Beware the Park Avenue pillagers!

Who is out of place here?

The residents of Carnegie Hill are not particularly experienced in protest techniques—they are more likely to walk through throngs of the demonstrators than to walk among them. But a new Toll Brothers development on Park Avenue has inspired angry Upper East Siders to take up the picket.

In a vertical city like New York, simple signs on sticks do not do much good, so neighbors have resorted to a more high-flying technique for their "visual protest" this morning, unfurling homemade banners from one of their buildings that read "Save Our History."

"We're all rookies at this, not professional protesters," said Lucinda Ballard, who lives in 1112 Park Avenue, right next to the two pre-Civil War townhouses that the Philadelphia-based Toll Brothers is almost certainly planning to replace with a tower, but has thus far refused to confirm.

Plans for something are certainly moving forward, however, and applications for building permits to remove cornices, replace windows and do "partial demolition," have been filed with the city.

Park Avenue Neighbors claim that the work is "clearly a first step toward razing these two historic buildings. The clock is ticking and the wrecking ball looms."

Limited liability corporation 89 Park Avenue LLC purchased both 1110 Park Avenue and 1108 Park Avenue in March, paying a total of $29.5 million ($16.5 million for 1110 and $13 million for 1108). Between the two properties, air rights allow for a 40,000-square-foot potential project (the Toll Brothers tower is rumored to be 15 stories).

Residents, particularly those of 1112 Park Avenue—who stand to lose not only the historic buildings but also their views—have launched a campaign to landmark the buildings, gathering hundreds of signatures on a petition to save the buildings and requesting an emergency meeting with Landmarks Preservation Commission chair Robert Tierney.

Wedged between two much-larger buildings and located outside the Carnegie Hill Historic District, the townhouses seem like obvious marks for development, but Ms. Ballard said that in the past, the owner of 1108 had assured them that he would never sell the property to a developer.

"This is not about disgruntled people losing their views. That is really not the issue," Ms. Ballard said. "These houses were built in 1856, when everything around them was cornfields, they are the oldest residential homes on Park Avenue north of 63rd Street. It is wrong to tear them down without a debate."

Although a request for Landmarks Preservation to extend the Carnegie Hill historic district from 86th to 96th Streets was filed two years ago, the request has not been calendared and residents are looking toward landmarking just the two townhouses to stop the construction work from damaging the buildings and weakening the case for preservation. They hold up the preservation of a historic horse stable in Greenwich Village as an example of what they hope to achieve.

"They're not architectural masterpieces, they were the houses of working class people and they tell a different story about Park Avenue," Ms. Ballard said.

For its part, Landmarks has not been particularly encouraging. "While it may be eligible for historic district status, the proposed district is not a priority at this time," spokeswoman Elizabeth de Bourbon wrote to The Observer. And views were not among the factors that the Commission considered, she told the The Wall Street Journal. "It is our job to protect the historic character and integrity of a neighborhood."

But if such traditional techniques fail, the group is not against adopting some very unPark Avenue-like tactics.

"This is the first time I've really been involved with anything like this," said resident William Simmons, sounding both surprised and excited to find himself in the role of protester. He admitted that he was a little disheartened by how small the banners appeared from the street, but not dissuaded from trying new and unorthodox methods.

"We're trying to figure out how to get our concerns in the public eye," Mr. Simmons said. "Do we take placards and go out and march? Maybe."

kvelsey@observer.com

Will these townhouses soon meet the wrecking ball? Signs point to yes.

Toll Brothers is still pulling a "no comment" when it comes to rumors of  a Carnegie Hill tower, but plans for something are certainly moving apace on Park Avenue.

The same limited liability corporation—89 Park Avenue LLC—that purchased 1110 Park Avenue for $16.5 million (10 percent more than the $14.9 million ask) has also closed on 1108 Park Avenue for $13 million. And 1108 wasn't even listed for sale!

It is entirely possible some unknown entity likes this block enough to spend $29.5 million on two nice-enough but kind of meh townhouses—stranger things have happened, and this gives a fat 40 feet of frontage—but the far more likely plan would appear to be development.

Although the two townhouses hardly look like tear-downs, they're wedged between two, much-larger apartment buildings, so it probably didn't take a great deal of imagination on the buyer's part to see a potential site for a residential tower (rumored to be 15 stories). Besides, the Salomon Brothers listing for 1110 Park Avenue even hyped the property's air rights that would permit over 20,000 square feet to be built on the site. According to Property Shark, an equal amount of development rights is available at 1108, making for a 40,000-square-foot potential project.

If Toll Brothers is behind these purchases, it would make a lot of sense. The Philadelphia-based McMansion builders have done very well adapting to the Upper East Side with Touraine, their ritzy East 65th Street development  (although interior photos of the units suggest that the tastes of Upper East Siders may not be so different from that of suburban McMansion dwellers).

The seller was the estate of Joseph Bogen.

We'd guess that the sale of both townhouses will spur the residents of neighboring buildings, who have already been quietly mobilizing to stop the still unconfirmed development, to take more aggressive, maybe even public, action against the building.

Even before any official word is released, the residents of 1112 are said to be mulling a lawsuit against the view-obstructing development, and Carnegie Hill Neighbors is circulating a petition to have the historic district extended north to 96th Street, which would encompass the two buildings. Not that that would stop the project, but it would at least give the city's Landmarks Preservation Commission oversight over whatever gets built.

kvelsey@observer.com

A Toll Brother's tear down?

It turns out that Carnegie Hill residents are not so thrilled about whatever plans Philadelphia-based McMansion builder Toll Brothers might have for their neighborhood.

Following news that the builders, who have slowly been expanding their Manhattan presence, had closed on the purchase of a townhouse at 1110 Park Avenue and also had their eye on neighboring 1108 Park Avenue, Tolls' new neighbors are trying to stop them.

Toll Brothers has kept mum about the whole thing (a rep told the Observer that the company is not commenting on the transaction), but rumors are circulating that the developer plans to build a 15-story tower where the two townhouses now stand, according to Curbed.

It comes as no surprise that nearby townhouse dwellers are not super happy about the possibility of a new tower rising in their midst. Even if the developer's New York properties are a far cry from McMansion, they do share at least one characteristic—size.

Curbed reports that not only are residents writing letters to get the Landmarks Preservation Committee to extend the historic district from 86th to 96th Street (the buildings lie right outside the Carnegie Hill historic district), but residents of neighboring 1112 Park Avenue may have hired a lawyer in attempt to block any project that could block their view. (Never mind that theirs, and just about every other building on Park, is now quite large, the days of townhouses and mansions on the boulevard long since passed.)

Extending historic districts, or at least trying to, is not uncommon—at the moment, expansions are being considered in Bed-Stuy, Park Slope and Crown Heights. But it's a lengthy process and Toll Brothers, or whoever is behind the purchase, appears to be moving fast—Curbed reports that the developer has asked three commercial tenants in the buildings to leave by July 1.

kvelsey@observer.com

Curbed recently heard rumors that Toll had closed on the purchase of 1110 Park Avenue, a 25-foot-wide redbrick townhouse, and might even have an eye on neighboring 1108 Park Avenue. The former indeed appears to be true, as the property just sold for $16.5 million, according to city records. That is a big premium on the $14.95 million ask, too.

Assuming a combo is in place, a premium makes sense. A bidding war seems unlikely, considering the home sat on the market for 14 months before selling. The name on the deed is 89 Park Avenue LLC, but it is care of Ken Greenspan, a corporate council for Toll, and the return address is the company headquarters in the Philadelphia suburb of Horsham, Penn.

The home once belonged to Judith Rothschild, the abstract artist, and it was sold by her estate at the peak of the market in 2007 for $15 million. A foreclosure followed, and it was sold again in 2010 for $8.75 million. Three months later, it came back on the market with its eight-figure asking price. The seller is Nicole Salmasi, according to the deed, whose husband Allen, founded NextWave wireless and once bought his wife a $250,000 necklace. If he keeps flipping homes for many millions of dollars, he should have no problem keeping the habit up.

The listing, from Stephen Salmon of Slamon and Co. brokers, even hyped the development potential. "Air rights permit over 20,000 square feet to be built on the site," Mr. Salmon notes, adding for good measure, "The property is not landmarked." Indeed, it lies just outside the Carnegie Hill historic district.

That means Toll could build pretty much whatever it wants, though it bears noting the firm has a strong track record of hiring quality architects, among them FXFowle and Rogers Marvel Architects. And if the rumors about 1108 Park are true, this is quite the site—according to Property Shark, that four story townhouse, which has belonged to a Joseph Bogen since 1976, according to city record, also has 20,000 square feet of air rights available, making for a formidable little 40,000-square-foot development.

Toll Brothers has developed another townhouse site at the corner of Madison Avenue and 65th Street, where the developer tore down the 11,200-square-foot Crocodile Manor, for which it paid a little less than $30 million to CUNY, the former owner of the property. Toll turned the site into a faux turn-of-the-century condo tower called The Tourraine.

Why tear down such prime property, for which much was paid? Two penthouses at the Tourraine are currently on the fmarket for $20 million and $13.6 million, that's why. No unit costs less than a million dollars, either.

Update, 4:23: This post has been updated with additional details about the property and Toll Brothers.

mchaban [at] observer.com | @MC_NYC