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Project: 55 Gansevoort Street

Restoration Hardware can move forward with a concept hotel steps from its city flagship store. The California-based retailer's plan involves altering a landmarked Meatpacking District building.

At a meeting Tuesday, the Landmarks Preservation Commission OK'd the redevelopment of 55 Gansevoort St. as a 14-room guesthouse. Crain's first reported on the hotel project in 2015.

The commission had an issue with a proposed rooftop windscreen that would be visible to pedestrians. At one meeting Meenakshi Srinivasan, commission chair, called the glass screen circling a proposed roof deck and two pools "very jarring."

Anderson Architects, based in TriBeCa, submitted amended plans to drop the height of the rooftop addition by several feet and extend a fiberglass cornice around the top of the building, partially obscuring the windscreen. The cornice mimics building details that were lost before the property was landmarked in 2003.

The commission approved the revised plans despite objections from the Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation. In a letter to the landmarks commission, Andrew Berman, executive director, said the renovation would still disrupt the "visual cohesion of the district."

The renovated site will feature a wire glass awning and granite sidewalks outside the 25,000-square-foot building.

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http://www.crainsnewyork.com/article...o-move-forward