Development of Historic Seaport Sites Awaits Approval
Developers are seeking permission to erect a new building on Water Street and expand another on South Street. Both require permission from the City’s Landmarks Preservation Commission because they fall within the boundaries of the legally protected South Street Seaport Historic District.
The new building is proposed for 269 Water Street, between Peck Slip and Dover Street. Currently occupied by a one-story garage that dates from the 1940s, this site in the 1760s, when the waves of the East River lapped at Water Street, housed the wharf and boathouse of William Walton, then New York’s preeminent shipping magnate and merchant, who also built a palatial mansion on nearby Pearl Street. Among the cargo that helped Walton amass one of colonial era New York’s most prodigious fortunes was human chattel. When he died in 1768, Walton ordered in his will that the enslaved people who staffed his house be freed and given an annual allowance of 14 British pounds. (Adjusted for inflation, this converts to around $1,900 today.)
The building slated to replace the existing garage is designed by architect Shiming Tam, who envisions a seven-story residential structure crowned by a duplex penthouse. The new building will preserve the garage space at street level in lieu of a more typical retail storefront because “the owner wants to keep his car there,” Mr. Tam explained.
“We are taking the character from the Seaport District,” he said. “We want to blend in, with real brick and cast stone.” The one departure from local design idioms is that the ground floor of the new building will be elevated by five feet above street level, to safeguard the structure from floodwaters, although Mr. Tam has worked to camouflage this disparity to maintain the continuity of sight lines on Water Street. The new building will house seven apartments.
Also before the Landmarks Preservation Commission is the proposed expansion of a pair of vacant four-story buildings at 112-113 South Street, between Peck Slip and Beekman Street, both erected in 1819. The longtime owners tried to sell the loft buildings for $9.6 million in 2008, but had no takers. They put the buildings back on the market in 2021 seeking $5.9 million, and finally let them go for $4 million later that year.
The purchaser plans to rehabilitate the buildings and add a fifth floor with a sloped roof and dormer windows. This will be achieved by drawing on a portion of the 4,700 square feet of unused air rights held by the two buildings.
The City’s Landmarks Preservation Commission has yet to rule on either proposal. Community Board 1 endorsed the 269 Water Street plan at its November 25 meeting, with the caveat that the cornice adorning the facade above the sixth floor be enlarged to make it more consistent with the design of nearby buildings.