Brooklyn developer Two Trees is proposing a massive office-to-residential conversion of three adjoining Flatiron buildings which, thanks to the recently passed City of Yes housing package, won't require a rezoning.Bonnie Campbell, a principal at the Dumbo-based firm, said during a hearing Tuesday before the Landmarks Preservation Commission that the company plans to convert its existing 13-story office tower at 50 W. 23rd St. into apartments - an ambitious endeavor that requires approval from the agency because it sits within the Ladies' Mile Historic District but not from the Department of City Planning given the lack of a rezoning, according to Two Trees Managing Director David Lombino."The whole thing is as-of-right," he said. "I think it shows the interest and demand for residential conversions of office buildings under the new programs."Campbell told the commission that Two Trees has experience when it comes to such grandiose projects, specifically referring to the past and successful conversions of 110 Livingston St. in Downtown Brooklyn and the Domino Sugar Refinery in Williamsburg."This is a similar venture," she said, adding that it can hopefully become a "poster child" for how developers can preserve historic buildings while providing them better uses.The existing office tower at 50 W. 23rd St. is a block-through building comprising two connecting structures that front both West 23rd and West 22nd streets. It has an alternate address and separate entrance around the corner at 37 W. 22nd St. and is adjacent to 43 W. 22nd St., which is currently occupied by tenants with leases that don't expire for at least five more years, including the public school Manhattan Village Academy.The proposed conversion, which likely won't start for several years in order to let the existing tenants finish out their leases, does not require a rezoning thanks to the passage two weeks ago of Mayor Eric Adams' ambitious housing initiative. It calls for scooping out roughly 40,000 square feet of the building that is currently there and putting it on top of 50 W. 23rd St. to make room for the apartments with private terraces and an interior courtyard.Lombino did not say how many residential units Two Trees would build across roughly 350,000 square feet of space, whether they would be condos or rentals, or whether they would be affordable, market-rate or both. He also did not provide a cost estimate for the project, which should include retail on the ground floor, fronting both West 22nd and West 23rd streets. The residential portion of the renovated buildings will have a separate entrance, documents show.The LPC, which referred Crain's to yesterday's hearing for comment, unanimously approved the application, Lombino said, but this is just the beginning of a long, complicated and expensive process that will ultimately provide the "best use" of space for the neighborhood and city."We know the LPC thinks it's an appropriate, even model, design for how to convert these buildings," he said. "I think this will be the first of many."
