The Chetrit Group has applied to the Landmarks Preservation Commission for permission to convert six townhouses on the south side of 76th Street between Park and Lexington Avenues into three double-wide townhouses, all with setback, two-story roof additions.
The buildings are located at 110-120 East 76th Street and are across from Lenox Hill Hospital.
The commission held a public hearing today on the application and approved the partial demolition of 112 and 114 East 76th Street and authorized its staff to approve partial demolition work at 110 and 116 East 76th Street as might be deemed necessary by the Department of Buildings.
Macrae-Gibson is the architectural firm for the project, which calls for gutting and altering the buildings and their facades. The proposed new facades are shown in the rendering at the right. The proposed altered three residences would have about 18,000 square feet each, which an article today at Curbed.com by Joey Arad said were described by a preservationist testifying against the project as "bloated McMansions."
The commission did not vote today on the proposed facade modifications. The project would make the central new residential building have a limestone facade while the buildings on either side would be faced with brownstone.
The six buildings were designed and built in 1885 by Augustus Hatfield for John J. Macdonald, a developer. According to the New York Landmarks Conservancy "they are modest three-story structures over basements designed in the Neo-Grec style, with incised foliate ornament on the window surrounds."
"Other historic features of the buildings, like the stoops, have been removed, painted over, or disfigured by neglect. Lenox Hill Hospital purchased the buildings over a number of years, owning all of them by 1976. In 1989 the hospital proposed to turn them into a sports medicine center designed by architect James B. Polshek. Although the adaptive reuse proposal was approved by the Landmarks Commission, it was never executed. The buildings appear to be completely vacant, although until recently some space was used for offices," according to the conservancy.
"Some cosmetic repairs have been made to the ground floor facades, but the buildings continue to look blighted and remain substantially vacant, an anomaly in a thriving historic district," the conservancy added.
The buildings are located at 110-120 East 76th Street and are across from Lenox Hill Hospital.
The commission held a public hearing today on the application and approved the partial demolition of 112 and 114 East 76th Street and authorized its staff to approve partial demolition work at 110 and 116 East 76th Street as might be deemed necessary by the Department of Buildings.
Macrae-Gibson is the architectural firm for the project, which calls for gutting and altering the buildings and their facades. The proposed new facades are shown in the rendering at the right. The proposed altered three residences would have about 18,000 square feet each, which an article today at Curbed.com by Joey Arad said were described by a preservationist testifying against the project as "bloated McMansions."
The commission did not vote today on the proposed facade modifications. The project would make the central new residential building have a limestone facade while the buildings on either side would be faced with brownstone.
The six buildings were designed and built in 1885 by Augustus Hatfield for John J. Macdonald, a developer. According to the New York Landmarks Conservancy "they are modest three-story structures over basements designed in the Neo-Grec style, with incised foliate ornament on the window surrounds."
"Other historic features of the buildings, like the stoops, have been removed, painted over, or disfigured by neglect. Lenox Hill Hospital purchased the buildings over a number of years, owning all of them by 1976. In 1989 the hospital proposed to turn them into a sports medicine center designed by architect James B. Polshek. Although the adaptive reuse proposal was approved by the Landmarks Commission, it was never executed. The buildings appear to be completely vacant, although until recently some space was used for offices," according to the conservancy.
"Some cosmetic repairs have been made to the ground floor facades, but the buildings continue to look blighted and remain substantially vacant, an anomaly in a thriving historic district," the conservancy added.
Architecture Critic
Carter Horsley
Since 1997, Carter B. Horsley has been the editorial director of CityRealty. He began his journalistic career at The New York Times in 1961 where he spent 26 years as a reporter specializing in real estate & architectural news. In 1987, he became the architecture critic and real estate editor of The New York Post.
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