If this graphic looks familiar, it's because we've seen it before, back when the Landmarks Presrevation Commission approved the highly controversial St. Vincent's redevelopment plan. In the intervening months, the hospital's closure took that redevelopment plan off the table, and the great St. Vincent's sell-off began. And then this bombshell: the Observer reports that, actually, the sawtooth O'Toole Building will be retrofitted and reopened as an emergency medical facility, with assistance from Rudin Management, the developer behind the previous plan, and North Shore-LIJ hospital. A victory for preservationists? Yes and no.
One thing the preservationists didn't want was the construction of an FX Fowle-designed residential building on Seventh Avenue South. Win some, lose some: that aspect of the old plan is back in a big way (as is the Michael Van Valkenburgh Associates makeover of St. Vincent's Triangle). The building will contain 450 units of luxury condos. Last time the subject came up, the LPC ordered the 233-foot building cut down a few stories, so we don't know what the final version will look like. We're guessing the architectural surgeons will still end up with something similar to the last design.
· Clear! Rudins Revive Village Hospital, Transplant Landmark [NYO]
· St. Vincent's coverage [Curbed]
UPDATE: The Observer has more details about the O'Toole plan, as well as some renderings of what the retrofitted ugly duckling would look like. Some vital info: "Both North Shore-LIJ and the Rudins plan to begin their separate public approval processes in the spring. The hospital needs approvals from the state and federal departments of health and the city's Landmarks Preservation Commission while the Rudins will begin the city's land-use review process. The hospital has a projected opening of fall 2013, and Bill Rudin said his project would be completed about a year later or in early 2015."
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