West Village Corner Could Get Seven-Story, 26-Unit Building

WEST VILLAGE, NY — A quaint corner in the West Village could be redeveloped with a seven-story mixed-use building.

Developers are proposing to demolish a site at MacDougal and W. 8th Sts., where one-story buildings are currently located, and build an apartment building with ground-floor retail space.

The building is expected to have 26 units, according to Department of Buildings filings.

Higgins Quasebarth & Partners is the developer for the site, and Morris Adjmi Architects is designing the building.

"This is a pretty unique spot in the Village," Jonathan Taylor, an associate with the developer said at a Landmarks Preservation Commission hearing earlier this month. "When I first moved to New York, it was all shoe stores."

The historic corner is in the Greenwich Village Historic District. LPC is reviewing the proposal, and Community Board 2's Landmarks Committee held a hearing in January.

"[For] the building itself — there was a fair amount of concern from the public about its size," said Chenault Spence, co-chair of the committee.

But, Spence said, the corner was once where a three-story hotel once stood back in the 19th century, Hotel Confarone, according to historical images in the developers' LPC application.

Historically, the proposed building is not a "huge departure," Spence said.

The second portion of the project is to renovate the facade of 177 MacDougal St., a neighboring building, and infill the storefront basement.

Red-colored, cast-iron lattice on the facade at 177 MacDougal St. would also be removed for the project, which a representative for Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation said at the LPC hearing makes the proposed storefront "bland."

GVSHP's statement at the hearing also was concerned the W. 8th St. side of the building appeared too monotonous, and recommended a second brick color to break up the buildings and storefront.

Community Board 2 approved (page 7) the demolition of the building and the overall design of the building — but encouraged varied storefronts that are visually separated so as to avoid a mall-like appearance, something developer representatives said they were addressing at the LPC public hearing on the proposal. CB 2 was also concerned about the corner column of the building at MacDougal and W 8th Sts. because for some, it appeared too thin.

"That's one of the most delicate blocks in the neighborhood," Spence said.

The corner is across the street from MacDougal Alley, a Greenwich Village mews where buildings once owned by Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney stand.

The developers are addressing requests from the commission, which has not yet voted, and will bring back their proposal to another LPC public meeting.