LP-2687
Barbey Building – 15-17 West 38th Street
ITEM PROPOSED FOR PUBLIC HEARING
The proposed designation of a 12-story Renaissance Revival-style loft building designed by Delano & Aldrich and built in 1908-09.
As the citywide advocate for New York’s architectural, historical and cultural neighborhoods, The Historic Districts Council supports the designation of the Barbey Building as an Individual New York City Landmark.
The Barbey Building, designed by William A. Delano (1874-1960) and Chester H. Aldrich (1871-1940) for the socialites Henry and Mary Barbey, is an astounding example of Renaissance revival architecture. In fact, the architectural historian Christopher Grey, writing in the New York Times, called the Barbey Building, “an unusually tailor-made structure for a district of off-the-rack garment and loft buildings.”
The fact that Delano and Aldrich, a team best known for tony buildings like the Knickerbocker Club, designed this commercial and manufacturing building, enriches our understanding of their work, and of the origins of what would become the Garment District.
Throughout its history the Barbey Building has been home to a wide variety of firms including millinery and garment companies, publishing houses, architectural offices, artists’ lofts, and, from 1985 to 2019, the corporate headquarters of Lord & Taylor. This robust melange of art and commerce, labor and capital, manufacturing and sales, offers a window into the dynamic and multifaceted history of the neighborhood. Indeed, tracing the history of the Barbey building allows us to discover how the neighborhood evolved.
As this area is being rezoned, we hope that designation of this building as an Individual Landmark will allow the Barbey Building to remain standing so that it can continue to evolve and contribute to the city’s streetscape, either through dynamic commercial use, or through adaptive reuse as needed housing.
We want to thank the Landmarks Preservation Commission for turning its attention to the neighborhood ahead of its rezoning. We are thrilled that the LPC has calendared five buildings in the Garment District, but we acknowledge that there are many significant buildings left to designate in this area. HDC has shared a list of 14 high priority buildings with the LPC, including some not listed in the Draft Environmental Impact Statement, that we hope will be considered for designation.