LPC to Consider Design of Billionaire's Mansion in the West Village

Rendering of the two-building proposal for 145 Perry Street; Source Leroy Street Studio via LPCTomorrow the Landmarks Preservation Commission (LPC) will hold a hearing to deliberate the merit of a two-building residential proposal at 145 Perry Street in the West Village. The lot is owned by hedge-fund billionaire Steven A. Cohen who purchased the property for $38.8 million in 2012 per city records. According to The New York Times, Cohen is seeking to build a single-family mansion on the property.

The corner site in question lies within the 2006 expansion of the Greenwich Village Historic District, which was extended in part to preserve the 2- to 4-story scale of the eastern side of Washington Street. Presently, the lot is home to a nondescript two-story building with a row of shuttered storefronts at its ground floor. A redevelopment of the property has been in the works since 2008 when plans by Scott Sabbagh were approved for a 7-story, 93-room hotel featuring an undulating brick facade designed by Morris Adjmi. The plans were revisited by Madison Equities in 2009, this time calling for a pair of $20 million, 6-story townhouses that would adjoin a hotel. Madison Equities shelved the plans and ultimately sold the lot to Cohen for nearly $39 million.

Previous concepts for the site. Left: Morris Adjmi for Scott Sabbagh. Right: Helpern Architects for Madison Equities

Existing building at the site; via Leroy Street StudioAccording to the Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation (GVSHP), the scheme to come before LPC tomorrow is actually for two buildings: a large single-family mansion presumably for Cohen, and a smaller attached apartment building for the owner’s children. The submitted design materials drafted by Leroy Street Studio show the mansion will be clad in tan-colored masonry with bronze, terracotta and wood accents. The corner will be distinguished by a brick screen. Deeply-inset windows will be covered in wooden louvers and framed by bronze spandrels and mullions, and the base of the inset areas will be landscaped with plants and small trees. The main entry will be along Perry Street and judging from the schematic plans, the home will feature a grand curving staircase, fireplaces, an elevator and a private rear garden designed by Hollander Landscape Architects. 145-Perry-45

Prospective view of the single-family house with the associated apartment building behind; Leroy Street Studio

Side view; Leroy Street Studio via LPC 145-Perry-3

Entryway; Leroy Street Studio via LPC

The neighboring townhouses expand on the modern vocabulary of the mansion, using more windows and bronze across its façade instead of brick. The townhouse building would rise 6-stories tall, at 83-feet; its bulkhead will be shorter than either of the previously approved proposals. Both the townhouse and mansion would be topped by a landscaped roof terrace and outdoor living room.

Despite its smaller scale, Andrew Berman, executive director of the GVSHP, is unsatisfied with the design denouncing it as “starkly modern” with the single-family mansion appearing “fortress-like and massive.” Berman goes on to say the design is inappropriate for the brick and mortar architecture of the area, saying its large expanses of glass and metal “looks more like a bank or a high-end retail store in Miami or Los Angeles than the simple but charming architecture you find here.”

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