UPPER EAST SIDE — The fourth time's the charm, at least for the developer of the landmarked former French Consulate building on Fifth Avenue.
The Landmarks Preservation Commission approved a plan to add a one-story addition to 1143 Fifth Ave., a J.E.R. Carpenter building, despite ongoing opposition from local preservationists.
"By allowing for such a large, out-of-context addition to be approved could set a precedent to build other overwhelming additions to smaller buildings on the Upper East Side," said Elizabeth Fagan, director of preservation for the Friends of the Upper East Side Historic Districts, during the hearing.
"A more creative contextual solution must be found," she said.
The building is currently vacant, but the owner, Jean Claude Marian, is looking to use it for apartments.
Starting this fall, Marian will replace the existing eighth floor penthouse, with a 21-foot-tall penthouse with two levels that will be roughly 8 feet taller than the existing one-story penthouse, plans show.
In addition, an elevator and an emergency staircase will be installed, along with a 15-foot bulkhead, which will protrude from the roof, but will be set back 28 feet from the front of the building so it wont be visible from the street, according to representatives for the owner.
The height of the bulkhead roof is shorter than originally proposed, its windows will also appear smaller and the exterior will be beige brick, plans filed by the architect, Dominick R. Pilla Associates, show.
"During this redesign, we ensured that the penthouse design remains subordinate to the J.E.R. Carpenter building," a spokeswoman for Dominick Pilla Associates said in a statement.
Existing building on left. Rendering of addition on right. Photo credit: Dominick R. Pilla Associates
The architects had originally proposed adding six stories to match the heights of the buildings adjacent to it but reduced the addition down to one story in February because of community opposition last fall.
But that wasn't enough to convince Community Board 8, which voted to reject the plan again on Feb. 8, saying it wouldn't fit in with the character of the neighborhood because of the visible bulkhead on its roof.
During a March 8 hearing, LPC commissioners sided with locals and asked the applicant to come back with more changes.
Architects came back on April 12 with the height of the bulkhead reduced by 2.5 feet, changed the exterior from limestone to brick and a new design for its windows, according to New York YIMBY.
Still it didn't get approval because commissioners didn't like the color of the brick and said the penthouse's windows didn't match the rest of the building.
Architects came back on Tuesday with plans for a new beige exterior and new windows that better match those below it so that the penthouse doesn't compete with the J.E.R. Carpenter work, according to Pilla.
Dominick R. Pilla Associates estimates construction will begin sometime in September.
"We are pleased that the Landmarks Preservation Commission recognized that this modest addition, nestled between two much taller buildings, is contextually appropriate in scale and design," Stephen Gallira, a representative for Marian, said. "We look forward to being a good neighbor in this community for decades to come."
A previous version of this story said that the developer was planning to add a second penthouse. The developer will replace the existing penthouse with a new two-story penthouse.
