Smyth Hotel Tribeca - 85 West Broadway

[ZippyTheChimp]

Southeast corner of Chambers and West Broadway.

75 X 100 ft site purchased in Dec 2005 by Tribeca Associates.

13 story hotel with 114 rooms. Excavation is almost complete. Can't find any renderings.

http://img299.imageshack.us/img299/5828/85wbroadway01cfp1.th.jpg (http://img299.imageshack.us/my.php?image=85wbroadway01cfp1.jpg)

[londonlawyer]

I hope that it's impressive because the building they razed, while shabby, was nice nonetheless.

[ZippyTheChimp]

The ground floor stores were shabby, but the building was originally a bank, with a double height 2nd floor. The limestone was of high quality, and intact.

I spoke to one of the workers during demolition. He said the stone blocks were being removed for salvage.

[lofter1]

Some posts in Hotel News thread on this one, starting HERE (http://www.wirednewyork.com/forum/showpost.php?p=130865&postcount=362) ...

A site has been cleared and excavation has begun on the SE corner of West Broadway / Chambers Street.

This 3-story building used to sit on that site:
128 Chambers St.: Non-working doorway clock (http://www.clocks.org/new_york_state/ny_manhattan_chambers_st_128_1.html)http://www.clocks.org/images/ny_manhattan_chambers_st_128_1.jpg
Photo: (C) Tom Bernardin, 2000
A google search of the addresses above turns up no info for a new project.

DOB shows that a DEMOLITION (http://a810-bisweb.nyc.gov/bisweb/JobDetailsServlet?requestid=8&allisn=0000015423&allboroughname=&allnumbhous=&allstrt) Permit to tear down the existing 3-story building was issued on 7.21.2006


DOB shows an APPLICATION for a NEW BUILDING (http://a810-bisweb.nyc.gov/bisweb/JobDetailsServlet?requestid=2&allisn=0001276427&allboroughname=&allnumbhous=&allstrt) ( Job #104472660 ) was submitted on 6.23.2006 (DISAPPROVED on 8.17.2006):
PROPOSED: J-1 - RESIDENTIAL (HOTELS)

Architect: Brennan Beer Gorman Architects ( http://www.bbg-bbgm.com/ (http://www.bbg-bbgm.com/) )
Height: 135Floors: 13Gross Square Feet: 92,647 Sq. Ft.Units: 114The bbg-bbgm website shows many "Hospitality" (Hotel) projects including the NYC Sofitel in midtown, the Hyatt Regency in Jersey City, The Peninsula Bangkok, Turning Stone Casino Resort, the Mandarin Oriental Washington D.C. and some large resort hotels in China.

A PERMIT (http://a810-bisweb.nyc.gov/bisweb/JobDetailsServlet?requestid=14&allisn=0001277589&allboroughname=&allnumbhous=&allstrt) to Excavate the site was issued on 9.21.2006:
Excavation/Foundation filing in conjunction with New Building Application 104472660. Also filing for construction fence not to exceed 3' from property line. No change in use, egress, or occupancy.

[lofter1]

Ablarc posted (http://www.wirednewyork.com/forum/showpost.php?p=130874&postcount=364) a photo of the demo, as seen from across the street at the Cosmopolitan Hotel ...

The demolition in question:

http://66.230.220.70/images/post/tribeca/01.jpg

[ZippyTheChimp]

Handy tip:

If you want to refer to a post and show it within a thread instead of as a single item:

Don't use the entire url of the post #. Hover the mouse on the post #, and note the post count . In the case of post #364, the count is p=130874. Put that number in this format:

any text,

and you will get this.

[lofter1]

Pomeranc Trying Something Different Downtown

curbed.com (http://www.curbed.com/archives/2007/02/06/pomeranc_trying_something_different_downtown.php)
February 6, 2007
by Joey

http://www.curbed.com/2007_2_smyth.jpg

Now that we've dabbled in 85 Adams today, it's time to focus on a different 85. Take a trip with us, if you will, back across the Manhattan Bridge and over by City Hall, to 85 West Broadway. What you'll find there is the next Jason Pomeranc hotel project, called the Smyth. Now, HotelChatter (http://www.hotelchatter.com/story/2006/12/6/202830/897/hotels/Jason_Pomeranc_Blazes_On_in_Tribeca) already made mention of the Smyth in December, but Braden Keil (http://www.nypost.com/seven/02062007/business/pomerancs_smyth_to_be_cutting_edge_business_braden _keil.htm) fills in the sketch with some nice color, and by "nice color," we mean, "holy crap it's a condo-hotel!"

Well, sorta. Fifteen one- and two-bedroom apartments priced between $1 and $5 million will go on sale through Stribling in March, but Pomeranc says the units are first or second homes, not typical condo-hotel units where the rooms get rented out while the owner is away. Buyers will still get hotel amenities such as room and maid service. The 100-room hotel will open in (snicker (http://www.curbed.com/archives/2006/11/09/6_columbus_opening_update_eventually_maybe.php)) winter '08. It will feature a gym, a multi-level restaurant with a lounge and cellar bar, and a public rooftop bar that will definitely be the place to see and be seen, as long as the polar ice caps haven't melted by the time the ribbon is cut.

· Pomeranc's Smyth to be Cutting Edge (http://www.nypost.com/seven/02062007/business/pomerancs_smyth_to_be_cutting_edge_business_braden _keil.htm) [NYPost]
· Jason Pomeranc Blazes On in Tribeca (http://www.hotelchatter.com/story/2006/12/6/202830/897/hotels/Jason_Pomeranc_Blazes_On_in_Tribeca) [HotelChatter]
· LES Mania #2: Pomeranc on Allen Goes Black (http://www.curbed.com/archives/2007/02/05/les_mania_2_pomeranc_on_allen_goes_black.php) [Curbed]

***

Jason Pomeranc Blazes On in Tribeca

http://www.hotelchatter.com/files/admin/smyth_pomeranc.jpg

Never mind that Six Columbus still has not opened, Jason Pomeranc and co. (http://www.hotelchatter.com/tag/jason%20pomeranc) are moving forward with their plans for a hotel in Tribeca, called Smyth. A tipster sends us this little bit from the Boutique Search Firm (http://www.boutiquesearchfirm.com/newsletters/December2006.htm) December 2006 newsletter about the Thompson Hotels (http://www.thompsonhotels.com/) new hire for this property:

"Antoine Berberi has joined Thompson Hotels and will be working as General Manager to manage and convert the existing Wall Street District Hotel in New York City. He comes from the Westin Governor Morris in New Jersey where he was the General Manager. For eleven years, he was in various positions with InterContinental in Al Ain, Dubai, Bali, Miami and New Orleans." I think the WSDH is a Holiday Inn, which would make this Thompson Hotel's second Holiday Inn conversion. Their website has been updated, and it shows a building drawing... I wonder if this is going to be on the five-year conversion plan like 6 Columbus?We certainly hope not. At least this building doesn't look like an overbaked shit cookie. (http://www.hotelchatter.com/story/2006/10/11/10592/064/hotels/DeNiro_s_Downtown_Hotel_The_Phone_Tapping_Sessions )

Note: We spent three, count 'em, three proms at the Westin Governor Morris back in high school (except in the old days it wasn't a Westin) so if this man learned to handle drunk Jersey teens, maybe he can handle a Pomeranc crowd.

Related Stories:

· Jason Pomeranc: Lucky in Love, Unlucky in Opening Six Columbus Hotel (http://www.hotelchatter.com/story/2006/9/20/12238/6443/hotels/Jason+Pomeranc%3A+Lucky+in+Love%2C+Unlucky+in+Open ing+Six+Columbus+Hotel) [HotelChatter]

[GreenwichBoy]

Here is the website:

http://www.smythupstairs.com/

[ZippyTheChimp]

Pampering and Sex Sell West Broadway Condos

http://www.tribecatrib.com/photos/news/may07/85Wbway-menu.jpg
A marketing image for Smyth Upstairs, the condos for sale.

By Carl Glassman
POSTED APRIL 30, 2007

Sex sells. But can it sell a $5 million apartment?

The developers of a 13-story hybrid hotel/condo building, to rise at West Broadway and Chambers Street, are luring buyers with eye-catching views—and not just the ones up Hudson Street.

The Web site and marketing materials for “Smyth Upstairs,” 15 condo apartments above the 100-room Thompson hotel, show leggy, minimally clad women exiting limos, flopping on beds, and ordering take out (room service, actually) in their underwear.

The project coincides with a big shift in Downtown demographics. A recent census study by the city’s Department of City Planning showed that three-fourths of residents moving to Lower Manhattan in the last five years were men. And most were young, ages 25 to 44.

“I believe the residential portion will be purchased by young professionals who want something in New York as a home base,” said Bill Brodsky, a partner with Elliot Ingerman in Tribeca Associates, the developers of the project. “I do not think it’s a family building.”

True enough, though Brodsky called his marketing a “much more PG-13 version” than the X-rated shots first proposed by the campaign’s creators, Stribling Marketing Consultants.

With 24-hour hotel services available to residents, the sales pitch
appears to be aimed at buyers who are chronically overworked or domestically slothful, or both. As one promotional tag line goes, “Never make your bed.” It is accompanied by a photo of several articles of clothing (women’s) strewn near the door, apparently shed in haste.

“We wanted to build something in the same vein as a Carlyle, Pierre or Marc,” said Brodsky. “A Downtown version of elegant residential hotel buildings.”

Room rates for the hotel have yet to be set, but will likely be at least $450 a night. Apartments will sell from $1.2 million for a 600 square foot studio to $5 million for a 1,600 square foot penthouse.

Tribeca Associates paid $24 million for the land, previously the site of a bank building and a shoe store that had been in business on the block for 56 years.

Across the street, at the Cosmopolitan Hotel, where rooms go for $175 a night, manager Larry Bader said he is looking forward to his new neighbor. It will improve the block, he said, and bring hotel-goers to the area. Competition, he said, is not a concern. “It’s a different animal completely,” Bader said. “[The Smyth] is going to be one of your chi chi hotels. I’m your basic guy.”


The Tribeca Trib · 401 Broadway, 5th Floor · New York, NY · 10013 · 21

[londonlawyer]

http://www.tribecatrib.com/photos/news/may07/85Wbway-menu.jpg

Very naaahce! :D

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/graphics/2007/03/09/wborat.jpg

[Fabrizio]

http://www.tribecatrib.com/photos/news/may07/85Wbway-menu.jpg

"Hi, it's me... I just want you to know that I bought the cleaner and sealant from Nemo Tile (49 East 20th Street). The guy there is very helpful. He recommended the Miracle "Liquid Poultice" which comes in 2 bottles. Bottle A is cleaner and bottle B is activator. You just need to follow the instructions to mix them with hot water for use. I cleaned twice and most of the stains left by construction were gone. You may need to wait for a day for results. The sealant is 511 Porous Plus. That's 511 Porous Plus"

[ZippyTheChimp]

Use only as directed. Avoid contact with skin. Wear protective gloves and sexy underthings.

[Fabrizio]

thank you for my first laugh of the day.

----

This building BTW looks good. What is the cladding material? I can find no info.

Fingers crossed for limestone.

[ZippyTheChimp]

I hope so. The demolished building was unadorned, but high quality, limestone.

The rest of Chambers St between West Broadway and Church, for years neglected as the neighborhood changed, is rapidly undergoing a transformation.

[antinimby]

http://img102.imageshack.us/img102/9468/img0079mf6.th.jpg (http://img102.imageshack.us/my.php?image=img0079mf6.jpg)

[londonlawyer]

http://www.tribecatrib.com/photos/news/may07/85Wbway-menu.jpg

Very naaahce! :D

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/graphics/2007/03/09/wborat.jpg

I forgot about this ad!!!!

[ZippyTheChimp]

Got a good laugh re-visiting this thread.

Half way up.
http://img184.imageshack.us/img184/6286/85wbroadway02cso6.th.jpg (http://img184.imageshack.us/my.php?image=85wbroadway02cso6.jpg) http://img180.imageshack.us/img180/3469/85wbroadway03cch2.th.jpg (http://img180.imageshack.us/my.php?image=85wbroadway03cch2.jpg)

[BrooklynLove]

question re smyth hotel - i've been watching it go up, and it seems to be covering up the windows in the seemingly expensive condos adjacent to the south. anybody know more behind that? just seems wrong.

[GreenwichBoy]

^^^
60 Warren Street The Art House

http://nymag.com/realestate/vu/2006/17320/


http://www.flickr.com/photos/cityspecific/172933447/

[BrooklynLove]

^^ right, that's the building. but what is the deal with smyth going flush up against the north facing windows?

[lofter1]

Greenwich Boy ^ beat me to posting the links while I was putting this one together ... :cool:

It's quite a saga.

The current mega-rich owner the PH at 60 Warren Street (aka 79 - 83 W. Broadway, just to the south of the Smyth Hotel) is not very happy about the Smyth rising ... seems the new Smyth building is getting in the way of attempts to sell (http://curbed.com/archives/2006/04/20/on_the_market_tribeca_grand.php) this joint.

But then, folks weren't too happy when this 4-story roof-top structure (http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9400E3D81039F937A15753C1A96F9582 60&sec=&spon=&pagewanted=2) was added to an old brick munitions warehouse back in the 90's ...

At one time thie 60 Warren PH was occupied by heiress / lawyer / former dot-com exec Elana Waksal Posner (http://www.observer.com/node/44817) -- if the name Waksal sounds familiar it's probably because you remember hearing it when Elena's daddy, Samuel Waksal (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sam_Waksal), got into hot water with the law a few years back (his dirty deeds regarding his company, ImClone Systems (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ImClone_stock_trading_case), also caused some trouble for a few of his friends, most notably Martha Stewart (http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A37808-2002Oct3.html)).

The window below at 60 Warren Street looks to the north -- where the Smyth is now rising.

The new hotel will block the view:

http://nymag.com/images/2/realestate/06/06/vu/masterpiece/2.jpg (http://nymag.com/realestate/vu/06/arthouse/index3.html)
Overlooking the dining area: A 24-foot window stretches two stories,
letting natural light flood in to illuminate the Dale Chihuly chandelier, a
Jason Brooks painting, and a 1,300-pound Antony Gormley sculpture
that cantilevers from the wall. The wall beams had to be reinforced.

60 Warren Street Townhouse/Penthouse

cityspecific blogspot (http://cityspecific.blogspot.com/2006_06_01_archive.html)

http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/3665/853/400/60warren.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/cityspecific/172933447/)
by jskrybe (http://www.flickr.com/photos/cityspecific/) at flickr (http://www.flickr.com/photos/cityspecific/172933447/)

I couldn't help snapping a photo of this beautiful monstrosity in Tribeca
the other night. Little did I know the puppy's up for sale — still holding at
$28.5 million, no PriceChopping yet—and had been featured on Curbed
several weeks ago (http://www.curbed.com/archives/2006/04/20/on_the_market_tribeca_grand.php) and is featured in New York magazine's VU
supplement this week (http://www.newyorkmetro.com/realestate/vu/2006/17320/). Plus it's filled with crazy art!

***

Here's a Classic New York Story of
No View Being Permanent

http://www.nysun.com/pics/69241_main_large.jpg
Heuichul Kim
The 24-foot north-facing windows of Edward Bazinet's
penthouse will be blocked by the quickly-rising Smyth Hotel

New York Sun (http://www.nysun.com/article/69241)
By BRADLEY HOPE (http://www.nysun.com/authors/Bradley+Hope)
Staff Reporter of the Sun
January 10, 2008

In New York, the saying goes, no view is permanent.

The plight of multimillionaire Edward Bazinet (http://www.nysun.com/related_results.php?term=Edward+Bazinet) proves the universality of this maxim: Even if you own one of the most expensive and unusual penthouses in Lower Manhattan (http://www.nysun.com/related_results.php?term=Manhattan), your view can still be blocked.

The north side of Mr. Bazinet's five-story, modern-art-filled penthouse at 60 Warren St. has a sweeping 24-foot window with views of the Empire State Building (http://www.nysun.com/related_results.php?term=Empire+State+Building), as well as a small greenhouse attached to the kitchen. But the sound of hammering and drilling on a new 14-story hotel-condominium called the Smyth just a few floors below foretells a shadier future. "I'm not thrilled, obviously," Mr. Bazinet, 64, who is worth more than $100 million after retiring from the ceramic collectibles business he founded, said in an interview.

"My sixth-floor windows will be gone, and three other floors are losing north-side views," he said. "Their abutting wall will be right up next to my patio area and greenhouse."

Mr. Bazinet put the apartment on the market in 2006 for $28.5 million, the most expensive listing for a downtown apartment at the time. But in October 2007, he took it off because of the construction, his broker at Sotheby's, Stephen McRae (http://www.nysun.com/related_results.php?term=Stephen+McRae), said.

"We had offers on it, but people didn't want to live through the construction," Mr. McRae said, adding that the penthouse will likely go back on the market after the hotel's basic frame is complete.

Mr. Bazinet vowed to increase the price, arguing that the nearly 10,000-square-foot penthouse is so unique that one lost view will not diminish its value.

The apartment has views of the city on all four sides, including the Hudson River on the west.

A real estate appraiser, Jonathan Miller, said wrap-around views on a penthouse could account for between 25% and 50% of the price. He said he could not comment specifically on Mr. Bazinet's penthouse. "Anytime you lose one-fourth of your view, that's also natural light and privacy lost," he said.

"It could be a very considerate impact" on price.

Mr. Bazinet originally bought the space in 2001 for $13.15 million from the chief executive of StarMedia Network, Fernando Espuelas, who had bought it for $6.1 million the year before.

One of the original developers of the penthouse, which sits atop the five-story 19th-century Munitions Building, was the founder of ImClone, Samuel Waksal (http://www.nysun.com/related_results.php?term=Sam+Waksal), who is serving a seven-year prison sentence in Michigan for securities fraud. Mr. Bazinet said he sued Waksal and his partners for shoddy construction.

Three years and millions of dollars later, the penthouse was transformed into one of the most unusual properties in Lower Manhattan, but Mr. Bazinet said he was tired of "vertical living."

In the 2007 book "Richistan: A Journey Through the American Wealth Boom and the Lives of the New Rich," Mr. Bazinet told author Robert Frank (http://www.nysun.com/related_results.php?term=Robert+Frank) that he wanted to scale back.

"It's not comfortable," he told Mr. Frank. "Sometimes you don't know until you're living in a space. But this feels too big for two people. It's great when you have people for a party. But upstairs it feels like a big fishbowl with just a few people. There are no cozy areas."

At one point Mr. Bazinet said he considered buying the plot of land where the new hotel is rising, which was on the market for $24 million, to prevent his view from being blocked. But he did not want the added responsibility of developing it. "I had enough headaches in New York," he said.

Mr. Bazinet started out designing flower arrangements in his home state of Minnesota, and he hit on the idea of selling collectible ceramic villages in the 1970s, according to "Richistan." He retired from the company he founded, called Department 56, in 1997. He has two Ocicats, a rare breed of cat, and co-owns a Gulfstream jet.

The architect who redesigned the penthouse and orchestrated the addition of another floor to Mr. Bazinet's penthouse, Andrea Ballerini (http://www.nysun.com/related_results.php?term=Andrea+Ballerini), said he had enlarged the northern window to take better advantage of the view.

"We cut the beam and made a bigger window," he said. "You can see completely to the Empire State Building."

The Smyth, which will include 100 hotel rooms, 15 hotel condominiums, and a restaurant and bar in the lobby, "will be very bad," Mr. Ballerini said. "It is New York and it is bad luck."

The penthouse has a private elevator, three terraces, a gym, and a dark room.

Mr. Bazinet, who lives there with his partner, a Belgian photographer, has filled the apartment with modern art. Directly inside the 24-foot window that is losing its view is a 700-piece Dale Chihuly chandelier. Near a stairwell is a 30-foot LED installation by Jenny Holzer, and elsewhere are a Jason Brooks painting, a 1,300-pound Antony Gormley sculpture, two Eric Fischl sculptures, and a giant Bisazza-tile portrait of Napoleon, according to an article in New York magazine featuring the space.

The developer of the Smyth, William Brodsky (http://www.nysun.com/related_results.php?term=William+Brodsky) of TriBeCa Associates, said he has met with Mr. Bazinet to discuss mitigating the effect of the construction. One idea is to plant ivy or another plant on the section of the wall that blocks the apartment.

"One of the things that we are not thrilled about is that we're taking Ed's view, and we're sorry about that," Mr. Brodsky said.

© 2007 The New York Sun, One SL, LLC.

***

The Art House

It’s a townhouse.
No, it’s a doorman building.
Wait — it’s both.
And it comes with a Jenny Holzer installation
and a 700-piece Dale Chihuly chandelier.

NEW YORK MAGAZINE (http://nymag.com/realestate/vu/2006/17320/)
By Wendy Goodman
June 18, 2006

Proof that it’s possible to have your real-estate cake and eat it, too: This five-story private home, with its expansive views and ample outdoor space, is actually perched on the roof of a nineteenth-century Tribeca building. The developers had started the townhouse (originally four stories) on top of 60 Warren Street but never finished it. “It was a shell,” says the owners’ architect, Andrea Ballerini. “And not even a good shell.”

Slideshow: The Art House (http://nymag.com/realestate/vu/2006/17320)The owners had been living in Chelsea, but when they saw this property, they realized it had the best of many worlds: great light, outdoor space, breathtaking views south, west, and north, and the feeling of a townhouse with the security of a doorman building. Its configuration and wall space would also let them display more of their significant contemporary-art collection. They agreed to an early closing in August 2001 and began an extensive renovation (they also added the fifth floor, which now houses a gym, wet bar, bathroom, and separate terrace).

Ballerini had already designed two other houses for these clients, so he knew that showcasing the art was paramount to the design. That meant putting Jenny Holzer’s three-story blue LED word display front and center, near the staircase, and adding more pieces of blown glass to the Dale Chihuly chandelier, because the original configuration wasn’t substantial enough. The Gerhard Richter painting recessed into the living-room wall appears as if it were created for the space. At first glance, a life-size Eric Fischl sculpture lurking in the doorway on one side of the master bath looks like the bogeyman looming to get you. Beyond the bath is the Jacuzzi room, where a portrait of Napoleon, rendered in Bisazza tile, surrounds the chrome tub.

Even the notoriously picky artists themselves approve of, and collaborated on, the space. “The blue vertical LED always was to go by the stair,” says Holzer of her installation. “I liked this plan because, however irrationally and optimistically, I thought of Duchamp’s Nude Descending a Staircase and wanted to leave a ghost of that at the apartment.”

The ghost will go to whoever buys the apartment, as will the very substantial Chihuly (there’s a cherry picker stored in the building’s basement, which comes in handy for dusting it). The rest of the art is moving out — unless a prospective buyer really falls in love. “Everything is an option,” the current owner says with a smile.

***

Adding New Floors Atop Old Buildings

NY TIMES (http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9400E3D81039F937A15753C1A96F9582 60&sec=&spon=&pagewanted=2)
By DENNIS HEVESI
October 24, 1999

FIST-THICK bolts have been punched through 53-foot-long, 18,000-pound girders, forging a platform for four new floors atop the masonry walls of an 1860's building on Warren Street in TriBeCa -- an ornate structure that once warehoused munitions for the Remington Arms Company and, later, row upon row of champagne bottles for the G.H. Mumm Company.

By spring, the developer hopes to have sold the four full-floor condominiums being fashioned in the old building, the 6,000-square-foot apartment with a deck on the newly created sixth floor and, perhaps, the new triplex that will top it all off -- for prices ranging from $1.4 million to $4.3 million.

At 40 Prince Street in Little Italy, three new floors are being added to create a total of 20 apartments in a 1950's building that already has offices, art studios and residences. At 90th Street and Amsterdam Avenue on the Upper West Side, scaffolding skirts a six-story 1920's building in preparation for the addition of five floors and a penthouse -- virtually doubling the building's size.

The Manhattan residential market, where demand has long outstripped available acreage, has long inspired developers to reach for novel architectural forms -- from the so-called sliver building, rising high from a narrow lot, to the lollipop building (kind of a sliver building topped by T-shaped wings over adjacent brownstones and town houses). These days, it is increasingly spurring construction of piggyback buildings: more floors -- in one case 11 -- added onto an existing structure. At least a dozen piggyback buildings are currently in some state of construction.

''It's definitely a trend,'' said Richard C. Visconti, acting commissioner of the New York City Department of Buildings. ''The strong economy is driving a tremendous amount of residential development.''

And as certain areas of the city have been rezoned from commercial to residential use, Mr. Visconti said, developers find it feasible -- particularly in lower Manhattan where many older buildings retain unused development rights -- ''to buy buildings and add two, three or whatever the lot will yield in the way of additional floor area.''

The phenomenon has generated considerable controversy, particularly from neighbors of buildings experiencing unanticipated growth spurts and, in some cases, people already living in the buildings.

There are immediate concerns, like the din of construction, fear of falling debris and fire safety; and longer-term issues, like access to light and air, the structural integrity of the old building, the historic character of the community and, in grittier districts, the frustration that ''there goes the neighborhood'' (upscale).

Not to mention sudden loss of that precious commodity: view.

The Department of Buildings cannot quantify the trend in what it refers to as ''vertical enlargements'' because they are lumped together with applications for all sorts of building alterations. ''We have no statistics that say so many permits have been given for vertical enlargements.'' Mr. Visconti said. ''But across the board we're up 31 percent in our alteration applications'' -- from 46,214 in 1995 to 60,631 this year. ''What is new,'' Mr. Visconti said, ''is that everyone is seeing more and more of it.''

Charles Dunne sees it every day -- and not just at the old munitions and champagne warehouse that his company is piggybacking.

Mr. Dunne is a partner in the 60 Warren Street Company. ''I live downtown and I see it,'' he said. ''Many buildings are doing one or two floors; I know of five to 10. But I'd say another four or five are adding four or five floors.''

''One reason you're seeing this is because the price of raw space has gone up dramatically,'' Mr. Dunne said. ''So to make a project economically viable it's not always possible just to keep and renovate the existing structure. That leaves you two choices, either knock the building down and start from scratch or do what we did.

''We didn't just go out with the idea of adding to a building,'' Mr. Dunne said. ''We found a building we thought was beautiful and tried make it economically viable while preserving it.''

Some people are not applauding, their reservations ranging from esthetics to fear of collapse.

Andrew Dolkart, an architectural historian and author of ''The Texture of TriBeCa'' (TriBeCa Community Association, 1989), pointed out that 60 Warren Street is representative of the first generation of imposing buildings that, starting in the 1850's, transformed what is now called TriBeCa from a neighborhood of Federal-style row houses with sloping roofs and dormer windows into a commercial and manufacturing district.

''It's five stories,'' Mr. Dolkart said. ''That's typical because these buildings predate the elevator. It's an Italianate-style building with segmental arches on the windows of three floors and round arches on top -- a nice variation in the rhythms.''

Such buildings were carefully proportioned for their height, Mr. Dolkart said, ''so when you add stories you destroy the proportions.''

''I hate this stuff,'' he said. ''The Warren Street building is a really significant structure and doesn't deserve to be the base for a taller building. I'd rather see it torn down.''

Roger Byrom, a graphics designer, lives across the street from 60 Warren and worries that the building, with its old wooden joists and beams and load-bearing walls, could come tumbling down -- especially if a fire starts in the dry-cleaning plant on the ground floor.

''I've asked structural engineers, 'Am I crazy here?' and they all say no,'' Mr. Byrom said.

''With that structure on the roof,'' Mr. Byrom asserted, the building will press the limits of its load-bearing capacity. ''Can you imagine,'' he said, ''if any of the integrity of the 100-year-old brickwork is in question, that the building will just buckle and fall over?''

Not a chance, said Joseph Vance, the architect. ''It was built to handle a lot of weight, stacked-up ammunition,'' Mr. Vance said. ''So it was extremely well built.''

One wall, on West Broadway, for example, Mr. Vance said, ''is two feet thick at the bottom and tapers to 17 inches at the top.'' And engineers have calculated, he said, that the east wall -- a so-called ''party wall'' shared with the neighboring building -- ''can not only support what we are doing, but a four-story addition on their building as well.''

The neighbors were not convinced.

The co-op board at 56 Warren Street filed suit, primarily because of concerns that wood beams inside the old warehouse could catch fire and, with them, the building collapse. In June, City Councilwoman Kathryn E. Freed wrote to the Buildings Department, echoing those concerns.

''This problem is not unique to this project,'' the letter said. ''Several other buildings in lower Manhattan have been renovated without attention to this critical safety issue. Even a minor fire in one of these buildings could cause a major catastrophe!''

Last month, the Buildings Department responded, saying, in part, that the builder ''will be installing noncombustible bracing at required intervals.''
Explaining his architectural design, Mr. Vance said: ''We are creating a platform on top of the building, spanning from the west wall to the east wall, with three-foot-deep steel beams that transfer the weight of the entire four-story addition to the exterior masonry walls.''

To deal with the issues raised by Councilwoman Freed and the neighbors' lawsuit, Mr. Vance said, it was decided to add fireproof steel bracing within the existing fourth floor.

''What they were concerned about is lateral stability,'' he said. ''If you are standing up and someone stands on your shoulders you're wobbly -- laterally unstable. But if you're sitting on the ground and someone stands on your shoulders, you wouldn't wobble as much.''

''The fourth floor,'' Mr. Vance said, ''is where the walls are thinnest. And we have, through quantifiable calculation, determined that with the fourth-floor steel beams, every joist in the building could be removed and it would still be stable.'' On that basis, and with other issues addressed, the lawsuit filed by the board of the neighboring building was settled.

Asked if she was satisfied, Councilwoman Freed said yes and no.

''What the Buildings Department originally approved lacked these additional safeguards,'' she said. ''If the department is saying it is now safe, what was it before?''

While questions of load-bearing capacity are quantifiable, those of esthetics are, as usual, in the eye of the beholder.

The addition was designed to be ''modern, distinct from the building below,'' Mr. Vance said. ''We didn't want a Disneyland version of the old building.''

For Ms. Freed, ''it's an ugly addition, but ugly isn't against the law.''

Copyright 2008 The New York Times Company

[lofter1]

... what is the deal with smyth going flush up against the north facing windows?

Lot line windows ... a risky investment.

Let it be a lesson to you.

[GreenwichBoy]

"One of the things that we are not thrilled about is that we're taking Ed's view, and we're sorry about that," Mr. Brodsky said.


The $ 28.5 million apology, unreal.

[lofter1]

but not too sorry ...

btw, the SMYTH (http://www.wirednewyork.com/forum/search.php?searchid=1262065) has existing threads

[BrooklynLove]

thanks for the info guys. my bad for hijacking the thread.

[ZippyTheChimp]

http://img375.imageshack.us/img375/7417/85wbroadway04cas0.th.jpg (http://img375.imageshack.us/my.php?image=85wbroadway04cas0.jpg)

Sunday, Mar 09

[ZippyTheChimp]

Sunday, March 30

http://img407.imageshack.us/img407/8355/85wbroadway05ckk1.th.jpg (http://img407.imageshack.us/my.php?image=85wbroadway05ckk1.jpg)


First facade panels are on site. Similar system as 15 CPW - stone veneer set in concrete panels. Can't be sure, but the stone may be manufactured cast stone. Looks good.

http://img407.imageshack.us/img407/18/85wbroadway06cfn8.th.jpg (http://img407.imageshack.us/my.php?image=85wbroadway06cfn8.jpg) http://img407.imageshack.us/img407/3902/85wbroadway07ccg8.th.jpg (http://img407.imageshack.us/my.php?image=85wbroadway07ccg8.jpg)

[lofter1]

The rough-cut panels look to be real stone.

And I like what I see.

[Taggert]

I have been following this too, and took a close look last week. It is limestone at the base, but it goes beyond the lobby level, and appears to extend about 17+ feet from street level. Also the limestone seems to have a cove that I am guessing (hoping) will be a light fixture, which should make that rough cut stone a highlight at night.

I like what I am seeing, too.

[londonlawyer]

Got a good laugh re-visiting this thread.

Half way up.
http://img184.imageshack.us/img184/6286/85wbroadway02cso6.th.jpg (http://img184.imageshack.us/my.php?image=85wbroadway02cso6.jpg) http://img180.imageshack.us/img180/3469/85wbroadway03cch2.th.jpg (http://img180.imageshack.us/my.php?image=85wbroadway03cch2.jpg)

When I saw the Smyth Hotel's ad with those legs, I don't know if "[h]alf way up" would describe my reaction!

... oh, wait a second, you were saying that the building would be half-way up.

[ZippyTheChimp]

Now it's all the way up.

http://img145.imageshack.us/img145/3554/85wbroadway11cks1.th.jpg (http://img145.imageshack.us/my.php?image=85wbroadway11cks1.jpg) http://img145.imageshack.us/img145/5421/85wbroadway12cpu5.th.jpg (http://img145.imageshack.us/my.php?image=85wbroadway12cpu5.jpg) http://img145.imageshack.us/img145/8871/85wbroadway13cvd3.th.jpg (http://img145.imageshack.us/my.php?image=85wbroadway13cvd3.jpg) http://img389.imageshack.us/img389/6107/85wbroadway14cob7.th.jpg (http://img389.imageshack.us/my.php?image=85wbroadway14cob7.jpg)

[ZippyTheChimp]

http://img146.imageshack.us/img146/6664/85wbroadway15ceo2.th.jpg (http://img146.imageshack.us/my.php?image=85wbroadway15ceo2.jpg)

[studio2s]

It's still missing the metal panels.

[Derek2k3]

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3259/2670783493_53b68539e6_o.jpg
Looks cookie-cutter to me.