Projects Around Town: Saving a Landmarked SoHo Condo
May 21, 2014 — One day in February 2012, a fragment of stone façade chipped away from the two-building, 14-unit condo at 42-50 Wooster Street. "The previous winter had been very cold, and this little piece — maybe two inches wide — fell down," says Liz Sabosik of The Andrews Organization, the condominium's property manager. "It must have taken on a little water, frozen and popped off. So we immediately set up a sidewalk shed and started interviewing architects."
While the main problem was dealing with damage as a result of shifting buildings, the board seized the opportunity to take on some proactive work. Board members realized they could save money in the long run by piggybacking onto this main project the smaller projects that would eventually need to be completed.
One of the smaller jobs was reacting to a change in Local Law 11: the buildings' terrace railings now had to be taller. The railings were measured, cast, and replaced. They also painted and cleaned the building exteriors, including some of the historic cast iron where previous coats of paint were starting to wear off. An assessment paid for the work, which totaled $420,000 and needed the approval of the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission.
Mix of Styles
Matching the period, colors, and materials on one building was hard, but the project also had to deal with two buildings with one-of-a-kind characteristics. The south building, 42-44 Wooster, was built in 1882-3, but the north one wasn't constructed until 1894-5, using dissimilar materials and done in another style.
"One of the challenges in any restoration is matching the new material to the old," says Charles DiSanto of Walter B. Melvin Architects. "Some of it we restored and cleaned up, some spots just needed patching material of exactly the right color, and a few spots needed new pre-cast concrete."
Project start: September 2012
Project end: July 2013
PROJECT
● Repairing masonry
● Installing new terrace railings
● Repainting cast iron exterior
● Repainting windows
INVESTMENT
$420,000
PARTICIPANTS
Charles DiSanto, principal-in-charge, Walter B. Melvin Architects
Donald Friedman, consultant, Old Structures Engineering
Susan Daimler, board president
Liz Sabosik, property manager, The Andrews Organization
West New York Restoration, contractor
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Photo courtesy Walter B. Melvin Architects