Nine Not to Ignore: No. 4

Gossips' series highlighting at-risk buildings, which began on Thursday, continues today with the fourth building on the list.

4  432 Warren Street   

Photo: Zillow

This building is one of the Nine Not to Ignore not because of its historic significance but because it is an integral part of the streetscape. The picture below, taken after the Blizzard of 1888, shows how the building and its companion at 43o Warren Street were meant to look.

    
The building was for years owned by Phil Gellert as part of his "Northern Empire." Tax records indicate that in October 2014 Gellert sold the building for $350,000 to an entity identified only as 432 Warren Street, LLC. Gossips has learned that the building was recently sold again, but no information about the buyer or the price is available. When the building was on the market, the following information appeared on realtor.com:

Property Overview--This is a rare opportunity to build from the ground up on a large (0.08 acre) lot on the 400 block of Warren Street behind the existing facade. Gutted and being sold "as is" with no electric or heat, gas and municipal water on the street. Structural report on file. Bring your imagination--perfect size for a large restaurant or retail space on the ground floor with a number of residential units above. Catskill views from the 2nd and 3rd floors--even better views from a roof deck! Yours to imagine and build!

Incidentally, 432 Warren Street is probably the only property on Warren Street whose preliminary assessment in the current revaluation remained that same as its 2018 assessment. 

This post began by saying the building's history was not the reason it was being included in Nine Not to Ignore. Nevertheless, its history is not without interest. Because it is unclear what the number of the building was before 1888, when the all the house numbers on east-west streets in Hudson were changed, the focus will be on its history since 1889. In October of that year, the Columbia Republican reported the sale of the building. 

Edmund Denegar was the carpenter and contractor who built 35 South Fifth Street for himself and his family in 1888.   

In 1896, the Columbia Republican reports that the building was sold again, this time to Dr. Henry Warner Johnson.

In 1919, the Columbia Republican reported that when the young Dr. John L. Edwards, for whom the now abandoned elementary school was named, returned from Europe after World War I, he temporarily set up his practice at 432 Warren Street while Dr. Johnson was away on vacation.

By 1926, the building had become McDonald's Funeral Parlor and remained so until 1964 when the funeral home moved to the Dinehart mansion at 886 Columbia Street.

It is not known--at least not by Gossips--what happened to the building after the funeral home moved out and before Gellert bought it nor is it known exactly when he acquired it. 
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