Historic District to include site. On January 19, 2010, Landmarks considered Louis Greco and SDS Great Jones LLC’s application to alter the proposed exterior of a partially built, thirteen-story hotel at 25 Great Jones Street in the NoHo Historic District Extension. The lot’s former owner initially obtained building permits to construct a ten-story building on the through-block lot in 1997. After changes in ownership, building construction began in 2007, and the current owner obtained a new permit for a thirteen-story hotel in Januaryof 2008. Under the approved permit, the narrow structure will set back from the street with entrances on Great Jones and Bond Streets.

The property came under Landmarks’ jurisdiction when Landmarks approved the NoHo Historic District extension in May 2008. 5 CityLand 76 (June 15, 2008). Landmarks does not have control over the proposed hotel’s height and massing because of the valid 2008 permit, but its approval is required for any changes to the design approved by Buildings in 2008. (read more…)

Council votes to include Bowery SRO in NoHo historic district extension. On September 4, 2008, the City Council voted to approve the proposed NoHo historic district extension and ended the debate over whether the Whitehouse Hotel should be included within the district. The approval adds 56 more buildings, all between Lafayette Street and Bowery, to the district. Landmarks voted to designate the area in May after hearing testimony from residents such as artist Chuck Close, elected officials, and preservationists. 5 CityLand 42 (April 15, 2008).

Of the six property owners who initially opposed designation, only Metro Sixteen Hotel LLC, owner of the Whitehouse Hotel at 342 Bowery, remained opposed when the issue reached Council. Metro planned to demolish the existing four-story building, which operates as an SRO and is one of the few remaining Bowery “flophouses.” Once demolished, Metro proposed to build a nine-story luxury hotel. (read more…)

Landmarks declines to exempt Metro Sixteen Hotel from district. On May 13, 2008, Landmarks voted unanimously to designate the NoHo Historic District Extension, increasing the number of protected buildings from 167 to 223. The extension is bounded by Lafayette Street to the west, Bowery to the east, East 4th Street to the north, and Bond Street to the south.

The extension includes a historically commercial neighborhood characterized by mid-19th century loft buildings and tenements built to house workers. Following a decline in manufacturing after World War II, artists such as Chuck Close began to convert abandoned lofts into studios and living spaces in the 1960s. (read more…)

Developers and property owners oppose extension. Landmarks heard testimony on a proposal to extend the NoHo Historic District to include 56 buildings, located between Broadway and Lafayette Streets from Bleecker to West 4th Street.

The proposed extension includes a historically commercial area characterized by mid-19th century loft buildings, Federal- and Greek Revival-style structures, and tenements built to house local workers. The area remained almost exclusively commercial until the decline of manufacturing in Manhattan following World War II. In the 1960s, artists began to convert abandoned lofts into studios and living spaces, transforming the area into a focal point of the art world by the 1970s, with Chuck Close, Robert Mapplethorpe, and Jean-Michel Basquiat all living there at one time. (read more…)