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Landmarks

September 2013, Landmarks Committee

39 West 23rd Street, 35 West 23rd Street, & 22 West 24th Street – application to (a) construct a new building on a parking lot with a cantilever over existing loft building at 35 West 23rd Street and…

At the scheduled monthly meeting of Community Board Five on Thursday, September 12, 2013, the Board passed the following resolution by a vote of 35 in favor; 4 opposed; 1 abstaining:

WHEREAS, The applicant proposes to build a new through-block building on an existing parking lot running between 23^rd and 24^th Street in the middle of the block bounded by Fifth and Sixth Avenues, located in the Ladies Mile Historic District; and

WHEREAS, The new building would cantilever over the existing five-story adjacent landmark building to the east along 23^rd Street (35 West 23^rd Street), which is on the same zoning lot as the new building site; and

WHEREAS, The new building requires a certificate of appropriateness and a report from LPC to the City Planning Commission pursuant to Section 74-711 of the Zoning Resolution for use (residential and retail) and bulk (setback and rear yard) waivers, which report requires a finding that the adjacent landmark building would be restored and subject to a continuing maintenance program; and

WHEREAS, The proposed new building would rise to 196 feet (17 stories) along the street wall at 23^rd street prior to a setback of 15', at which point the front wall would rotate to face east and rise an additional 7 stories and cantilever over the adjacent building (with maximum projection of 12 feet), for a total building height of 278 feet (24 stories); and

WHEREAS, The windows along the 23^rd Street frontages (south and east) would be recessed to allow room for plantings; and 

WHEREAS, The proposed new building would rise to 117 ½ feet along 24^th Street, with a gallery and an exterior garden connecting the 23^rd Street and 24^th Street portions of the building; and 

WHEREAS, The primary materials for the proposed new building would be: 

• Limestone (or similar): Used for the double height grid on the south elevation at 23^rd Street, east elevation and north elevation (23^rd street);
• Dark gray Granite:  Used at the building base on both 23^rd and 24^th Street;
• Zinc : To be utilized as the cladding material on the secondary and tertiary elements within the double height grid on the 23^rd street facade (both south and east elevations), including the spandrels and articulated vertical post (the guardrails, door and window frames would be painted aluminum to match);
• White Terra Cotta: Used for the open baguette system on the upper portion of the north and south facing 23^rd street facades and for the rainscreen system on the east and west elevations;
• Metal: The 24^th street portion of the building utilizes a darker metal at the spandrels, guardrail and storefront, which will either be a statuary bronze, muntz metal and/or painted aluminum; and
• Glass: Used for guardrails on levels 3-9 of the 24^th street portion of the building; all doors and windows will be an insulated glass to meet current NYC energy code; and

WHEREAS, The preservation plan for the adjacent landmark building (35 West 23^rd Street) would include:

• Storefront façade restoration, including new wood storefronts, triple-arched transoms and paneled double doors;
• New wood single-pane pivot windows on the second floor; 
• New wood double-hung windows on floors 3-5;
• Façade restoration, including removal of masonry coating, cleaning and re-pointing brick, patching damaged stone, and fixing existing cast iron sheet metal fixtures; and
• Replacing missing sections of the sheet metal cornice; and

WHEREAS, The adjacent landmark building would be subject to a continuing maintenance plan which would be recorded against the property; and

WHEREAS, Community Board Five finds the proposed new building to be an innovative modern interpretation of historic elements endemic to the Ladies Mile Historic District which relate harmoniously to the district and the adjacent landmark building, and therefore an appropriate addition to the district; and

WHEREAS, Community Board Five finds that the adjacent landmark building would be restored and subject to a continuing maintenance program; and

WHEREAS, If approved by the Landmarks Preservation Commission, the Section 74-711 use and bulk waivers would come before Community Board Five as part of the City Planning Commission approval process; therefore, be it

RESOLVED, Community Board Five recommends approval of the application for 39 West 23^rd Street, 35 West 23^rd Street, & 22 West 24^th Street, within the Ladies Mile Historic District, to construct a new building on a parking lot with a cantilever over existing loft building located at 35 West 23^rd Street and recommends that the Landmark Preservation Commission issue a report to the City Planning Commission pursuant to Section 74-711 of the Zoning Resolution for use and bulk waivers.