122 Greenwich Avenue.
On Tuesday, the Landmarks Preservation Commission declined to make a decision regarding 122 Greenwich Avenue, at Eighth Avenue and 13th Street in the Village. According to City Realty and other attendees, there was much back and forth, with some residents–and the New York Landmarks Conservancy and the NYC Chapter of the American Institute of Architects–favoring Hines’ plan to develop the current parking lot into an 11-story, 36-unit glass-sheathed undulating residential tower, and several dozen opposed to it. The ground floor, at 8,000 square feet, is planned for retail.
Andrew Berman, executive director of the Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation, told The Real Estate that his organization opposes the project because it doesn’t fit in with the historic character of the neighborhood, and the location–where Greenwich Avenue, Eighth Avenue, 13th and Horatio streets converge–provides wide-open sightlines, and the building would be at “a very visible location,” detracting from the Village’s traditional architecture. “This isn’t a side street,” Mr. Berman said, where idiosyncratic buildings are merely quirky. Instead, the proposed development would set the tone for the entire neighborhood.
Because the lot sits within the Greenwich Village Historic District, the L.P.C. must sign off on any development before the project breaks ground.
The L.P.C. will hold a public meeting on the development in the near future.
-Matthew Grace
