A Manhattan real estate developer with dreams of revitalizing Canal Street is looking to demolish a pair of historic buildings and construct a new building from the ground up, according to a notice that appeared in the city register this week.
United American Land, a firm owned by the Laboz family, wants to take a wrecking ball to the dilapidated structures at 301 Canal St. and 419-421 Broadway — both of which fall within the SoHo-Cast Iron Historic District — right above the Canal Street subway station that serves the N, Q, R and W trains. But before any work can begin, the Landmarks Preservation Commission must sign off on the plans because the buildings, dating back to the 1800s and the mid-1900s, sit within the historic district.
United American Land bought the two properties, as well 423 Broadway next door, in 2017 for $5.4 million, according to city records. And the three brothers who serve as the firm’s principals — Albert, Jason and Jody Laboz — didn’t waste time in filing plans to renovate the corner. That same year, they first went before the Landmarks Preservation Commission with an application to demolish the two buildings on Broadway and erect a 9-story structure, designed by Morris Adjmi Architects that would include office space with retail on the ground floor. The commission approved a modified version of the application in December, though it had rejected a first iteration months earlier, Curbed reported at the time.
Now the Laboz family is slated to go before the Landmarks Preservation Commission on May 7 with newly tweaked plans that call instead for a 1-story building in accordance with the fact that the “office market [is] not viable at present,” said Bridget Moriarity, a spokeswoman for Morris Adjmi Architects. The federal townhouse next door, 423 Broadway, will not be demolished but will be renovated with a small addition, she said.
“This 1-story building will be contextually appropriate and inspired by the cast-iron architecture of SoHo,” Moriarity said.
In 2021 the city controversially rezoned the area to allow for building housing as of right as part of the SoHo/NoHo Neighborhood Plan, said Casey Berkowitz, a spokesman for the Department of City Planning. The Laboz family currently doesn’t have plans to include apartments at their new development at the corner of Canal and Broadway but are working with the same architect on a large residential project with 100 units of housing, a quarter of which will be below market rate, just across Broadway at 277 Canal St., Moriarity said. That project is expected to be the first one completed following the neighborhood rezoning.
United American Land did not respond to a request for comment by press time.
Julianne Cuba , 2024-05-01 21:54:37
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