LPC Ready To Move on NoHo; Demoliiton Plans Delayed
Developer Cries Foul as Landmarks Panel Delays NoHo Project
BY BRADLEY HOPE – Staff Reporter of the Sun
January 3, 2008
URL: http://www.nysun.com/article/68867
In an unusual move, the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission is refusing to give clearance to a developer seeking to build an as-of-right apartment building in NoHo.
Adam Gordon is planning to tear down 41 and 43 Bond St. to make way for a seven-unit condominium building, but he has been waiting since August for the commission to hand over a letter to the Department of Buildings declaring that the site is not landmarked.
The commission, Mr. Gordon said, wants to hold off on sending the letter to the buildings department until it decides whether to expand the boundaries of the NoHo Historic District to take in the stretch of Bond Street that includes nos. 41 and 43. The developer, for his part, would like to start demolition before the zoning for the buildings is changed and he can no longer move forward with the project.
“The problem is that, by the time we could get this to court, the area will already be landmarked,” Mr. Gordon said. “They were able to accomplish zoning without playing by the rules.”
Mr. Gordon said he is losing $100,000 a month because of the delay.
“As the developer is aware, this area has been under consideration by the Landmarks Commission for some time,” the executive director of the commission, Kate Daly, said in a statement. “Because 41 and 43 Bond Street are within the boundaries of a proposed historic district, we have been meeting with the developer to discuss his plans for the building.”
A spokeswoman for the buildings department, Kate Lindquist, confirmed that the department has not received a letter from the commission.
“The requirement to submit the letter as part of the permit application ensures designated landmarks are protected from demolition,” she said.
While the expansion of the Noho Historic District to include stretches of West 4th, Great Jones, Lafayette, and Bond streets has been a goal of neighborhood activists for more than a decade, the commission recently decided to expedite the process. It will vote this month to put the expansion plans on the calendar, making way for its possible passage.