NOHO — The city's Landmarks Preservation Commission approved a plan to turn a historic building that currently houses a women's shelter into a luxury retail store.
The structure at 350 Lafayette St. held one of the city's most highly-regarded homeless shelters for 27 years, offering supportive transitional housing to women with histories of serious mental illness.
It was purchased in July of last year by real estate tycoon Aby Rosen, who aims to convert the shelter into 13,052 square feet of commercial space for a single retail tenant.
Rosen tapped Annabelle Selldorf to upgrade the building, which dates back to 1913 and lies within the protected boundaries of the NoHo Historic District.
The approval of that design by the city's Landmarks Preservation Commission was first reported by YIMBY.
The $3 million redesign, referred to as 11 Bond, includes extending a rooftop addition from the 1920s across the entire facade, enlarging some windows and installing segmented retail storefronts on the ground floor, according to plans.
Move the slider to see how the design will transform the building:
The project still needs approval from the Board of Standards and Appeals for a permit to use the ground floor for retail and to devote more than 10,000 square feet to that purpose, something frequently opposed by neighborhood residents who dislike the influx of big-box luxury stores.
