NEWS: City to Sell Municipal Building?
This would be a real shame, the building was commissioned specificly to create an elegant and worthy home for government.
Speculation Buzzes on Possible Sale Of Municipal Building in Manhattan
BY DAVID LOMBINO – Staff Reporter of the Sun
November 22, 2006
URL: http://www.nysun.com/article/44009
Speculation is heating up that the Municipal Building, the soaring limestone landmark that overlooks City Hall, could be among the government real estate assets to be sold off and converted to residential buildings as municipal employees prepare to move into a new, privately managed office building planned for ground zero.
The Municipal Building at One Centre St., the home of the Department of City Planning at 22 Reade St., and another large office building overlooking Foley Square at 2 Lafayette St. are among the assets whose sale is under consideration, according to a source familiar with the process.
In September, Mayor Bloomberg penned an agreement with developer Larry Silverstein to take 600,000 square feet in Tower 4 at the former World Trade Center site as early as 2013. Mr. Bloomberg said at the time that the city could sell off some real estate assets, which could be developed or converted into residential buildings. Mr. Silverstein has the right to cancel the deal between now and September 2008 if he finds a tenant that would pay more than the city’s offer of $56.50 a square foot a year in rent.
The iconic Municipal Building, which straddles Chambers Street at its eastern end, was designed by the architectural firm McKim Mead and White and completed in 1914. At 39 stories and containing more than 1 million square feet of office space, the building houses many city agencies, including the Comptroller, the Landmarks Preservation Commission, the Department of Finance, and the New York City Marriage Bureau.
It is crowned with a cupola and a gilded statue by Adolph Weinman of Civic Fame. A giant Corinthian colonnade, modeled after Bernini’s colonnade at St. Peter’s in Rome, runs along its base. There is a subway station underneath, and it sits at the Manhattan base of the Brooklyn Bridge.
The City Council member representing Lower Manhattan, Alan Gerson, said that talk of selling the Municipal Building has surfaced from time to time in recent years.
“There have been rumors to that effect, but I haven’t heard anything officially,” Mr. Gerson said. “Tower 4 could be an alternative to the Municipal Building, without question.”
Mr. Gerson said that the city should look at more than economics as it makes its decisions.
“There is something to be said about the government holding on to a great iconic civic building in addition to City Hall,” Mr. Gerson said.