Hotel Beside Merchant House Rejected By City Council Committees

EAST VILLAGE, NY — A developer's plan to erect an eight-story hotel beside the historic Merchant's House Museum in the East Village was dealt a blow Thursday when a pair of City Council committees rejected the project.

The City Council's land use committee and subcommittee on zoning and franchises both rejected a zoning text amendment by developer Kalodop II Park Corp. to build a hotel at 27 East Fourth St. beside the structurally fragile, 186-year-old Merchant’s House Museum.

Councilwoman Carlina Rivera, whose district includes the properties, argued that the proposed amendments are not necessary when a zoning resolution already exists that would allow the developer to achieve the same results as long as certain conditions are met, including regular maintenance on the landmarked Merchant's House, said Rivera at Thursday's subcommittee on zoning and franchises hearing.

"I don’t believe that the proposed zoning text amendment is necessary or appropriate," Rivera said before the unanimous vote against the proposal.

Developers have sought approval for the hotel project since 2011. Critics have long panned the plan, fearing the construction would imperil the landmark, which has been damaged from nearby building before.

The adjacent 29 East Fourth St. building was the first landmark designated in Manhattan at the city's first Landmark Preservation Commission meeting in 1965, and was deemed an interior landmark — of which there are only 120 — by the commission in 1981. It stands almost exactly as it did in the 19th century, including the original plaster, furniture and decor of when the Tredwell family lived there.

Scores of residents, preservationists and elected officials testified at a Tuesday subcommittee on zoning and franchises hearing against the plan. State Senator Brad Hoylman, whose district includes the historic building, emphasized the danger the hotel's construction poses to the Merchant House.

“The approval of this building would result in potentially irrevocable harm to the Merchant House," said Hoylman. "Furthermore, our city’s zoning laws should not be changed at the behest of a single developer, especially when the survival of a 186-year old building like the Merchant House is at stake."

The specific zoning measures aims to amend, ZR 74-712, and would only impact two properties, 27 East Fourth St. and 53 Great Jones St., causing some to decry the changes as “spot zoning" — a zoning change designed purely to benefit a building's developers. And with existing zoning that could accommodate the developer's needs, the City Council's land use committee wasn't convinced the amendment was needed, said one councilman.

“We question the policy rational behind proposed amendment 74-712,” said Councilman Rafael Salamanca, the chairman of the land use committee. “Our view is that the zoning regulation already contains an applicable special permit under 74-711, which does the same thing as the proposed zoning text but with a public benefit — landmark preservation.”

The City Council committee and subcommittee's vote went against the City Planning Commission's recent approval of the project. The full City Council is slated to vote on the proposal on Wednesday, Sept. 26.

A version of the building can be build as-of-right without changes to the property's zoning.

Kalodop II Park Corp. could not be reached for comment.

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