The Landmarks Preservation Commission’s (LPC) process for designating New York City historic districts is being used more and more to take the place of zoning. The designation of historic districts has been pursued to promote many different agendas: to address issues of height and scale, to stop new development and to limit development on vacant or near-vacant sites by purposefully including these sites within the boundaries of historic districts. These objectives are contrary to the … <Read More>
SoHo-Cast Iron Historic District
Landmarks Asks for Changes to Canal Street Project Identical to a Design Approved for Site in 2004
Landmarks in 2004 approved design for building at the corner of Canal and Greene Streets, but financing fell through and 2007-issued certificate of appropriateness expired. On June 26, 2012, Landmarks considered Donald Fishoff’s proposal to build a mixed-use, six-story plus penthouse on a parking lot at the corner of Canal and Greene Streets in the SoHo-Cast Iron Historic District. The large lot at 341 Canal Street has 172 feet of frontage along Greene … <Read More>
Sign Company and SoHo Building Owner Agree to Pay Record Fine for Illegal Signs
Owner of 598 Broadway and Colossal Media Group repeatedly installed advertising signs without Landmarks’ approval. On May 4, 2012, the New York City Law Department and the Landmarks Preservation Commission announced that 598 Broadway Realty Associates and Colossal had reached a settlement agreement with the City to remove the existing illegal signs on the building facade facing Houston Street and to pay $225,000 in civil fines. According to the Law Department, this was the … <Read More>
Landmarks wins court order to remove illegal signs
- 598 Broadway. Image: Cityland.
Landmarks alleged that building owner and sign company repeatedly installed advertising signs without approvals. In April 1999, 598 Broadway Realty Associates Inc. obtained a permit from Landmarks to install a single advertising sign on the Houston Street-facing facade of a twelve-story building at 598 Broadway in the SoHo-Cast Iron Historic District in Manhattan. The permit was valid until April 2005. In August 1999, 598 Broadway applied to Landmarks to install … <Read More>
Design for New Building in SoHo Approved
Seven-story plus penthouse building on Wooster Street would replace garage and parking lot. On May 3, 2011, Landmarks approved the design for a new seven-story building plus a penthouse at 146-150 Wooster Street in the SoHo-Cast Iron Historic District. The building would replace a one-story garage and a surface parking lot. The developer would need to obtain special permits from the City Planning Commission before developing the site, which is zoned for manufacturing.
The … <Read More>
Revised facade renovation for SoHo store approved
New H&M storefront retains more of building’s original fabric than previous proposal. On September 7, 2010, Landmarks approved a revised proposal to replace the storefront of an 1860s-era building owned by H&M at 558 Broadway in the SoHo-Cast Iron Historic District. Landmarks had previously rejected a proposal to replace the two-story building’s entire brick facade with layered panels of fiberglass-reinforced concrete. 7 CityLand 76 (June 15, 2010). H&M’s new proposal would only impact the ground … <Read More>