Landmarks gives nod to Tamarkin’s UWS school conversion

555 West End Avenue will become 17 condos

Rendering of 555 West End Avenue (credit: Cary Tamarkin) (inset: Cary Tamarkin)
Rendering of 555 West End Avenue (credit: Cary Tamarkin) (inset: Cary Tamarkin)

Architect-developer Cary Tamarkin’s plans for a school-to-condo conversion on the Upper West Side received approval from the Landmarks Preservation Commission this week.

The commission had previously expressed concern about a rooftop penthouse addition at 555 West End Avenue, a former Catholic school on the corner of West 87th Street, according to Curbed. But Tamarkin’s new proposal for a reduced-height addition got the thumbs up, along with alterations that will move the mechanicals to a courtyard rather than the roof.

Tamarkin bought the property from the Archdiocese of New York for $50 million late last year and is planning to convert it to 17 apartments.

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The new plan reduces the height of the penthouse from 10 feet to 9 feet 6 inches. Landmarks chair Meenakshi Shrinivasan said that this was an improvement, but still felt Tamarkin could go lower. Those minor changes will be dealt with on a staff level and Tamarkin will not have to go before the commission again.

Tamarkin filed permit applications for the construction in March. The existing 53,000-square-foot building will be expanded to 81,000 square feet. [Curbed] — Tess Hofmann