Landmarks had approved three-story addition for existing five-story building in 2002. On November 22, 2011, Landmarks rejected Axia Realty’s proposal to build a ten-story addition on a five-story building at 40 East 72nd Street in the Upper East Side Historic District. The midblock site originally consisted of two 1881 rowhouses, which in 1928 were converted to a single, neo-classical apartment building. The building is adjacent to fifteen- and fourteenstory buildings. Landmarks in 2002 approved plans for a three-story addition, but it was never built.

Axia’s architect, Barry Rice, claimed that the ten-story addition would bring the building in line with the other buildings on the southern side of East 72nd Street. Rice stated that the addition would be set back further than the previously approved addition, and would not impact the majority of the lot-line windows on the neighboring building at 36 East 72nd Street. The brick-clad addition would feature a tripartite design, with two window bays on each side of a large indented central bay. The addition would be visible along East 72nd Street and East 71st Street. Rice noted that the property was located within the Special Park Improvement District, which he claimed was created to promote the most desirable use of land.

In response to questions from the Commissioners, Rice explained that the previously approved addition would not be visible from the street. According to Rice, Axia planned to proceed with the threes-tory addition if it did not receive approval for the current proposal.  (read more…)

Landmarks requested developer consider reducing proposal impacting buildings adjacent to the Whitney Museum. On October 18, 2011, Landmarks considered Daniel E. Straus’s proposal to alter and redevelop eight buildings adjacent to the Whitney Museum along Madison Avenue and East 74th Street in the Upper East Side Historic District. The site includes six rowhouses at 933 to 943 Madison Avenue and two townhouses at 31 and 33 East 74th Street. Straus purchased the buildings from the Whitney in 2010. The museum in 2005 and 2006 had obtained approvals from Landmarks and the Board of Standards & Appeals for an expansion plan that included building a Renzo Pianodesigned 178-foot tower behind the facades of the rowhouses on Madison Avenue. 3 CityLand 122 (Sept. 15, 2006). The Whitney, however, abandoned the project and instead decided to build a new museum facility in the Meatpacking District.

Architect Richard Metsky, from Beyer Blinder Belle, presented Straus’s plan. Straus planned to replace the heavily altered rowhouse abutting the Whitney at 943 Madison Avenue with a new infill building. A visible two-story addition would be built on top of the remaining five rowhouses along Madison Avenue, and the facades of the rowhouses would be restored. Straus would demolish a one-story infill building behind 933 Madison Avenue and a rear extension of 31 East 74th Street and build a nine-story residential building that would be set back 25 feet from East 74th Street. A one-story set-back rooftop addition would be added to 33 East 74th Street. The addition and new building would be clad in terra cotta to match the Madison Avenue rowhouses. Metsky said the neutral palette would not distract from the historic district and would become part of the background.

Valerie Campbell, Straus’s attorney, noted that while the project’s residential uses would be permitted as of right, Straus would need BSA variances to build the project.  (read more…)

Developer only needed approval for new building’s facade before demolishing existing no-style building. On May 11, 2010, Landmarks approved Orlandi Realty’s revised facade design for a townhouse at 12 East 76th Street in the Upper East Side Historic District. The five-story building occupying the site was built in the early 1880s and extensively redesigned in 1946. Orlandi Realty plans to demolish the majority of the existing structure and construct a new five-story building in its place. Because Landmarks classified the townhouse as a no-style structure in the historic district’s 1981 designation report, Orlandi Realty only needed Landmarks approval for a new facade design before demolishing the building. This requirement only applies to the Upper East Side Historic District.

At the proposal’s initial hearing in April, Bill Higgins, of Higgins, Quasebarth & Partners, represented promulthe owner. Higgins said the new five-story, sandstone-clad townhouse would be a “respectful, classical building” designed by architect Umberto Squarcia. The front facade would include a cornice and balustrade, wood-casement windows, wrought-iron balconies, and a new at-grade entrance. The new building’s rear facade would feature brick with stone lintels and would not differ significantly from the existing rear facade.

The proposal was met with opposition from preservationists. A representative of Friends of the Upper East Side said the group could not support the construction of a “hybrid contemporary-classical townhouse.” The Historic District Council’s Nadezhda Williams said the building’s details had not been fully developed or explained and called the fenestration “awkward.” Manhattan Community Board 8 submitted a letter in opposition. (read more…)

Landmarks approved plan to partially demolish deteriorating rowhouses, but expressed concerns about developer’s townhouse conversion proposal. On January 5, 2010, Landmarks approved part of the Chetrit Group’s redevelopment proposal for six 1885-era rowhouses at 110 through 120 East 76th Street in the Upper East Side Historic District. The proposal required two separate applications. Chetrit Group requested approval to partially demolish at least two of the deteriorated rowhouses, while retaining and stabilizing the front facades. Landmarks also considered the developer’s plan to convert the six rowhouses into three large townhouses with two-story additions.

At the hearing, Tim Lynch, director of Buildings’ forensic engineering unit, testified that the interiors of 112 and 114 East 76th Street were structurally compromised and progressively degrading. He said there was no way to salvage the two buildings beyond shoring and bracing their facades, and that the situation needed to be stabilized “immediately.” Lynch noted that the rowhouses rely on each other for stability and said 116 and 110 East 76th Street would be at risk as well. (read more…)

Approval included changes in response to Commissioners’ comments. On October 16, 2007, Landmarks voted to issue a certificate of appropriateness to allow construction of a five-story townhouse at 34 East 62nd Street, located between Madison and Park Avenues in the Upper East Side Historic District. The approved building will replace an 1882 townhouse that was destroyed in 2006 by a gas explosion in an apparent suicide. It will feature a limestone exterior with a combination of opaque and clear curtain-wall windows.

When Landmarks previously considered the building’s design, neighbors and preservationists criticized its stark contrast to other buildings on the block, fifth-floor balcony’s large overhang, and recessed entrance. Landmarks closed the hearing without a vote but asked the architect to amend his designs, particularly with respect to the recessed entrance. 4 CityLand 142 (Oct. 15, 2007). (read more…)

Local residents oppose proposed design. On September 18, 2007, Landmarks held a public hearing on the controversial proposal from developer Janna Bulluck to construct a modern five-story townhouse at 34 East 62nd Street in the Upper East Side Historic District to replace the 1882 townhouse destroyed by a gas explosion in 2006.

Located between Madison Avenue and Park Avenue, the original brownstone once served as headquarters for “The Room,” an upper-class club that later served as a center for intelligence and espionage during the Presidency of Franklin D. Roosevelt. (read more…)