(Credit: DXA Studio)
A long-anticipated residential development in Manhattan's Ladies' Mile Historic District may be getting a new design, which will be reviewed by the Landmarks Preservation Commission ("Landmarks") on Tuesday, November 14. Proposed for a cleared midblock site at 10 West 17th Street, DXA Studio has conceived an 18-floor apartment building dressed in a cast concrete facade that appears as if a veil of fabric was draped over the building. The delicately creased 'veil' would be punctuated by neat rows of picture windows, and beginning from a 15th-floor setback, the facade would crescendo into a swooping form.
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The facade would be composed of ultra-high-performance concrete panels with a limestone finish
Slides within the public document to be presented to Landmarks reveal that DXA drew inspiration from the ornate local architecture, marble allegorical statues, and the elaborate garments worn by women in the 19th and early 20th centuries who frequented the department stores in the area unaccompanied by men. The Ladies' Mile was once the retail center of the city, and opulent emporiums between Broadway and Sixth Avenues made the area so popular that women felt safe to shop alone.
DXA Studio also took inspiration from specific artworks
The novel facade is a marked departure from a previously approved, highly restrained design by Beyer Blinder Belle Architects. The 45-foot-wide lot formerly held a utilitarian three-story building occupied by the Catholic Medical Mission Board (CMMB), which was razed in 2015. The 2014 plans proposed a 16-story tower with 16 mostly floor-through condo residences. The developer at the time was Sherwood Equities with Arun Bhatia Development Corporation, but city records show the site was sold to a shielded party in December 2022 for $15.5 million.
Two previous designs for the site at 10 West 17th Street. (L: Spector Group; R: Previously approved design by Beyer Blinder Belle Architects)
The pre-existing building in 2014 and the site in September 2023
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