The Landmarks Preservation Commission held a hearing yesterday on an application for a certificate of appropriateness to convert the handsome, 7-story, red-brick commercial structure at 443-451 Greenwich Street in TriBeCa into 42 residential condominium apartments and 80 to 100 hotel rooms.
The plan would convert the western side of the building, which was built in 1884, into a hotel with a narrow entrance on Vestry Street adjacent to a gated, through-block driveway that the developer said would only be used occasionally for "celebrity drop-offs" to the hotel.
The plan would convert the eastern two-thirds of the building, which was built in 1883, into residential condominiums that would surround three sides of a large courtyard.
The developer is Shahab Karmely, who acquired the property last year for about $115 million. Mr. Karmely, shown at the right in front of a photograph of the building, told the commission that the project was "a diamond in the rough," adding that he intends to live there himself and that the hotel would be a "5-star boutique hotel."
Costas Kondylis is the architect for the conversion.
The Romanesque Revival-style building was designed by Charles C; Haight and is notable for its many black window shutters, some of which are missing. Several commissioners expressed disappointment that the plan did not plan to save all of the existing shutters and to restore those that were missing.
The plan also calls for adding penthouses that would be setback about 14 feet on the roof and several commissioners indicated that they felt that new bulkheads were too high.
Commissioner Steven Byrns objected to the plan to install single-pane windows in the hotel portion of the project and also said that proposed Juliet balconies facing the courtyard were "a little gratuitous."
The project is bounded by Collister Alley on the east and Greenwich, Vestry and Desbrosses Streets.
According to a recent article in the TriBeCa Trib by Carl Glassman, the Marie Walsh Sharpe Space Program has used the building for its studio residency program for 17 years, and the Association of Independent Colleges of Art and Design has been sponsoring a studio program in the building since 1985. The article said that both programs hope to move to a building in DUMBO in Brooklyn.
The commission closed the hearing without a vote and Chairman Robert Tierney instructed the applicant to review the consensus opinions of the commissioners and come back with a revised plan.
The impressive building contains 217,549 square feet of space and has arched windows on all its floors except the top floor. One of its existing commercial tenants is the TriBeCa Film Festival.
Mr. Karmely and RFR Realty recently were the sponsors of the conversion of the former Christie's East auction house building at 219 East 67th Street to residential condominium apartments. Mr. Karmely is also renovated the office building at 232 Madison Avenue.
The plan would convert the western side of the building, which was built in 1884, into a hotel with a narrow entrance on Vestry Street adjacent to a gated, through-block driveway that the developer said would only be used occasionally for "celebrity drop-offs" to the hotel.
The plan would convert the eastern two-thirds of the building, which was built in 1883, into residential condominiums that would surround three sides of a large courtyard.
The developer is Shahab Karmely, who acquired the property last year for about $115 million. Mr. Karmely, shown at the right in front of a photograph of the building, told the commission that the project was "a diamond in the rough," adding that he intends to live there himself and that the hotel would be a "5-star boutique hotel."
Costas Kondylis is the architect for the conversion.
The Romanesque Revival-style building was designed by Charles C; Haight and is notable for its many black window shutters, some of which are missing. Several commissioners expressed disappointment that the plan did not plan to save all of the existing shutters and to restore those that were missing.
The plan also calls for adding penthouses that would be setback about 14 feet on the roof and several commissioners indicated that they felt that new bulkheads were too high.
Commissioner Steven Byrns objected to the plan to install single-pane windows in the hotel portion of the project and also said that proposed Juliet balconies facing the courtyard were "a little gratuitous."
The project is bounded by Collister Alley on the east and Greenwich, Vestry and Desbrosses Streets.
According to a recent article in the TriBeCa Trib by Carl Glassman, the Marie Walsh Sharpe Space Program has used the building for its studio residency program for 17 years, and the Association of Independent Colleges of Art and Design has been sponsoring a studio program in the building since 1985. The article said that both programs hope to move to a building in DUMBO in Brooklyn.
The commission closed the hearing without a vote and Chairman Robert Tierney instructed the applicant to review the consensus opinions of the commissioners and come back with a revised plan.
The impressive building contains 217,549 square feet of space and has arched windows on all its floors except the top floor. One of its existing commercial tenants is the TriBeCa Film Festival.
Mr. Karmely and RFR Realty recently were the sponsors of the conversion of the former Christie's East auction house building at 219 East 67th Street to residential condominium apartments. Mr. Karmely is also renovated the office building at 232 Madison Avenue.
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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