Landmarks commissions OKs shorter St. Luke’s tower

The residential tower to stand 32 feet shorter than original design

Rendering of 100 Barrow Street
Rendering of 100 Barrow Street

The proposed West Village building for the Church of St. Luke in the Fields will now stand three stories shorter than its original design as a result of a new ruling by the Landmarks Preservation Committee.

The commission, which rejected the church’s proposal to build a 15-story, 153-foot-tall tower atop a parking lot at 487 Hudson Street in March, unanimously approved the new design on Tuesday. The tower will be 121 feet tall, or three stories shorter, than the original design. Despite the revision, the building’s overall size actually increased by 1,400 square feet, though the number of residential units remains the same.

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While the church plans to allocate a portion of its residential tower to affordable housing, some Greenwich Village residents voiced concern over the lack of a public comment period following the presentation made by the project’s architects.

“We are deeply disappointed that the L.P.C. approved this revised design today,” Andrew Berman, executive director of the Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation, told The Village. “The new design is substantially different than the old one, and yet the public was given no opportunity to review or comment upon this new application, which will have a profound visual impact upon the neighborhood.” [The Villager] –Kerry Barger