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Land Use, Housing & Zoning
25 East 21st Street, The Gramercy Condominium
Re: 25 East 21st Street, The Gramercy Condominium, application for an authorization pursuant to Section 15-20(b) of the Zoning Requirement (ZR) to waive the floor area preservation requirements of Section 15-21 for permitted commercial or manufacturing uses, to allow the conversion of an existing 11-story building to Use Group 2 (Residential Use)
At the regularly scheduled monthly Community Board Five meeting on Thursday, December 10, 2020, the following resolution passed with a vote of 43 in favor; 1 opposed; 1 abstaining:
WHEREAS, The application is for an authorization pursuant to Section 15-20(b) of the ZR to waive the floor area preservation requirements of Section 15-21 for permitted commercial or manufacturing uses, to allow the conversion of 10-stories of an existing 11-story building (ground floor not in scope) to Use Group 2 (Residential Use); and
WHEREAS, The building is located in an M1-5M zoning district; and
WHEREAS, If conversion approval is granted, residential space will consist of 10 residential units, each a full floor; and
WHEREAS, Section 15-21 requires at least 33% of the building’s floor area to maintain its commercial use; and
WHEREAS, The building lies within the Ladies Mile Historic District, a designated Historic District by the Landmarks Preservation Commission; and
WHEREAS, Previous alterations to building received a Certificate of Appropriateness from the Landmarks Preservation Commission that was reviewed and approved by Community Board Five (CB5); and
WHEREAS, LPC issued a report in favor of the landmarks maintenance plan adopted in perpetuity, a necessary requirement to fulfil the criteria under Section 74-711; and
WHEREAS, The portions of the building being converted to residential use comply with the density requirements set forth in paragraph (a) (3) of Section 74-711 (Landmark preservation in all districts); and
WHEREAS, The preceding four points attest to the applicant’s compliance with Section 15-20(b) of the ZR, thereby permitting the waiving of floor area preservation requirements of Section 15-21; and
WHEREAS, The applicant has agreed to maintain the building’s mixed use and remove the first floor from the scope of the request (original application requested conversion of entire building); and
WHEREAS, The first floor is ~4,300 square feet, and 10.4% ot the building’s floor area; and
WHEREAS, The applicant has committed to modify the application accordingly and has re-filed the application as per the stipulations agreed with Community Board Five; therefore be it
RESOLVED, that Community Board Five recommends approval of the request to waive the floor area preservation requirements of Section 15-21 for permitted commercial or manufacturing uses, to allow the conversion of 10 stories of this existing building (floors 2-11) to Use Group 2 (Residential Use), subject to the applicant’s modification of their application to remove the first floor from the scope of the request, thereby maintaining the building’s mixed use designation.