21 Story Tower, on Church Grounds, Rising Deep in Lower East Side on Henry Street
Due to heavy presence of co-ops and housing projects, development rarely gets this far east of Essex. A plan to restore a landmarked church marks an odd exception.
A major redevelopment project is in the works on 290 Henry Street, currently the site of landmarked St. Augustine Church. Despite its listing on the historic building registry, St. Augustine has been plagued by financial issues for years, a major issue for a church whose outside walls and windows are in desperate need of renovation.
On Monday, May 8th, the CB3 Landmarks Committee heard St. Augustine’s proposal for a 21-story building meant to provide enough (semi) passive revenue to improve services and restore the building’s crumbling foundations.
The plan calls for major restoration efforts that were detailed by a preservation architect. This included the replacement of cracked brick and the installation of new windows more faithful to the original 19th century structure. Dilapidated steps are to be tossed out for fresh stone, and the wooden cornice will be redone.
![](https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/w_720,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F774a3b3c-2bb8-49d4-a68d-3f42f80083a3_1512x892.png)
![](https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/w_720,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F42b0e699-e416-447f-926d-429dc87fb243_1774x1148.png)
![](https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/w_720,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F4e8c7540-f9a9-4676-834f-bd2d95e07f7f_1773x1149.png)
![](https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/w_720,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F527cb60d-d6cc-4603-8370-ce3dad2e9bc5_1773x1148.png)
Balustrades will be added to the top level of the church, where a spire once stood. The 1960s built back-annex will be leveled to make way for a resident’s amenity space while leaving enough space to uncover one of the church’s corners, revealing a stained-glass window that’s been covered from the outside for approximately 60 years.
Most of the church’s common areas will be retouched or completely renovated and the new building will take the place of the annex and the parking lot visible from Madison St.
There is nothing architecturally groundbreaking going on with this building, as you can probably tell from the renderings, but that’s expected as a significant part of units will be marked affordable. At least it’s nicer than that building next to Seward Co-ops.