Landmarks panel OKs Merchant’s House neighbor

UPDATED, 2:54 p.m., April 8: The Landmarks Preservation Commission approved a nine-story hotel that would rise next door to the Merchant’s House Museum at 29 East 4th Street.

The commission said the hotel design involving glass, metal spandrels and beige brick met the requirements it had set. Preservationist groups have been concerned that the museum site would sustain damage in the wake of demolition at 31 East 4th Street. The circa-1832 building was the sixth structure that the preservation commission ever designated a landmark, shortly after the agency was founded in 1965.

The proposed new building by SRA Architecture + Engineering at 27 East 4th Street was designed specifically to provide additional structural support for the museum’s building. The commission has previously questioned the height of the structure, which some detractors argue will compromise the historical integrity of the street. [Curbed] and [EV Grieve] — Mark Maurer