31 Bond St. Seeks a Certificate of Appropriateness from the Landmarks Preservation Commission
NoHo seems to be this cool enclave with a lot of the things SoHo has, without the pedestrian traffic and commercialization, said Josh Gurwitz head of Good Property Company, who quietly purchased 31 Bond St. late last year. We are most encouraged that Mr. Gurwitz appreciates our niche. See coverage in Crains and in Curbed
And, in truth, the architect for the project, Matthew Baird, along with historic consultants Higgins Quasebarth have proposed a most sightly restoration on the front facade. But, as with many rennovations from A.I.R and Manufacturing to Residential Use, that’s where history stops. We are used to it. The legitimately historic building has been vacant for years and the interior is an accident waiting to happen (we have personally toured it several times) having been stripped of everything – down to the sub-flooring – that made it habitable for the previous stakeholder, the Campo Center, its collections and its music creation studios.
The building will rise from it’s current 75′ (excluding mechanicals) to 89′ with a set-back one-story rooftop addition. Total building height with mechanicals will be 119′; keeping the current 5.52 FAR by lopping off the rear of the building on Shin Bone Alley and erecting an entirely new rear facade with long panels of floor to ceiling windows jutting out from the masonry and supposedly providing views to the south and west.
Here’s the City Planning map showing the configuration and juxtaposition of the current structure as well as the position of Shin Bone Alley as it joins Jones Alley across Lafayette St.
We aren’t quite sure how that’s going to happen since all the buildings surrounding are a minimum of six-stories, giving all those stakeholders excellent views of the new tenants at 31 Bond.
UPDATE: The Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation (GVSHP) photographed the presentation at CB#2 on July 14. Click here
Obviously, there is a great deal that 31 Bond’s neighbors will want to discuss with Mr. Gurwitz. Construction protocols and building protections, at the very least, for this tightly fit project. We have been assured that meeting(s) will happen. The certificate of Appropriateness hearing at the Landmarks Preservation Commission is set for (UPDATE) July 22th. Once LPC approves of a design, 31 Bond St. will then have to apply for a BSA and/or a Zoning variance.
UPDATE: A meeting has been set for July 21st at 5pm. If you are an affected party RSVP to attend: zella at nohomanhattan.org