208 Richmond Terrace to be demolished, would more funding for LPC have helped?
Too bad that the article didn’t draw attention to the fact that $1 million – which is all we’re asking for the LPC – is the same amount that the developer spent to buy a historic house for demolition!
New condo taking place of old house in St. George
Preservation League president decries fate of 138-year-old home he had restored and sold
Thursday, May 10, 2007
By KAREN O’SHEA
ADVANCE STAFF WRITER
STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. — The developer who bought a 138-year-old house on Richmond Terrace in St. George and tore it down plans to build in its place a six-story, 12-unit condominium that will take advantage of the spectacular view of the Manhattan skyline.
The president of the Preservation League of Staten Island, a former owner of the house who lovingly restored it in the late 1990s, called it a window onto Staten Island’s past that deserved to be saved through landmarking, despite an emerging development boom in the area.
On a day when scores of preservationists gathered on the steps of City Hall to call for more funding for the city Landmarks Preservation Commission to save historic homes from the wrecking ball, James Ferreri, who supports such efforts, said he didn’t know if more money and more Landmarks staff would have saved 208 Richmond Terr.
He was sure of one thing, though.
“St. George is the worse for the loss of this building,” Ferreri said of the demolition of his former home. “It’s pathetic.”
Over the years, the Landmarks Commission has refused to grant protective historic status to the house, either through individual landmarking or by adding it and others on the same block to an existing landmark district in St. George.
Resistance to incorporating the buildings in the St. George Historic District first came more than a dozen years ago from owners on the block who recognized the development potential of their waterfront properties.
$1M PURCHASE
Today, some of that potential is finally being realized. An eight-story, 40-unit condominium dubbed “The View” is planned for the corner, next door to the recently obliterated 208 Richmond Terr.
Bill Tuli, who with a partner purchased the house for $1 million in 2005, said he hopes to start construction on his 12-unit condominium by the end of June.
“It’s a beautiful area and that’s why we want to make a beautiful building,” said Tuli.
Robin Levin lives next-door to the demolition site, in one of two remaining homes on the block. While she called it a pity that her well-maintained neighbor was razed, she also never supported the notion of landmarking that house or her own.
Ms. Levin said the same broker who handled the sale of 208 Richmond Terr. offered $1 million for her home, another Second Empire-style building. She declined the offer because she believes her unobstructed view of Manhattan makes her property more valuable, especially as a much anticipated burst of development in the area begins.
Ms. Levin said she hopes to sell to a developer in the future — for the right price.
“It would not be possible if it were landmarked,” she added.
STUDIED PROPOSAL
But Ferreri believes historic homes can co-exist with new development. Despite past resistance from Landmarks, he asked the commission two years ago to reconsider 208 Richmond Terr. for landmarking, either by itself or in combination with the remaining homes on the block.
“We studied this proposal, but decided in 2005 that taken as a group, the buildings lacked cohesion and did not form a distinct sense of place. We also concluded that 208 Richmond Terrace did not meet our architectural and cultural criteria for individual landmark status. The building was never inhabited by a person who made a significant contribution to Staten Island, nor did it have the architectural distinction to merit designation as a New York City landmark,” a Landmarks spokeswoman said in an email.
Ferreri, who disagrees strongly with that finding, said he would not have sold the house in 2000 if he knew it was fated for demolition.
Built in 1869 by the owner of the former Hotel Castleton, the house was originally owned by Alexander Duer Irving and his wife, Ellen Dupont, when Richmond Terrace was called Shore Road. Irving was a great-nephew of Washington Irving, author of “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow.” Dupont was the daughter of Henry Dupont, owner of the Dupont Powder Company of Delaware.
Pablo Vengoechea, vice chair of the Landmarks Commission who lives in New Brighton, declined to comment on the fate of 208 Richmond Terr., which is just a few blocks from his own home. But he vowed to fight for every nominated landmark in the future.
“We’ve lost so many things here,” Vengoechea said. “I think we have to produce more landmarks.”
A similar refrain was heard on the steps of City Hall yesterday, where preservation groups called for nearly $1 million more in funding for the Landmarks Commission, an agency they said had lost a third of its staff over the last 10 years.
“We are trying to get more funding so they can go out and designate and regulate more of the historic buildings in New York,” said Simeon Bankoff, director of the Historic Districts Council. “We are operating in an atmosphere where every square foot of space is really looked at for the dollar value alone, and it seems like no one is really taking into account our heritage and our city.”
Karen O’Shea covers real estate news for the Advance. She may be reached at [email protected] .
© 2007 Staten Island Advance
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