Earlier this summer we brought word that the new owner of the Jarmulowsky Bank building was converting it to a boutique hotel. Ron Castellano (The Forward Building, Hester Street Fair, etc.) and Taavo Somer (Freemans, Peels, etc.) began working on the historic building at 54 Canal/9 Orchard a few months ago. The team is now moving forward with an application to the Landmarks Preservation Commission, a necessary step anytime changes are proposed to a New York City landmark.
As a first step, they will go before Community Board 3’s landmarks subcommittee next month (September 10). Castellano and Somer are seeking a “certificate of appropriateness” in order to complete renovations on the Jarmulowsky. It entails, according to the community board agenda released today:
(Raising) the parapet, (Installing) new mechanical equipment, convert(ing) existing mechanical room to occupiable space on roof; install(ing) new storefront infill, (installing) new masonry balustrade in existing bay ground floor; install(ing) new balconies at rear (and removing the building’s fire escapes).
The application has not yet emerged on the Landmarks Commission web site. Castellano and Somer are hoping their proposal will be heard by the LPC sometime later in the fall. Although they’re asking CB3 to weigh in, the community board’s vote is not binding; it would simply be an advisory opinion.
Castellano helped lead the effort to designate the Jarmulowsky a city landmark. It was only later that he was brought in by the new owners to work on the hotel project. The 1912 building was sold to DLJ Real Estate Partners for $36 million.
I suggest that interested people consult the CB3 website before attending the Landmarks Subcommittee meeting. This item could be rescheduled, depending upon when LPC schedules their hearing.
The subcommittee wants to consider the same proposal that LPC will consider.