Today, the ideas Mr. Lombardi pioneered nearly 50 years ago are serving as a template for addressing twin problems: the city’s enormous office glut and its growing housing crisis. Mr. Lombardi, now 84 and still running a 16-person firm, is part of a wave of architects and developers now undertaking the mammoth work of converting financially distressed office buildings into multifamily housing. — The New York Times
A lengthy Times profile on the legendary New York conversion architect Joseph Pell Lombardi traces his early career efforts in SoHo and the Financial District to the contemporary challenges posed by office buildings and the impetus to remake them into housing in spite of the difficult parameters and feasibility of such designs.
One tenant of his crowning late-70s Liberty Tower conversion said: “He painted a picture of the neighborhood as a residential mecca, which no one else could see at the time.” Richard Gluckman of Gluckman Tang Architects adds: “His foresight inspired a lot of architects. He showed what was possible.”
At least 64 building owners have 'expressed interest' in the city's new Office Conversion Accelerator since the program was launched last summer. According to a RentCafe data analysis, 5,215 units are currently in the city's project pipeline after the local market experienced an 18% growth from the preceding calendar year.
2 Comments
As a painter, I have been living in loft type buildings/spaces since 1963. In my opinion, Mr. Lombardi (directly alongside Kathryn Freed) has been instrumental in the gentrification (destruction) of these spaces for giggle type occupancy by the artsy wannabe set. As an example: The rent for my last loft studio from 1970 until 1980 was $350.00 per month. (Yes, raw space which I did not luxuriate in "conversion".) It was necessary I abandon the space. Upon returning 2 years later I was told the rent was $4000.00 per month. Soon after, it went co-op. That was to be expected. The same thing happened in Paris in the early 20th Century.
Today's office conversions suck because the developers can't break out of the mindset of cramming the buildings full of tiny units and twee finishes. The real beauty of lofts is having a big raw space with minimal partitions.
And yes, I understand the "I've got have as many units as possible to make more money, please the bank, please the investors etc.", but the prices for old office buildings will eventually tank enough that more creative thinking about unit size and layout may become possible.
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