CARNEGIE HILL — Residents this week shot down a plan to build one additional story on top of a historic Fifth Avenue apartment building, saying the change wouldn't match the character of the neighborhood.
This is the building owner's second attempt to expand the building at 1143 Fifth Ave. near East 95th Street.
The architect of the project, Dominick Pilla, first approached the community with a plan to add six stories to the eight-story building, and reduced the addition down to one story on its second try — but neighbors were unmoved.
Community Board 8 and the Landmarks Preservation Commission both rejected the first proposal last fall. Though the plans were scaled back, residents say the building, which was built in the 1920s and now stands vacant, shouldn't be touched.
In 2014, the building, which housed the French consulate for decades, sold for $36.4 million, according to The Real Deal.
"I do feel very bad for the architect. He is in a very tough spot," said Susan Evans, a member of CB8's landmarks committee, during the hearing on Monday. "I think the client...maybe doesn't understand Fifth Avenue and this building and what it means to people and how it should not be changed at all."
Owner Jean Claude Marian, who lives in Brussels, wants to build one story on the top of the Fifth Avenue structure — which is part of the Extended Carnegie Hill Historic District and was designed by architect J.E.R. Carpenter — adding 10 feet to its height to make room for a second penthouse, according to Stephen Gallira, who represents Marian.
A new elevator and emergency staircase would also be added to the building, which would both end with bulkheads on the roof, according Gallira, adding that the bulkheads would be set back 28 feet from the front of building so they wouldn't be visible from the street.
"The new project is less in height than the existing water tower [on top of the building], including the elevator bulkhead," he said. "We're preserving everything that needs to be preserved ... it's 100 years later and we’re improving it."
But residents were concerned that the bulkheads would be visible from the park and block light, although the two buildings on either side of it are already almost double its height.
"I find it to be totally dissonant with the design and the way the building should work," said Walter Melvin, an architect and member of a neighborhood group called Friends of J.E.R. Carpenter. "Water towers don’t create a brick block. You'd be sealing off Central Park from the rest of the Upper East Side by building this wall down Fifth Avenue."
When 1143 Fifth Ave. was constructed, the city restricted its height to 75 feet from 150 feet, which explains why it's shorter than other buildings on the block.
"This is a significant building by a significant architect on a significant street in a significant historic district and I think it requires real diligence to protect its integrity," said CB8 member Elizabeth Ashby. "I think the architect is in a real bind. Neo-federal buildings … their proportions are complete. They don’t take to having things added to them."
The renderings of the plan show a glass facade, but the material for the exterior of the new floor is still up for discussion, said Pilla, who is working with Li Saltzman Architects on the project.
The committee voted 8 to 1 to reject the plan during a public meeting on Monday evening.
"We're looking to bring the building to current standards," Gallira said after the meeting. "The building is not going to last another 100 years. We're trying to make it efficient and safe and give the community a nice building."
He added that he intends to return with his planners with a new mock up of what they'd like to do with the building.
