Landmarks Commission approves revised and scaled down Puck Building roof addition

The Landmarks Preservation Commission voted unanimously yesterday to approve revised and significantly reduced rooftop additions to the Puck Building at 295 Lafayette Street on the southeast corner at Houston Street.

The building is owned by the Kushner Companies. Jared Kushner, the head of the company and the publisher of The New York Observer, a weekly newspaper in Manhattan, had proposed in August adding six penthouse units on the stepped roofs of the 1885-6 building that had been originally designed by Albert Wagner. Mr. Kushner is married to the former Ivanka Trump, whose father is Donald Trump.

The proposed addition was originally very modern in appearance and was designed by Sherida Paulson, a former chairperson of the landmarks commission.

The proposal was presented to the commission in September and sent back for further revision. In new plans presented in October, one of the penthouses was raised five more feet to accommodate a rooftop swimming pool, according to a report at ny.curbed.com by Jeremiah Budin, who noted that one commissioner said the proposal was "too big, too tall, too visible, and calls too much attention to itself by the nature of its design."

In an August 8, 2011 article in The New York Post, Lois Weiss wrote that Mr. Kushner was "planning as many as six elegant and energy-efficient units that will range in size from 5,000 square feet to 8,500 square feet and range in price from $15 million to $50 million," adding that four of the penthouses also will have private terraces.

The building once housed the famous humor magazine, Puck, and has two large gilded statues on its facades by sculptor Henry Baerer of Shakespeare's mischievous and spunky character Puck, from A Midsummer's Night Dream.

"We are very glad that the Landmarks Preservation Commission listened to calls from New Yorkers to reject prior versions of this proposal which would have overwhelmed and fundamentally changed one of our city's most iconic and beloved landmark," said Andrew Berman, executive director of the Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation. "Only time will tell if the final, scaled-back version approved by Landmarks today is truly worthy of this great New York landmark," he added.

The approved additions are now 20 feet shorter, the size has been reduced by about 1,500 square feet and the exterior of the additions has been changed from mostly glass to masonry.

Jared Kushner said he was "very pleased with the outcome," adding that "the final result" will be a "spectacular addition, which is very much in line with the character of the building, which is very special and unique." The plan will replace missing crenellations to the roofline.

The original plan was to convert the top floors of the 10-story building into a six-unit, high-end condominium with apartments ranging from $15 million to $50 million.

The Puck building is directly across from 290 Mulberry Street, a recently completed, 12-story, 9-unit residential condominium building designed by SHoP Architects PC that is distinguished by its unusual masonry facade that slightly undulates.

An article today at crainsnewyork.com by Amanda Fung indicated that 290 Mulberry Street was sold by Cardinal Real Estate Investments for $25 million and will be converted to a rental property early next year. The article said that Cardinal and SHoP will remain involved in the project.

SHoP Architects designed The Porter House, a 10-story condominium development at 66 Ninth Avenue noted by its irregular fenestration and facade illumination pattern that dominates the north end of the Meatpacking District and is one of the most interesting combinations of old and new architecture in the city.

The Puck Building is directly north of 285 Lafayette Street, whose developers spent three years convincing the City Planning Commission to remap the site to permit its conversion from commercial to residential use and to enlarge the existing non-fireproof building.

Their solution was to erect a fireproof building over the non-fireproof building.

According to an article in New York Construction News, "Because the non-fireproof columns could not be used, the structural engineer devised a system of steel beams hung from tubular grillage spanning up to 70 ft. between existing masonry walls."

The expanded project was completed in 1999 and the efforts of Allied Partners Inc., the developer, were successful especially when David Bowie, the rock star, bought one of the penthouse units and Patrick McEnroe, the tennis player, purchased an apartment. Other purchasers included IBM heiress Olive Watson, the owner of Tootsi Plohound, and Eric Nederlander of the theater family.

The eight penthouses in the new section of the building have wood-burning fireplaces and 26-foot-high ceilings. The 10-story building has 21 condominium apartments on top of the original six-story loft building that was built in 1912.

A former candy factory, it was converted by Eric Hadar, Larry Friedland and Arnold Penner.

In 2004, this neighborhood got two new buildings, the attractive, 9-story, 32-unit red-brick, condominium building at SoHo 25 at 25 West Houston Street was designed by H. Thomas O'Hara and Beyer Blinder Belle and developed by Metropolitan Housing Partners, and a handsome and modern commercial building on the northeast corner of Broadway and Houston Street.