CHELSEA — A plan to expand an historic house in Chelsea would turn the property into a “mini-mansion” that would destroy a shared courtyard for surrounding residents, says a group of neighbors opposing the project.
Developer Sterling Equities is seeking approval from the city's Landmarks Preservation Commission to restore the existing facade of the townhouse at 334 W. 20th St., build an extension on the back of the house and install an elevator, among other alterations, documents show.
A rendering of the existing east elevation at 334 W. 20th St. (Courtesy of Landmarks Preservation Commission)
All of the buildings on West 19th and 20th streets, between Eighth and Ninth avenues, on that part of the block have connected back yards that create a courtyard between the two rows of homes.
Adding a rear extension to 334 W. 20th St. would destroy the nature of the historic courtyard, reduce the light and views that several neighbors currently have, and create a “behemoth” that is out of scale with the other homes on the block, 300 West 20th Street Block Association co-president Carol Ott told DNAinfo.
A rendering of the proposed east elevation at 334 W. 20th St., with the original proposal outlined in red. (Courtesy of Landmarks Preservation Commission)
“It’s like building a new building in the back courtyard,” said Ott, who lives several houses down from the 1836 townhouse, which is part of the Chelsea Historic District. “[And] it will be enormous compared to these homes on the block.”
Neighbors first learned of Sterling Equities’ plans when an architect commissioned by the developer sent them a letter at the end of July, detailing plans that included building a nearly 14-foot extension on the back of the house and constructing a 752-square-foot addition on its rooftop.
At an Aug. 2 hearing, the Landmarks Preservation Commission asked the developer to remove the rooftop addition and scale back the rear-yard addition, an LPC spokeswoman said.
But Ott and more than a dozen neighbors stood by their opposition to the revised plans — which still include the rear extension — at a Community Board 4 meeting Wednesday, wearing matching lime-green T-shirts to make their presence known.
“[The developer is] requesting to build an out-of-scale mini-mansion and plop it in the historic district,” Ott said at the meeting.
“To have a big, clunky extension that’s visible from the street right next to St. Peter’s, which is so beautiful, is a crime,” added a West 19th Street resident named Sarah.
The townhouse in question sits adjacent to the Atlantic Theater Company, which leases its space from St. Peter’s Episcopal Church next door.
Following the meeting, the church’s pastor Rev. Stephen Harding, called the proposed plans “totally inappropriate.”
Architect Andre Tchelistcheff, however, claimed at the meeting that neighbors weren’t presenting an accurate view of the project.
In an interview on Friday, he maintained that the LPC application would have been a “routine matter” had it not been for the originally proposed rooftop addition and an extension on the third floor that has since been scaled back.
The alterations would add a total of 1,176 square feet to the property, increasing the volume by around 25 percent — ”hardly a huge volume increase,” Tchelistcheff said.
Under the plan, the home's new first and second floors would extend nearly 14 feet from the existing rear facade, while the new third floor would extend nearly 7 feet, he said.
Other houses in the neighborhood have been granted similar rear extensions, including one at 333 W. 20th St., across the street from the townhouse in question, the architect added.
“... [The public] is portraying this as this huge addition, when it’s clearly not,” Tchelistcheff said. “When this is done, that front facade… will be a fine example in the neighborhood.”
The LPC spokeswoman declined to comment on residents’ concerns, as the application is still pending.
Sterling Equities will present its modified plans at a meeting on Sept. 13, she added.
In a letter dated Sept. 9, CB4 asked the LPC to deny the developer's application "unless the proposed rear extension to the building is eliminated or reduced significantly."
"At a time when green space and light and air are valued so highly, it is distressing that these are endangered for all by the actions of one," wrote board chairwoman Delores Rubin and CB4's Chelsea Land Use Committee.
Neighbors, meanwhile, fear the house at 334 W. 20th St. — and eventually, others homes the neighborhood — will go the way of the oldest house in the Chelsea Historic District, which sits just down the street.
The LPC recently approved plans that advocates maintained would destroy all but the facade of the home and allow the developer to build a “megamansion" there.
“People who bought here… in a historic district, understand there are constraints,” Ott said on Friday. “I don’t know what the point of a historic district is if the LPC allows this to go through.”
