[
EVG photo from August]
Last week, the Landmarks Preservation Commission (LPC) approved a proposal to landmark the circa-1866 cast-iron buildings at 827-831 Broadway between 12th Street and 13th Street.
This decision spared the buildings from demolition.
As previously reported, Quality Capital and Caerus Group bought the parcel between 12th Street and 13th Street last summer for $60 million. The deal reportedly included 30,000 square feet of air rights, which would be put to use for a 14-floor office building.
Back to the developer's plans in a minute.
The Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation (GVSHP) campaigned the past 18 months to help preserve these buildings where artists Willem and Elaine de Kooning and Paul Jenkins, among others, lived and worked.
Per
Curbed:
The [LPC] vote represents an unusual kind of designation for the commission that takes into special account the cultural history of the site. (Similar designations include the Stonewall Inn and Tammany Hall.) "The building itself, regardless of the destination, is worthy of designation," said Commissioner Frederick Bland. "What happened in it, regardless of the building, is worthy of designation."
According to the GVSHP, the developers said that if the buildings were landmarked, they would return with a claim of "hardship" to get out of landmarking or a proposal for an addition.
On Monday night,
Community Board 2's Landmarks Committee will hear the developer's new proposal (find it
here) "to construct a multiple story setback addition on the roof."
And the rendering:
The addition, at first glance, looks as if it blew in from the set of "
Geostorm." However, the reflective faƧade is meant to represent Willem de Kooning's rural and pastoral landscape phase as well as his urban landscapes.
In an email, the GVSHP stated: "[T]his proposed 4-story addition is overwhelming in comparison to the building, and would nearly double its height."
The CB2 meeting is Monday at 6:30 p.m., NYU Silver Building, 32 Waverly Place, Room 207. The meeting is open to the public, who can ask questions and provide feedback on the proposal. CB2 will issue an advisory opinion and then the proposal will be scheduled for a hearing and vote with the LPC at a later date. Find more info
here.
Previously on EV Grieve:
Report: 14-story building planned for 827 Broadway
An appeal to landmark these buildings on Broadway