LPC Rejects Plan That Would Gut DoBro's Duffield Street Houses for 33-Story Tower

"The houses are diminished severely in scale with the proximity of the tall tower, there's so much demolition, it's hard to tell what is left of the fabric of those houses. The rear is being removed. The roof is being rebuilt to be fireproof. Many of the floors are being taken out...party walls are being affected...there's just too much and at the end, too little left of what was to be protected on the site."

"I do think as an existing property that has had the historic houses specifically protected and moved here to be saved, any solution here needs to celebrate those houses and work with them in the way that makes the proposal and the existing fabric a win-win. Unfortunately, that's not what I'm seeing in this proposal,"

The Landmarks Preservation Commission rejected a proposal to combine interiors, modify an entrance, and partially reconstruct roofs, interior walls, floors, and rear facades of four landmarked Duffield Street houses to accommodate a 33-story residential tower behind them. Developer Watermark Capital and architects proposed preserving character and providing adaptive reuse after years of vacancy and deterioration. Commissioners and members of the public unanimously objected to the scale of integration and demolition required. Commissioners cited extensive removal of rear walls, rebuilt roofs for fireproofing, floors taken out, and affected party walls that significantly diminish the houses' historic fabric.

Read at Brownstoner