SCENE FROM THE STREET 

Skyscraper Progresses in the West Village

By Brian J Pape, AIA

It only took 10 years and several wildly varied proposals to get this construction project started, but since excavation work began in earnest in Spring 2023, progress has been impressive. Considering that 570 Washington Street, between Houston and Clarkson streets, is in a flood plain consisting of infill along the Hudson River shore, the ‘bathtub’ foundations of reinforced concrete and metal pilings were completed much quicker than many other new projects in the area, including at least two sites north on West Street.

According to a YIMBY article by Max Gillespie, July 30, 2024, the developers Jonathan Rose Companies and Atlas Capital Group recently announced financing for 570 Washington Street, which will now be defined as a 17-story, 180,000-square-foot residential development designed by CookFox Architects and SLCE. The project will provide 175 units of affordable senior housing, available to households earning 50 percent of the area median income and below. It will feature 5,600 square feet of amenity spaces and aim for LEED Gold certification. Since this tower is on the east half of the block, with a taller tower on the west half, some apartments will view the Lower Manhattan skyline and New York Harbor to the south, some of Midtown to the north, and some of sunrises to the east over West Village streets.

The total development cost is $179 million, with approximately $80 million in HOME and city capital funds provided by the New York City Department of Housing, Preservation, and Development. The project is also financed with a $60 million Citi Bank Construction Loan and a $65.5 million Freddie Forward Permanent Mortgage.

This single 17-story tower is only a portion of the total project, since the fully market-rate taller tower of condos on the west half of the block, facing the Hudson River, is not part of this progress description. If built according to earlier plans, the other 40-story tower will be the tallest structure in Greenwich Village and will dwarf anything in the West Village.

New York City Councilmember Erik Bottcher said, “I’m excited by the partnership with the Jewish Association Serving the Aging (JASA), one of the preeminent nonprofit providers of aging services in New York City. Thank you to the Jonathan Rose Companies, Atlas Capital Group, Community Board 2, my predecessor Council Speaker Corey Johnson, and everyone else who contributed to making this project a reality.”

Anticipated completion date for this first portion is December 2026 as posted on site.

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A New Building for Bleecker and Christopher

The 1969 Designation Report of the Greenwich Village Historic District documents that the corner building at 327 Bleecker Street, one of a row of three which originally included Nos. 323 and 325 to its right, was erected as a two-story rowhouse in 1832-33 for Samuel Whittemore, manufacturer of carding equipment for the textile industry. He was also state assemblyman in 1816 and the owner of much property in the area. These rowhouses were typical for their time in many respects, except for the unusual lot shape, which was angled at the back (east) end, with only about 10’ of width. The building had been considerably altered by 1969, but the original Flemish bond brickwork could still be seen as high as the top of the second story window lintels, where it changes to running bond, a result of the addition of a third story in the late 1880s. The erection of a roof parapet took place in the mid-1920s.

Further alterations, notably a mansard roof on the Bleecker façade, a two-story addition behind the original building and a one-story addition behind that (east), carried on the mixed uses within the edifice. In 1940, the mansard roof and additions were still intact. Further alterations were made in the 1950s, so perhaps that was the demise of the mansard, since the records are incomplete.

Building owner William Gottlieb Real Estate has a history of acquiring many properties and leaving them as they found them, and not selling them either. Sometimes, properties would sit underutilized or even unoccupied for years. Founder William Gottlieb died in 1999, leaving control of their multiple landholdings to his brother Arnold and sister Molly until her death in 2007. It ended up with Molly’s in-laws, the Neil Bender family, in 2010. Since at least 2010, the walls of 327 Bleecker Street were noticed to be bulging. Unsafe conditions caused the city to have the building vacated, yet it wasn’t until late 2020 that demolition protections were installed at the insistence of the city Department of Buildings. The empty lot has stood there since that demolition. Gottlieb hired FSI Architects in 2015 to design a replacement building, with a restored mansard roof; LPC (City Landmarks Preservation Commission) approved this design after many public hearings, in 2016.

But now, Gottlieb has hired Mancini to resubmit plans with major changes to the LPC-approved design, most notably, the removal of the mansard roof. When Mancini presented their plans to the Community Board 2 Landmarks Committee, the members as well as public speakers decried the lack of character in the new plans. This reporter, who is a member of the committee, noted the reactions, and the resolution passed by vote of the committee.

The committee recommended that the design be modified to recall the history of the building, such as the mansard roof, the fourth story addition and the irregularity of the Christopher Street facade with the separation of the rear extensions from the original building’s depth; all of which made it a distinctive part of the varied streetscape of Greenwich Village and Bleecker Street.

Next, the proposal heads to the LPC and then DOB for further reviews. With this long history of delays and changes, no start or completion date has been proposed.