The Landmarks Preservation Commission yesterday approved Joseph Pell Lombardi's design for the "Glass Atelier," a six-story residential loft building in TriBeCa with an all-glass facade modeled to resemble a traditional Romanesque Revival 19th Century commercial building.
The project is located at 401 Greenwich Street in the TriBeCa West Historic District and it requires that a two-story, vacant building at 403 Greenwich Street be demolished.
Mr. Lombardi is one of the city's best-known and most active converters of older commercial properties into residential buildings and his other projects include the conversion of the Liberty Tower at 55 Liberty Street, the former headquarters of the Sinclair Oil Company, in the Financial District; 30 Crosby Street in SoHo; and many well-known projects in TriBeCa such as the Ice House at 27 North Moore Street, the Mohawk Atelier at 161 Duane Street, the Pearline Soap Atelier at 414 Washington Street, the Juilliard Building at 18 Leonard Street, and the United States Sugar Building at 79 Laight Street.
This project, which is located between Beach and Hubert Streets, was described by Robert Tierney, the chairman of the Landmarks Preservation Commission, as "carefully" and "sensitively" done, according to an article in today's edition of the TriBeCa Trib by Matt Dunning.
The building's facade would be made with clear glass bricks, and its steel frame would be covered in white concrete to appear "ghost-like," according to Mr. Dunning's article that noted that in March the project was approved by Community Board 1 where Roger Byrom, the chair of its landmarks committee, said "we find it intriguing, but we'd like assurances on as many fronts as we can."
The article said that the community board "subsequently received a letter from Pittsburgh Corning, the Pennsylvania-based manufacturing company of the glass bricks, stating that although the building would be the first of its kind, they had confidence in Lombardi's design."
An existing six-story office building at the site was erected just seven years ago and will be stripped to its steel frame, according to the article.
The commission last month asked Mr. Lombardi to lower the height of the building by two feet and Mr. Lombardi told the commission that construction might not begin for another two years.
"The developers, DG Realty Holdings, plan to put 10 rental apartments in the building," according to Mr. Dunning's article, "with two retail stores on the ground floor. But the city has yet to rezone northern Tribeca to allow residential construction without a special permit, so the developers are calling the Glass Atelier an office building for the time being. If proposed rezoning is not passed by the time the building is completed, the developers would apply for the special permit from the city."
The project is located at 401 Greenwich Street in the TriBeCa West Historic District and it requires that a two-story, vacant building at 403 Greenwich Street be demolished.
Mr. Lombardi is one of the city's best-known and most active converters of older commercial properties into residential buildings and his other projects include the conversion of the Liberty Tower at 55 Liberty Street, the former headquarters of the Sinclair Oil Company, in the Financial District; 30 Crosby Street in SoHo; and many well-known projects in TriBeCa such as the Ice House at 27 North Moore Street, the Mohawk Atelier at 161 Duane Street, the Pearline Soap Atelier at 414 Washington Street, the Juilliard Building at 18 Leonard Street, and the United States Sugar Building at 79 Laight Street.
This project, which is located between Beach and Hubert Streets, was described by Robert Tierney, the chairman of the Landmarks Preservation Commission, as "carefully" and "sensitively" done, according to an article in today's edition of the TriBeCa Trib by Matt Dunning.
The building's facade would be made with clear glass bricks, and its steel frame would be covered in white concrete to appear "ghost-like," according to Mr. Dunning's article that noted that in March the project was approved by Community Board 1 where Roger Byrom, the chair of its landmarks committee, said "we find it intriguing, but we'd like assurances on as many fronts as we can."
The article said that the community board "subsequently received a letter from Pittsburgh Corning, the Pennsylvania-based manufacturing company of the glass bricks, stating that although the building would be the first of its kind, they had confidence in Lombardi's design."
An existing six-story office building at the site was erected just seven years ago and will be stripped to its steel frame, according to the article.
The commission last month asked Mr. Lombardi to lower the height of the building by two feet and Mr. Lombardi told the commission that construction might not begin for another two years.
"The developers, DG Realty Holdings, plan to put 10 rental apartments in the building," according to Mr. Dunning's article, "with two retail stores on the ground floor. But the city has yet to rezone northern Tribeca to allow residential construction without a special permit, so the developers are calling the Glass Atelier an office building for the time being. If proposed rezoning is not passed by the time the building is completed, the developers would apply for the special permit from the city."
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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