Friday, November 27, 2020

Past and Future: 427 Warren Street

There are very few 20th-century buildings on Warren Street, and those that exist were typically built after 19th-century buildings were destroyed by fire. Such is the case with 427 Warren Street. The building that originally stood on the site burned in February 1951, in a spectacular fire that reportedly caused $300,000 in damage (which is the equivalent of more than $3 million today). The picture below shows the building that originally stood on the site, as the fire fighters work to put out the fire.

PhotobyGibson.com
The building that was constructed in its place wasn't originally the headquarters of the Hudson Police Department, but the HPD moved there sometime in the early 1980s.

In 2017, the HPD moved to its new digs at 701 Union Street, and in 2019, the building at 427 Warren Street was sold at auction. In an odd coincidence, the minimum bid in the auction was $300,000--the same amount the fire in 1951 was reported to have caused in damage. (The building actually sold for $435,000.)

Now, the work to redesign the facade of the building has begun. The picture below was taken yesterday.

Photo: Peter Jung
The rendering below shows the design for the new facade, which was granted a certificate of appropriateness by the Historic Preservation Commission in August 2020.

COPYRIGHT 2020 CAROLE OSTERINK

11 comments:

  1. The Hudson Police used to be in the current City Hall where the treasurers office resides. Then in approximately 1980, they moved into 427 Warren which was formerly occupied by New York Telephone. That was the local office for New York Telephone and had a teller drawer where you could pay your phone bills. Almost conveniently behind it on Union street was the NY Telephone relay switching office which is now Verizon.

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  2. Is that considered an art installation? Certainly it is NOT a building facade for real.

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  3. What is going in there? There is no door?

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  4. what exactly is it proposed to be ? it is an unclear piece of architecture.

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  5. Holst and j kay: This was described at the Historic Preservation Commission meeting on August 14 as a "glazed French door storefront opening." I'm not certain if just the center pair of doors opens or if all the doors open. The review of the project by the HPC can be viewed here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tAWSo8YMrEs. The discussion begins at 3:48:26.

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    1. Hi Carole

      does not look much like too many french storefronts but okay. or even french doors in the classic sense.
      https://nl.pinterest.com/gabriel4la/french-store-fronts/

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    2. in all, however, its a vast improvement and a big investment -- good for hudson.

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  6. This does seem a more liberally interpreted definition of 'historically appropriate' than we are used to from the HPC.

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  7. I thought the sale agreement was that the building had to be rebuilt with three stories - which was the concern of the stability of the first floor - obviously i was wrong. Interesting look however.

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    1. There was no such requirement. I seem to recall Tiffany Garriga wanting to make developing affordable housing in the building a condition of the sale, and at a BEA meeting in January 2019, Rick Scalera, who may have been speaking on behalf of Galvan, wanted to know if the City had established whether or not the building was structurally capable of supporting additional floors, but in the end, the only conditions of sale were that redevelopment be completed within two years and that 1,500 to 2,000 square feet of the street-facing ground floor be devoted to a commercial use. https://gossipsofrivertown.blogspot.com/2019/01/selling-427-warren-street.html The sale of the building was completed in July 2019, so the redevelopment is happening within the time frame.

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    2. AHH right - it was the request about the building being structurally capable of supporting additional floors that I was thinking of. Thanks Carole

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