MIDTOWN — The city landmarked nearly a dozen buildings on Tuesday as part of a push to protect historic buildings ahead of the planned East Midtown Rezoning.
The Landmarks Preservation Commission voted unanimously Tuesday to designate 11 buildings in a win for preservationists and for some owners of those properties who could make profit by selling unused development rights under the proposed rezoning.
The newly designated landmarks include the Yale Club, at 50 Vanderbilt Ave. between East 44th and East 45th streets; the Pershing Square Building, at 125 Park Ave. at East 41st Street; and the Hampton Shops Building at 18-20 E. 50th St.
► See Also: 12 Midtown East Buildings Are Up for Landmark Consideration, City Says
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In preparation for the planned rezoning — which is currently being developed by the Department of City Planning and would give height bonuses to developers in exchange for transit improvements and other public contributions — LPC in May identified 12 sites as being key to three historical eras: buildings developed before the Grand Central Terminal, buildings from the 1910s and 1920s, and those that came after 1933, according to a statement from LPC.
Of the 12 sites LPC identified in May, just one, Citicorp Center and St. Peter’s Lutheran Church, at Lexington Avenue and East 54th Street, did not receive designation on Tuesday, but a spokeswoman for LPC said staffers are doing additional research on the site and a hearing will be scheduled before the end of the year.
The full list of newly landmarked buildings include:
► The Yale Club, at 50 Vanderbilt St. between East 44th and East 45th streets.
► The Hampton Shops building, at 18-20 E. 50th St. between Madison and Fifth avenues.
► The Minnie E. Young Residence, at 19 E. 54th St. between Madison and Fifth avenues.
► The Martin Erdman Residence, at 57 E. 55th St. between Park and Madison avenues.
► 18 E. 41st St. between Madison and Fifth avenues.
► 400 Madison Ave. between East 47th and East 48th streets.
► The Pershing Square Building, at 125 Park Ave. at East 41st Street.
► The Graybar Building, at 420 Lexington Ave. between East 43rd and East 44th streets.
► The Shelton Hotel, at 525 Lexington Ave. between East 48th and East 49th streets.
► The Beverley Hotel, at 557 Lexington Ave. between East 50th and East 51st streets.
► The Hotel Lexington, at 511 Lexington Ave., between East 48th and East 49th streets.
The sale of air rights from landmarks to adjacent development sites is a key part of the proposed East Midtown Rezoning, which the city is pushing as a way to redevelop aging office buildings in the neighborhood surrounding Grand Central Terminal.
Under the draft proposal, owners of landmarks with air rights to spare would be able to sell them to developers, giving owners an infusion of cash that advocates say would help them pay for upkeep of historical properties.
“The East Midtown plan works because it’s helping us preserve what we should, while we build infrastructure and commercial space for the future,” Borough President Gale Brewer said. “That’s smart growth.”
