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250 5th Avenue (bet. 28th & 29th Streets), Madison Square North Historic District - Application for new construction for a hotel tower modifying the penthouse floor of 250 Fifth Avenue as a roof top restaurant for the hotel.
WHEREAS, 250 Fifth Avenue is a five story and penthouse office building located in the Madison Square North Historic District, constructed in 1907-08, designed by the renowned Architects, McKim, Mead and White, for the Second National Bank as their headquarters building; and
WHEREAS, Second National Bank of the City of New York was founded in 1863, and was a pioneer in providing banking services for female customers; and
WHEREAS, 250 Fifth Avenue, renovated in 1907, 1913 and 1928, is now occupied by the Broadway National Bank (BNB Bank), and remains largely intact on the exterior; and
WHEREAS, The Neoclassical 250 Fifth Avenue building is constructed of limestone, brick and terra cotta and will be joined to a new 220 ft. high, 23-story hotel tower on West 28th Street, with a facade in a complimentary contemporary modern design, containing vertical elements, primarily of beige brick, slightly lighter in tone than the brick on the 250 Fifth Avenue facade; and
WHEREAS, The penthouse, or 6th Floor of 250 Fifth Avenue, will be enlarged and reconfigured but the new restaurant/bar design limits the penthouse visibility from the public way; and
WHEREAS, Other building modifications include creating entrances to the 180-key hotel and the installation of a canopy at the West 28th Street proposed main entrance to the hotel, where a now-demolished, circa 1913 metal and glass canopy once existed; and
WHEREAS, LPC has approved two other 20-story new towers in the District at 241 Fifth Avenue and 224 Fifth Avenue, far more radical and modern in their design than this proposal and there are several other buildings in the District at this height or higher; and
WHEREAS, The building does not utilize 40,000 sq. ft. of allowable FAR, in effect keeping the height less than an as of right building; and
WHEREAS, The Applicant agreed to return to CB 5 to present signage design details for the hotel and, in particular, the canopy when the hotel operator and/or hotel name is determined; therefore, be it
RESOLVED, Community Board Five recommends approval of the Application for the new hotel design at the N/W corner of 250 Fifth Avenue and West 28th Street, including a new, larger penthouse floor and a new entrance canopy on West 28th Street, provided the Applicant returns to CB5 with the signage design for the hotel and other elements relating to the entrance canopy once the name and/or operator of the hotel are determined.
The above resolution passed by a vote of 34 in favor; 0 opposed; 1 abstaining.