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The Landmarks Preservation Commission approved by a vote of 6 to 0 this afternoon a certificate of appropriateness for a proposed new 16-story residential condominium building at 120 West 72n Street between Columbus and Amsterdam Avenues.

Anbau Enterprises Inc., of which Stephen L. Glascock and Barbara van Beuren are the principals, is the developer and BKSK is the architect. Anbau Enterprises is also the developer of the conversion and expansion of the apartment property at 110 Central Park South to condominiums.

The mid-block building on 72nd Street is an "as-of-right" project that falls within existing building and zoning regulations. Under zoning it could be 210 feet high but Harry Kendall of BKSK said that it would only be 172 feet including rooftop bulkheads.

Depending upon the final configuration, the building may have as many 22 apartments. The original plans called for two apartments per floor, one in the front and one in the back, but some of the units may become full-floor apartments.

The facade of the building will be light-beige masonry on the eastern half, where it abuts a very handsome white terracotta apartment building, and clear glass on the western half where the eastern edge of the window is recessed and the remainder projects outward to form a broad bay window.

The approved design was revised slightly to meet suggestions from the commission at an earlier hearing. The building now has a two-story limestone base and the top floor of the building on the street line is also faced with limestone. The residential entrance has a metal marquee and quartzite facade highlights as well as slightly different treatment on the second floor to better demarcate the entrance. The building's cornice has also been redesigned and made deeper.

Commissioner Pablo E. Vengoechea complimented the applicants for meeting the commission's requested modifications, stating that the revised design was more articulated, "complex and subtle."

The building's apartments will have fireplaces and the penthouse is setback.

The building will replace a one-story commercial building designed by Scacchetti and Siegel in 1937.

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.