The Parks and Preservation Committee and the Land Use Committee of Community Board 7 held a joint hearing last night on a proposed new 16-story residential condominium building at 120 West 72nd Street.
The Landmarks Preservation Commission had scheduled a hearing on the project for January 24, but Harry Kendall of BKSK, the architectural firm involved with the development, said that the developer, Anbau Enterprises, has asked the commission to reschedule the hearing for February 7.
After a two-hour presentation and discussion, Klari Neuwelt, co-chairman of the Parks and Preservation Committee, who conducted the hearing, said that the board required a more detailed presentation and asked Frank Angelino, the lawyer representing the developer, to ask the commission to not make a decision at the February 7 meeting so that the Community Board could pass a resolution detailing its analysis of the project. Mr. Angelino said the developer would do so.
The mid-block building is an ?as-of-right? project that falls within existing building and zoning regulations. Under zoning it could be 210 feet high but Mr. Kendall said that it would only be 172 feet including rooftop bulkheads.
As presently planned, Mr. Kendall said, the building would have two apartments per floor, one in the front and one in the back, but he added that some of the higher units might be full floor apartments.
The fa?ade of the building will be tan-colored masonry on the eastern half, where it abuts a very handsome white terracotta apartment building, and clear glass on the western half with narrow glass balconies that Mr. Kendall suggested might be ?smoking balconies.? Ms. Neuwelt commented that the shallow balconies are simply ?an invitation to put a lot of junk out.?
Several members of the committees and residents of neighboring buildings in attendance were critical of the design of the base of the building and the building?s split fa?ade design.
One neighbor argued that there was ?nothing ethereal? about the design,? adding that ?it?s lost on its way to Second Avenue, it belongs on the Upper East Side, it?s ugly.?
One board member said that the design looked like two ?sliver? buildings, adding that she had ?no objection to modern expression and texture, but it needs to be more refined.?
The Landmarks Preservation Commission had scheduled a hearing on the project for January 24, but Harry Kendall of BKSK, the architectural firm involved with the development, said that the developer, Anbau Enterprises, has asked the commission to reschedule the hearing for February 7.
After a two-hour presentation and discussion, Klari Neuwelt, co-chairman of the Parks and Preservation Committee, who conducted the hearing, said that the board required a more detailed presentation and asked Frank Angelino, the lawyer representing the developer, to ask the commission to not make a decision at the February 7 meeting so that the Community Board could pass a resolution detailing its analysis of the project. Mr. Angelino said the developer would do so.
The mid-block building is an ?as-of-right? project that falls within existing building and zoning regulations. Under zoning it could be 210 feet high but Mr. Kendall said that it would only be 172 feet including rooftop bulkheads.
As presently planned, Mr. Kendall said, the building would have two apartments per floor, one in the front and one in the back, but he added that some of the higher units might be full floor apartments.
The fa?ade of the building will be tan-colored masonry on the eastern half, where it abuts a very handsome white terracotta apartment building, and clear glass on the western half with narrow glass balconies that Mr. Kendall suggested might be ?smoking balconies.? Ms. Neuwelt commented that the shallow balconies are simply ?an invitation to put a lot of junk out.?
Several members of the committees and residents of neighboring buildings in attendance were critical of the design of the base of the building and the building?s split fa?ade design.
One neighbor argued that there was ?nothing ethereal? about the design,? adding that ?it?s lost on its way to Second Avenue, it belongs on the Upper East Side, it?s ugly.?
One board member said that the design looked like two ?sliver? buildings, adding that she had ?no objection to modern expression and texture, but it needs to be more refined.?
Architecture Critic
Carter Horsley
Since 1997, Carter B. Horsley has been the editorial director of CityRealty. He began his journalistic career at The New York Times in 1961 where he spent 26 years as a reporter specializing in real estate & architectural news. In 1987, he became the architecture critic and real estate editor of The New York Post.
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