Belgian-blocked Perry Street in the West Village is among Manhattan's most tranquil streets. However, its final stretch between Washington Street and the West Side Highway is faced with a discordant mashup of buildings that tell a short story of residential development in New York City.
Beginning at Washington, the block opens with opposing buildings of the West Village Houses. Their austere designs, symbolic of public housing in the 70s, were ironically influenced by the writings of Jane Jacobs. Mid-block at 155 and 165 Perry is a pair of early-20th commercial loft buildings that were converted to apartments in the mid-1980s. Opposite them is a row of one- to four-floor 19th-century buildings that range from the beautifully-intact walk-up at 156 Perry to the worn red-painted buildings between 158-162 Perry Street. The block culminates with a Postmodern co-op at 167 Perry and a trio of glitzy new constructs at 166, 173 and 176 Perry bookending the block.
In this article:
The string of buildings shaded red are going bye-bye (Google Earth)
The architectural mashup of Perry Street between the Hudson River and Washington Street (Google Streetview)
The demolished buildings
This hodgepodge of architecture is likely the reason the block was left out of the Greenwich Village Historic District, whose borders were extended west in 2006. The street's next addition will come from the office of Morris Adjmi Architects who has become ever-more popular due to their sensitive design approach in historic neighborhoods. As announced on their Instagram stream, the incoming development will replace the four low-slung buildings from 156 to 162 Perry Street and yield a six-floor, 17-unit rental building. The project will be highly energy efficient, says the firm, and dressed in a subdued brick facade punctuated by Alumil windows. Emulating Juliette balconies, the windows will each be faced with a decorative bent steel rail.
While Adjmi's design is far less flashy and adventuorous than the neighboring Richard Meier and Asymptote projects (hiding wealth is a sign of the times), the near-waterfront locale promises to garner steep rental prices. New construction rentals are rare in the West Village with developers typically opting to build condos instead. According to our rental listings, the median rent for a one-bedroom apartment is the West Village is an eye-watering $4,273/month. We'll keep our fingers crossed for a housing lottery (unlikely).
Morris Adjmi Architects is busy working on a number of projects in the Village that include 540 Hudson Street and 144 Barrow Street. On the other end of the Village, the Landmarks Preservation Commission has just approved Morris Adjmi's new building design for 121 Second Avenue.
Morris Adjmi Architects is busy working on a number of projects in the Village that include 540 Hudson Street and 144 Barrow Street. On the other end of the Village, the Landmarks Preservation Commission has just approved Morris Adjmi's new building design for 121 Second Avenue.
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New Developments Editor
Ondel Hylton
Ondel is a lifelong New Yorker and comprehensive assessor of the city's dynamic urban landscape.
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