Proposed New Building at Perry & Washington Gets Landmarks Review Tuesday
 

Above, from top left, clockwise: Existing building, 2008 approved hotel, 2017 current proposal, 2010 approved residential development.

Next Tuesday the Landmarks Preservation Commission (LPC) will hear and consider a proposed design for a pair of new buildings at the corner of Perry and Washington Streets in the Greenwich Village Historic District.  GVSHP is urging the Commission not to approve the design as proposed, and we encourage the public to attend the hearing and/or send letters to the LPC in advance. 

The site currently contains an altered 2-story ‘no style’ brick commercial building which the LPC has already ok’d for demolition.  In 2010, GVSHP and neighbors successfully fought to get this and other nearby sites rezoned to limit the size of new development and prevent hotel construction.  A prior larger hotel development had been approved by the LPC for the site in 2009 (before the rezoning), and then a scaled-back residential development was approved for the site but never built.

A new owner has put forward a new proposal for the site for a large single-family home and a smaller connected apartment building for his family; view the application here and here.  The good news:  the proposed new buildings are even smaller than those previously approved, and the scale makes sense for this part of the West Village.  The bad news:  the design of the apartment building is starkly modern and the single-family home appears fortress-like and massive, in spite of its relatively modest dimensions for buildings in this area.  GVSHP is calling for the design to be reconsidered to make it truly compatible with this special part of the West Village, and to make a real contribution to the historic district.

How To Help:

• Click here to send a letter to the Landmarks Preservation Commission urging them not to approve the proposed design and to call for changes to the design to make it fit in with the neighborhood
  

• Attend the Landmarks Preservation Commission hearing onTuesday, February 7th at the LPC hearing room, Municipal Building, One Centre Street (at Chambers Street), 9th Floor. Use the sample letter as a basis for testimony (limited to 3 minutes; submitted written testimony can be any length). Hearing time will be announced late Friday; check here or sign up for an email notification.