- LPC approves this glass facade condo for a historic district along Fifth Avenue. Image courtesy of Beyer Binder Belle.
Construction will require the demolition of a non-contributing townhouse. On May 15, 2007, Landmarks approved an application by developer Brandolini Companies to demolish an existing building and construct a new residential condominium at 224 Fifth Avenue in the Madison Square North Historic District. The approved 20-story building, designed by architectural firm Beyer Blinder Belle, features a glass-clad facade with angled windows. Landmarks described the building to be demolished, a mid-19th century house later adapted for commercial use and altered again in 1981, as “non-contributing” in the original district designation report.
The Historic Districts Council opposed the project’s height and shape, arguing that the “glass sliver” in a historic district would set a dangerous precedent for other noncontributory townhouses in the district, but also praised the design, calling it a “handsome, well-thought- out project.”
Landmarks made no significant aesthetic changes to the proposal between the original March 6th hearing and the May 15th vote, asking only that an ornamental metal spike no longer reach all the way to the base of the building, and that a masonry band at the building’s base be made thicker.
LPC: 224 Fifth Avenue (COFA #07-3930) (May 15, 2007).