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Landmarks
1780 Broadway, Application for restoration and alterations
At the scheduled monthly meeting of Community Board Five on Thursday, October 10, 2013, the Board passed the following resolution by a vote of 36 in favor; 0 opposed; 1 abstaining; 1 present not entitled to vote:
WHEREAS, 1780 Broadway, is a 12 story building located between West 57th and West 58th Streets, which was designed by Howard Van Doren Shaw and constructed in 1909 for the B.F. Goodrich Company; and
WHEREAS, Clad with mostly red brick and limestone, the west façade wall facing Broadway is "distinguished by abstract, stylized ornament that suggests the influence of Elizabethan and Jacobean sources, the English Arts and Crafts movement and the Vienna Secession"; and
WHEREAS, Subsequent to B.F. Goodrich Company's eighteen years of occupancy, the building has had several owners, and although the ground floor was substantially altered by the early 1950s, the upper stories retain most of their original materials and ornament; and
WHEREAS, The building was acquired by Extell Development Corporation in 2006; and on November 10, 2009, the Landmarks Preservation Commission designated the B.F. Goodrich Company Building at 1780 Broadway as an individual Landmark; and
WHEREAS, Extell Development Corporation has filed an application for a Certificate of Appropriateness seeking permission to perform restoration and alteration work, including the removal and replacement of existing storefronts, windows and doors, and the installation of rooftop HVAC equipment; and
WHEREAS, The two story building base will be reconstructed and restored in a tripartite configuration to resemble the building base in 1909, at which time this served as a B. F. Goodrich showroom; and
WHEREAS, In the left and right hand side storefront bays, which had historically served as entrances to the office building and showroom, new marble surrounds and entablatures, as well as new glass and metal infill panels will be installed to evoke the original configuration, and these bays will now serve as retail display windows for the Nordstrom Department Store which will occupy this entire building; and
WHEREAS, In the central storefront bay, which had historically served as showroom display windows, fluted cast iron window surrounds will be restored and replicated, new terracotta columns and capitals to match the originals will be installed, and new glass and metal infill panels will be installed to evoke the original configuration, and this bay will now serve as entrances to the new retail space, to be occupied by Nordstrom; and
WHEREAS, New HVAC equipment would be installed at the rooftop approximately 40 feet behind the façade, and would not be visible from the street according to the Applicant; and
WHEREAS, The scope of work in the proposed façade restoration, much of which is being reviewed and approved at the staff level of the Landmarks Preservation Commission, would include:
1. To clean, patch and repair to all limestone and brick masonry as needed
2. To selectively repoint with new mortar to match the existing in appearance, aggregate and tooling
3. To salvage and restore cast iron window sills
4. To provide new lead T-covers for coping and all wash joints
5. To remove railing for off-site restoration and re-installation
6. To salvage and restore existing original windows at the 3rd, 8th and 11th Floors
7. To provide new one-over-one double hung windows at the 2nd, 4th through 7th, 9th and 10th Floors to match sight lines and material of historic windows
8. To provide new glazed infill at the 12th Floor based on sight lines and material of historic infill; and
WHEREAS, The proposed scope of restoration and alteration work is extensive, and although not a complete replication, the proposed changes would be in the spirit of the design vocabulary and intent of the original building; therefore, be it
RESOLVED, Community Board Five recommends approval of the application for a Certificate of Appropriateness of the proposed restoration and alteration work to be performed at 1780 Broadway.