Aluminum Redesign Unveiled for Soho's Chocolate Factory

Even though long-stalled condo conversion 325 West Broadway, aka the Chocolate Factory, already had Landmarks-approved plans in place when the site was purchased last year by DDG, DDG decided to go ahead and spruce up those plans anyway. And did they ever spruce. Pictured above is the new design, unveiled yesterday at a Landmarks Commission public hearing by DDG architect Peter Guthrie. The nine-story (plus penthouse), 24-unit building will be shrouded in a cast aluminum facade screen with a glass window wall sitting behind it. The ground floor, reserved for retail, will be all glass, creating the illusion that the facade is floating above West Broadway like some sort of Soho spacecraft, anchored only by the vines that reach up to the base of the exoskeleton. The Landmarks Commission was, for the most part, quite taken with the design, which they deemed very inventive and a huge improvement over the previous (and already approved) plans. They declined to offer full approval, though, opting instead for Guthrie and co. to return at a later date to clear up some lingering issues, mostly concerning the set back and sloped ninth floor. Construction on the building is expected to be completed in 2015.