Beyond Warren Street

Much attention is being given to the new building proposed for 211 Warren Street, to be constructed on the site of a very old building, which some believe dated from the early 18th-century, that was demolished last year.

A block north of Warren Street, just outside the historic district, new construction is happening, for better or for worse, with no design oversight. 

This new house is on Prison Alley, at the back of 209-211 Columbia Street.

This building, a two-family duplex whose construction is close to completion, stands at 248-250 Columbia Street. 

The new buildings replaces these two buildings, which were demolished at the end of last year.

 

The mosque of the Hudson Islamic Center is being built at the corner of Columbia and Third streets.

This building, recently completed, stands at 352 Columbia Street. 

This building is actually not a new building but rather a dramatic transformation of the building that was there.

Interestingly, the very modern looking building stands between two Hudson Homesteads houses, which were built around 2004 by Housing Resources of Columbia County. That project conscientiously undertook to design buildings that mimicked the appearance of other nearby buildings. Compare, for example, 350 Columbia Street with 328 Columbia Street.

What was probably a mid-century "remodeling" at 328 Columbia Street--the brick front on the ground floor topped by a cornice--was imitated in the design of 350 Columbia Street. The redesign of 352 Columbia Street makes no effort re-create the way the building was originally intended to look or to blend with the buildings on either side.
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