Preservation Commission Approves New Plan For Jane Street Mansion

WEST VILLAGE, NY — The Landmarks Preservation Commission on Tuesday approved the architect's new plan for a mansion on Jane Street after the designer nixed tall glass and concrete towers that preservationists said had no place in Greenwich Village.

The preservationist group that fiercely opposed the architect's proposal to transform two historic Greenwich Village buildings on Jane Street into a tall, glass mansion said it was happy with the plan by Steven Harris Architects that the LPC approved.

"The revised design for 85 Jane Street is a vast improvement over the original plan, which would have been a woefully out-of-place and precedent-setting intrusion in the Greenwich Village Historic District," said Andrew Berman, executive director of the Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation (GVSHP), in a statement Tuesday. "The glass and concrete towers we fought so hard to eliminate are gone, the historic buildings we urged be maintained are to be largely preserved and restored, and the proposed additions are much more modest and in keeping with the character of the street and the neighborhood."

Berman continued: "This is a good example of what the Landmarks Preservation Commission should be doing — preserving our neighborhoods' history and character, listening to the concerns of the public, and working with applicants to find ways to address their needs while fulfilling their mandate to protect our landmarks. It's a very good day for Greenwich Village, and for preservation in New York City."

The first design by Steven Harris Architects, presented to the LPC in July, showed plans to transform 85 and 89 Jane Street into a tall mega-mansion with 80- to 90-foot concrete and glass towers. The GVSHP protested the mansion at the hearing in July and generated hundreds of opposition letters to the LPC, calling the design "completely out of place" in the neighborhood.

"The proposal would insert a highly visible 80-foot tall glass tower that would glow at night, and a 90-foot tall concrete tower behind it, each of which would be quite prominent from the street and down the block both east and west," GVHPS wrote in its testimony to the LPC on July 12. "There is absolutely no justification for these elements, and they should be eliminated entirely from the proposal."

The two brick buildings currently on the lot were built at the turn of the century and used to be an ice cream factory, a garage and a Steinway piano showroom.

Someone under anonymous LLCs bought 85 Jane for $20 million and 89 Jane for $12 million in 2012. The property listing put up in 2009 was promoted as "the last great mansion site available in Greenwich Village."

You can see the vast differences in the original and revised plans here.

Photo credit: Steve Harris Architects rendering