Planned Expansion of Tribeca Loft Building Sparks Pushback
Community Board 1 (CB1) is taking a dim view of a proposed renovation and expansion planned for a historic Tribeca loft building, which would add two stories to the 1805 structure at 385 Greenwich Street.
Developer Gregory Spatz paid $8.5 million to buy the building last year, after mortgage holder Ladder Capital took it back in bankruptcy from RIG Realty, a property firm associated with the Gindi family (the founders of the Century 21 department store). According to Jason Friedman, chair of CB1’s Landmarks Preservation Committee, Mr. Spatz plans to convert 385 Greenwich Street into a two-family home, while preserving the commercial space on the first floor (currently occupied by the Yves Bistro).
Mr. Spatz is seeking permission to add two stories, faced with floor-to-ceiling glass panes and framed in metal. Approval is required because 385 Greenwich, although not itself landmarked, sits within the legally protected Tribeca West Historic District.
At CB1’s February 24 monthly meeting, Mr. Friedman said of the proposal, “there’s just too much bulk on this building. That’s the basic principle. They want to add a whole new floor and that’s a really, really big intervention. They’re putting like another building on top of this building.”
Board member Bob Townley noted, “this would have been more presentable if the extension was brick,” to make the new section of facade consistent with the historic facing of 385 Greenwich. “It looks so non-contextual, like when I wear the wrong pair of pants with the wrong suit.”
When a vote was called, CB1 adopted a resolution saying, “the proposed large glass pane additional story is out of scale with the existing glazing elements and the proposed additional bulk is unfavorably out of scale with the existing building,” adding, “given the age of the building and its location at the center of the Historic District, the proposed modifications are inappropriate at every level.”
The measure closed with a recommendation that, “all parts of this proposal be redesigned so that the building’s scale and architectural character are more compatible with the surrounding buildings within the Historic District,” urging the City’s Landmarks Preservation Commission (which has the final say) to reject the plan.