Rendering of 27 East 4th Street, Image Credit: CPC/SRAA+E Architecture and Engineering

Supporters of preserving the Merchant House Museum rejoice in victory, but the battle may not be over as future demolition and construction is possible. On September 26, 2018, the City Council voted to disapprove the application for a rezoning at 27 East 4^th Street in Manhattan. The Application would have allowed for an 8-story, 28-room hotel or office building with a restaurant and lobby below the second floor, with approximately 17,141 square feet of total floor area. The development site is located within the NoHo Historic District Extension, and is adjacent to the Merchant House Museum, an 1832 rowhouse that is an individual, interior, and national historic landmark. The Merchant House was the City’s first designated landmark and one of the first 20 landmarks designated in the state. It is only one of 120 interior landmarks in the City and one of only 6 residences. (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. (more…)

Rendering of proposed building at 27 East 4th Street. Image Credit: SRA Architecture and Engineering.

Applicants responded to public testimony, which focused on potential damage to the adjoining landmarks, by detailing the excavation, construction and monitoring plans for the new building. On March 12, 2013, the Landmarks Preservation Commission continued a hearing on a proposed new building at 27 East 4th Street, in the NoHo Historic District Extension. The proposed building is adjacent to the Merchant’s House, an individual exterior and interior landmark and museum at 29 East 4th Street.

At the first hearing on September 11, 2012, elected officials, representatives of the museum, the NYC Department of Parks & Recreation, which owns the property, Manhattan Community Board 2, and members of the public, all expressed strong concern about the potential negative impact of the project on the Merchant’s House. (See CityLand’s past coverage here). The hearing was cut short due to the quantity of public testimony and without an opportunity for the applicants to respond to the criticism or for Commissioners to comment on the application.

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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. (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. (more…)