Greenwich Villagers Furious as Tallest Building in Neighborhood Begins Construction

GREENWICH VILLAGE, NY — Greenwich Village is officially getting another luxury condo building, and this time, at 22 stories high, it'll be the tallest condo building in the neighborhood. Greenwich Villagers who hate to see their historic neighborhood torn down and built for wealthy newcomers are furious with the city for allowing the construction. Excavation of the lot, which used to be the Village icon Bowlmor Lanes at 110 University Place, was underway on Thursday.

"The fact that we're getting this totally out-of-place luxury condo tower that has no affordable housing and destroys the scale of the neighborhood ... the responsibility lies squarely with Mayor [Bill] de Blasio," Andrew Berman, executive director of Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation, told Patch.

Greenwich Village preservationists have petitioned the past four years for de Blasio to change the zoning laws that allow 300-foot-tall towers with 100 percent luxury condos in the neighborhood, but the mayor did not budge. They had been trying to change the law to require a tower to be no taller than 120 foot and include at least 20 percent affordable housing in their neighborhood.

Berman also hates the way the building will look.

"This design is about as bland and unrelated to its context as one could imagine," he told Patch. "It's actually really shocking that an architect who clearly has his skillful and capable came up with a design that is so utterly lacking and will be such a detriment to the surrounding neighborhood."

The building is designed by Annabelle Selldorf, an architect famous for her modernist tendencies.

It appears as though many buyers disagree with Berman, though. Very quickly after sales opened for the building, 16 units over $4 million went into contract, including two penthouses that were asking $16.5 million and $14.75 million, according to Olshan Realty Inc.'s weekly report. You can see several photos of the fancy condo interior renderings at 6sqft.

Photo credit: Selldorf Architects