MIDTOWN EAST — A slew of Midtown buildings are newly up for landmark designation as part of a push by the city’s Landmarks Preservation Commission to protect historic buildings in the area, according to a statement from the agency.
The LPC on Tuesday announced it would consider 12 buildings in Midtown East for Landmark designation, with seven of those sites being calendared for the first time alongside five that were first added to the agency’s calendar in 2013.
Buildings newly added to the agency’s calendar include the Yale Club, at 50 Vanderbilt Ave. between East 44th and East 45th streets; Citicorp Center and St. Peter’s Lutheran Church, at Lexington Avenue and East 54th Street; and and the Hampton Shops Building at 18-20 E. 50th St., to name a few.
The agency released the list of possible landmarks in an effort to safeguard historic Midtown buildings as the City Planning Commission examines recommendations made by the East Midtown Steering Committee, run by Manhattan Borough President Gale Brewer and Councilman Dan Garodnick, which convened to develop a master plan for the area that could affect density and zoning regulations.
The 12 sites all fall within “Greater East Midtown,” which stretches from East 39th to East 57th streets and from Fifth Avenue to Second Avenue. LPC divided the buildings into historic development periods of pre-Grand Central Terminal, Grand Central Terminal-era, and post-Grand Central Terminal.
The five buildings already calendared will go before LPC at a July 19 hearing, and the Commission will hold a hearing for the other seven by the end of the year, according to an LPC spokeswoman.
Simeon Bankoff, executive director of the Historic Districts Council, said the list was an important step toward ensuring that any rezoning or development of Midtown goes forward with the neighborhood’s landmarks protected from demolition.
Big buildings like the 22-story Yale Club may seem out of reach of developers, but in the event of an upzoning, many important sites would have the potential to be redeveloped, Bankoff said.
A previous rezoning plan for the area, for instance, put forth under Mayor Michael Bloomberg, would have increased the potential buildable square feet, or floor-area ratio, of the now-calendared Yale Club, Bankoff said.
“Yale Club was built at a 19.2 FAR but the previous plan proposed for up to 24 FAR, which would have put it into play as a development site.”
FAR, or floor area ratio, relates to the size of buildable space allowed by the developer according to the area's specific zoning.
The full list of newly calendared buildings in Midtown East includes:
►The Yale Club, at 50 Vanderbilt St. between East 44th and East 45th streets.
►Citigroup Center and St. Peter’s Lutheran Church, at Lexington Avenue and East 54th Street.
►The Hampton Shops building, at 18-20 East 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 sites already calendared and set to go to hearing on July 19 are:
►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 Beverly 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.
Correction: An earlier version of this story misstated the title of Historic Districts Council Executive Director Simeon Bankoff.
