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Landmarks Commission Approves New Condo Building at 11 Jane St.

By Danielle Tcholakian | February 15, 2017 5:40pm
 A rendering of the approved design for 11 Jane St.
A rendering of the approved design for 11 Jane St.
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LPC/David Chipperfield Architects

WEST VILLAGE — The city's Landmarks Preservation Commission approved a design this week for a controversial condo building replacing a two-story garage at 11 Jane St. 

The proposed 6-story building from developer Edward Minskoff will hold seven condos, including two duplex townhouses on the first two floors and a 12-space parking garage accessible to the public, according to real estate blog YIMBY.

The LPC's approval came after the architects, David Chipperfield and preservation consulting firm Higgins Quasebarth & Partners, came before the agency for the fourth time, with design changes requested at a previous hearing.

The previous design had a single balcony along the entire second floor of the building, while the approved design has nine individual balconies.

Slide the marker across the image to see the difference between the previous design and the approved one.

The architects also changed the design of the windows, at the LPC's urging.

According to YIMBY, LPC Chair Meenakshi Srinivasan approved of the changes, particularly the windows, but Commissioner Adi-Shamir Baron said the ground floor windows looked like they belong in a suburban office park.

The commissioners ultimately approved the design, though directed the architects to work with LPC staff to make some changes to the ground floor windows, YIMBY reported.

The full presentation of the approved design is available on the LPC's website.

The project had been vehemently opposed by locals at previous hearings, and Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation Executive Director Andrew Berman slammed the final approved design as "so patently inappropriate for the Greenwich Village Historic District and for Jane Street."

"The design is barely changed from the one roundly criticized by the public and rejected in January," Berman said in a statement. "It still looks like a chain motel, it’s still too large, and it still sticks out like a sore thumb."

But an LPC spokeswoman said in a statement that the agency felt the design fits in on Jane Street.

"The Commission found the project appropriate for the Greenwich Village Historic District, noting that the block on which the property is located features a wide variety of building types, ages and styles, and that the proposed building fits within this context," LPC spokeswoman Damaris Olivo said.

Berman and many locals had also opposed another new large development on Jane Street — a single-family mansion at 85 Jane St., which the LPC approved in October

READ MORE: 2 Large Developments Planned for Jane Street

Still, Berman considered the 85 Jane St. design approval "a good example of what the Landmarks Preservation Commission should be doing," after the architects did away with two planned glass-and-concrete towers.

"It's a very good day for Greenwich Village, and for preservation in New York City," Berman said after the 85 Jane St. approval.