Proposed hotel project (elevation along West 28th Street). Credit: Platt Byard Dovell White
Set-back tower would rise straight up from two-story McKim Mead & White base. On July 24, 2012, Landmarks considered Quartz Associates LLC’s proposal to develop a mid-block hotel tower on top of a five-story bank building designed by McKim Mead & White at the corner of West 28th Street and Fifth Avenue in the Madison Square North Historic District. The hotel would rise above a two-story extension of the building and face West 28th Street. Quartz Associates also proposed adding a new penthouse to the building’s fifth floor along Fifth Avenue. The entire building will be used for the hotel, with the rooftop addition serving as a restaurant.
According to Quartz Associates’ attorney Robert Davis, the proposal complies with the site’s C5-2 zoning. Architect Charles Platt, of Platt Byard Dovell White, presented the proposal. Rather than design the building with a series of setbacks, the tower would be set back fifteen feet from the two-story base and rise straight up. Platt claimed a building with several setbacks would ultimately be too narrow to accommodate the necessary hotel rooms. The tower would be clad in precast concrete with inlaid light-tan brick. It would feature metal spandrel panels and strong vertical piers of different widths facing 28th Street. The tower would be visible from over the roof of the building along Fifth Avenue.
