The West Village has many historic, century-old brick townhouses and warehouses, and has one of the larger historic districts in the city. Now, larger buildings or parcels are getting the mansion treatment, especially properties located outside of the historic districts, with fewer restrictions on development. Case in point: numbers 7 and 11 on Charles Lane will soon be developed by Aurora Capital Associates.
I’ve walked by this ultra-simplistic brick building at 777-781 Washington Street weekly, noticing the ‘private property’ signs but never seeing any activities there. Curiosity got me to look for information in the public realm and here is what I found to explain this unusual building.
A leading authority on the Jefferson Market Courthouse design and construction is Francis R. Kowsky, who wrote the book The Architecture of Frederick Clarke Withers and the Progress of the Gothic Revival in America After 1850.
Village Blueprints – Building the Neighborhood’s Future
Construction is topped out on 550 West 21st Street, a 23-story residential building, designed by Thomas Juul Hansen and developed by Legion Investment Group and AVRS Partners LP, according to the YIMBY website.
Construction is officially underway to transform the former Bayview Correctional Facility at 550 West 20th Street into the Chelsea Beacon, a new mixed use building. COOKFOX Architects’ design includes housing, an interior courtyard and a 9,300-square-foot community facility with youth-oriented programming.
Sometimes we meet ‘real’ New Yorkers, born and raised here. Some have stories of ancestors who moved here to start their families. This is one such story of those living near the docks along the West Side of Manhattan, as told by Eric, who prefers to be anonymous.
For the second year, Brian Pape of The Village View will exhibit his paintings as part of the Art by Architects NYC exhibit and fund-raiser, after a successful showing last year.
A Village View reader asked us to report on 92 Eighth Avenue just north of 14th Street, which has been a trash-strewn empty lot since 2015.
For many years, Village Preservation has energetically and successfully advocated to protect our treasured neighborhoods and structures. Now they hope to save the crumbling Dapolito Recreation Center at the corner of Seventh Avenue South and Clarkston Street. They also hope to stop the creation of a new recreation center at 388 Hudson Street.
