Push To Landmark Midtown Building Doomed For Demolition Gains Steam

MIDTOWN MANHATTAN, NY — The city Landmarks Preservation Commission has decided to review a Midtown building under threat of demolition for landmarks status, a commission spokeswoman told Patch.

The LPC will decide whether to extend landmarks designation to 316 Fifth Avenue — also known as the Kaskel & Kaskel building — the site of a proposed 40-story luxury residential building. Local politicians sent a letter to the LPC last month urging the body to consider landmarking the 115-year-old building.

"The loss of the Kaskel & Kaskel building would be yet another blow to this neighborhood that is rapidly losing the buildings thatcontribute to its sense of place and character," State Senators Liz Krueger and Brad Hoylman wrote in the letter.

"In light of the imminent threat of demolition, we urge you to act quickly to save this building before it is lost to the city forever."

Developer Cottonwood Management filed plans with the Department of Buildings to fully demolish existing six-story building in July, but no demolition permits have been awarded, an LPC spokeswoman told Patch. Should permits be filed before the building is awarded landmark status, it could mean the end for the Kaskel & Kaskel building.

The 29th Street Neighborhood Association launched a petition calling on the LPC to save the building. The petition — which has garnered more than 11,000 signatures — states that the Kaskel & Kaskel building is one of the few remaining historical building left on Fifth Avenue between East 23rd and 34th streets.

The Kaskel & Kaskel building was constructed in 1902 and was the first Manhattan building designed by architect Charles Berg, according to a letter sent by local politicians to the LPC. The building is designed in the Beaux Arts style and several of its original features — its marble and limestone façade, copper-clad mansard roof, and original limestone cartouches — are still intact today.

Should the building be demolished the site could give way to a proposed 40-story, 539-foot-tall residential development. Cottonwood Management filed plans to construct the new building in July. The development would contain 27 apartment units and 52,435 square feet of residential building space. The average residential unit would be nearly 1,950-square-feet large, according to the building plans.

Photo by Google Maps street view