Love for Landmarks Commission

http://www.futureofcapitalism.com/2011/05/love-for-landmarks-commission

From a news article about commercial real estate in today's Wall Street Journal: "To look at the placid new design for 87 Chambers St., the site of a long-planned boutique hotel, is to feel a twinge of appreciation for the Landmarks Preservation Commission, the city's arbiter of what can and can't be built in designated historic districts."

The Journal reports that the Landmarks Commission sent an architect back to the drawing board. One commissioner reacted to the initial plan by saying, "To me it's a flat facade. Four inches is not sufficient depth."

Well, one could react to all this by feeling "a twinge of appreciation for the Landmarks Preservation Commission," as the Journal reporter apparently does. But one could also react by wondering why, at 87 Chambers Street — which isn't exactly Buckingham Palace — a government agency is imposing aesthetic judgments down to inches on what the owner of a property builds there.

by Ira Stoll  |  May 2, 2011 at 10:37 am Related Topics:  New York, Press, Regulation receive the latest by email: subscribe to the free futureofcapitalism.com mailing list