West Village rezoning proposal threatens Blaichman’s Perry Street hotel project

The City Planning Commission is planning a proposal for an area within the Greenwich Village Historic District that would limit the height of any new construction and do away with a development bonus currently offered for commercial projects there, the city said last week. Last year, developer Charles Blaichman submitted plans for a new seven-and-a-half-story hotel at the corner of Perry and Washington streets, and the Landmarks Preservation Commission gave him the go-ahead. If City Planning’s rezoning is passed before Blaichman breaks ground — via a review and hearing by Community Board 2 and final approval by the City Council — his hotel will have to be scrapped. As it stands, the six-block section, between Greenwich and Washington streets and West 10th and 12th streets, is a C6-1 zone, which means there is no height limit for new projects. The Commission’s plan to change the area to a C1-6A district will be welcomed by the Greenwich Village Society of Historic Preservation and by Community Board 2. Both groups have lobbied for stricter zoning regulations like the one proposed. [The Villager]