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154 West 14th Street as seen from across 14th Street and Seventh Avenue

Site

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154 West 14th Street is located on the southeast corner of 14th Street and Seventh Avenue in the Chelsea and Greenwich Village neighborhoods of Manhattan in New York City.[1] The land lot covers 11,766 square feet (1,093.1 m2) and is rectangular, with frontage of 100 ft (30 m) on 14th Street and 117.67 ft (35.87 m) on Seventh Avenue.[2] 154 West 14th Street shares the block with 144 West 14th Street (the Pratt Institute School of Information) and the Salvation Army Headquarters to the east. In addition, entrances to the New York City Subway's 14th Street/Sixth Avenue station are just outside the building.[2]

The surrounding stretch of 14th Street, which opened in 1828 from the Hudson River as far east as the Bowery (now Fourth Avenue), was largely residential during much of the 19th century. By the 1890s, the adjacent section of 14th Street had become largely commercial, in part because of the presence of the Sixth Avenue elevated line and streetcar routes.[3] The adjacent section of Seventh Avenue was extended south through Greenwich Village in the 1910s as part of the construction of the New York City Subway's IRT Broadway–Seventh Avenue Line. Following the construction of Seventh Avenue's southward extension, large hotels and commercial lofts were built along the avenue.[4]

Architecture

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Facade

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The facade was intended to allow as much natural light into the building as possible; accordingly, the building was not designed with a heavy cornice below its roof, as was common on older buildings. The main entrance is on 14th Street, while the rest of the ground story contained stores.[5]

Features

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When 154 West 14th Street was built, it was supposed to have a driveway from Seventh Avenue, which led to a courtyard with a shipping platform and two freight elevators.[5]

History

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Development

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The Adams Express Company announced in March 1908 that it had acquired a site at the southeast corner of 14th Street and Seventh Avenue,[6][7] following speculation about plans for the site.[8] During the preceding several months, various companies had assembled the site on Adams Express's behalf,[7] buying six land lots in total.[4][9] Adams Express initially planned to build a small structure that housed its offices.[6][7] The company said in late 1910 that it still planned to build a structure on the site,[10] despite reports that it was negotiating to sell off the parcels, which still had not been developed.[11] Adams Express finally decided to sell the plot in December 1911 to the Fourteenth Street and Seventh Avenue Company for $260,000. The latter company's president, Leslie R. Palmer, planned to build a 12-story loft structure on the site.[9][12] At the time, the site was "one of the choicest parcels on the lower end of [Seventh] Avenue", according to The New York Times.[4][13] After buying the site, Palmer announced plans to spend $410,000 on a 12-story speculative commercial development on the site, and he hired Herman Lee Meader to design a loft building.[4] Palmer believed that the adjacent stretch of Seventh Avenue was "one of the best located thoroughfares in New York City", because of its proximity to both the under-construction subway and to nearby freight terminals.[4][5] In February 1912, Meader submitted plans for a 12-story loft building on the site, which was to cost $250,060.[14]

See also

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References

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Citations

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  1. ^ Landmarks Preservation Commission 2011, p. 4.
  2. ^ a b "154 West 14 Street, 10011". New York City Department of City Planning. Retrieved January 1, 2021.
  3. ^ 144 West 14th Street (PDF) (Report). New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission. November 18, 2008. p. 2.
  4. ^ a b c d e Landmarks Preservation Commission 2011, p. 2.
  5. ^ a b c "Busy Future Predicted for Seventh Avenue Locality". The New York Times. January 14, 1912. p. 94. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved July 14, 2023.
  6. ^ a b "Adams Express Company to Build". New-York Tribune. March 11, 1908. p. 9. Retrieved July 14, 2023.
  7. ^ a b c "In the Real Estate Field". The New York Times. March 11, 1908. p. 12. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved July 14, 2023.
  8. ^ "In the Real Estate Field". The New York Times. March 15, 1908. p. 10. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved July 14, 2023.
  9. ^ a b "In the Real Estate Field". The New York Times. December 30, 1911. p. 18. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved July 14, 2023.
  10. ^ "7th Avenue Plot Not Sold". New-York Tribune. October 18, 1910. p. 10. Retrieved July 14, 2023.
  11. ^ "In the Real Estate Field; City Sells Subway Plots at Auction -- Seventh Avenue and 14th Street Corner Reported Sold -- Robert Mather Buys Elliott F. Shepard Estate at Scar- borough -- Business on Park Avenue". The New York Times. October 18, 1910. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved July 14, 2023.
  12. ^ "Big Seventh Avenue Corner Parcel Sold". New-York Tribune. December 30, 1911. p. 10. ISSN 1941-0646. ProQuest 574851671.
  13. ^ "The Real Estate Field". The New York Times. January 4, 1912. p. 19. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved July 14, 2023.
  14. ^ "Plans Filed for New Construction Work". The Real Estate Record: Real estate record and builders' guide. Vol. 89, no. 2293. February 24, 1912. p. 397 – via columbia.edu.

Sources

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Wikimedia Commons has media related to 154-160 West 14th Street.
  • [[Category:14th Street (Manhattan)]] [[Category:1913 establishments in New York City]] [[Category:Art Nouveau architecture in New York City]] [[Category:Chelsea, Manhattan]] [[Category:Commercial buildings completed in 1913]] [[Category:Commercial buildings in Manhattan]] [[Category:Greenwich Village]] [[Category:New York City Designated Landmarks in Manhattan]] [[Category:Seventh Avenue (Manhattan)]]
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