At today’s Landmarks Preservation Commission meeting, commissioners responded to the March 12 presentation for a proposed new 220 ft. tall, 228 ft. wide new building on the parking lot at the northeast corner of Lafayette and Great Jones Streets. 

The upshot? The commissioners didn’t approve the proposed design as is, but they didn’t reject it either. Instead, each expressed sometimes varying opinions about the design and what they thought was acceptable and what needed to change. It’s now incumbent upon the applicant to take that feedback into account and submit a revised design, which would be heard at a later hearing, date to be determined. A revised design would give the public the opportunity to again submit comments on the proposal. 

Village Preservation strongly objected to the overwhelming size and mass of the building, particularly on Great Jones Street, the overwhelming monotony of the design, and the lack of any appropriate treatment of the very visible rear and side facades of the proposed building. Many of the Commissioners’ comments included some if not all of those themes, as well as introducing some others. You can watch the video of the discussion on the LPC’s YouTube page. 

We will continue to closely monitor this hugely consequential application, and keep the public up to date about its status and how you can participate in the approval process. The proposed building is so large due to the SoHo/NoHo Rezoning we vociferously opposed, but we continue to advocate for the Landmarks Preservation Commission to ensure that the design for a new building here is appropriate for its historic context.