FEATURING:
Kenneth M. Block, Esq.
Partner Tannenbaum Helpern Syracuse & Hirschtritt LLP
Mary A. Brennan
SVP, Director of Field Offices Community Preservation Corp
Nicholas D’Alessandro
CPA
Dennis Friedrich
President and CEO U.S. Commercial Operations Brookfield Office Properties
Anthony Malkin
President, Malkin Holdings, Empire State Building Company
Jack S. Nyman
Director, The Steven L. Newman Real Estate Institute
Scott O’Sullivan
CPA, Partner, Margolin, Winer & Evens LLP
Sukanya Paciorek
Energy & Sustainability Program Director Vornado Realty Trust
Ray Quartararo
International Director, Jones Lang LaSalle
Joseph Romano
Senior Associate, Langan Engineering
Dana Robbins Schneider
Northeast Market Lead Energy and Sustainability Services, Jones Lang LaSalle
SoHo
The Intersection of Art and Real Estate
December 1, 2011
8:30 a.m. - 12:00 p.m.
SUBJECT: On the 40th anniversary of the zoning change that created live/work lofts for artists in SoHo we explore this example of planning reacting to, rather than initiating change and ponder the future.
The William and Anita Newman Conference Center Room 750, 151 East 25th Street
New York, NY 10010
No Information at This Time
Illegal Living: 80 Wooster Street and the Evolution of SoHo, a recent book by Roslyn Bernstein and Shael Shapiro, shows that SoHo is the result of the vision of one man. George Maciunas, founder of the Fluxus art movement conceived of Fluxhouses, where artists could live and work, as an artistic endeavor. Artists moved into lofts illegally, contrary to zoning. With a stake in the neighborhood, they were able to stave off Robert Moses and pressures for urban renewal and successfully lobby the City to enact zoning changes to allow them to live and work in their lofts.
Through the 1970s and 1980s, SoHo thrived as an artfocused mixed use neighborhood. As real estate prices started to rise, commerce pushed art out. Today, the character of SoHo reflects the high fashion, cosmetics, and home furnishings stores that occupy the ground floors. Many of these stores exist in spite of zoning laws designed to maintain a manufacturing character in the neighborhood and many loft owners are no longer certified artists, as required by the zoning.
What should be done? Can art survive as a vital component of this thriving mixed-use neighborhood? Should residential occupancy still be restricted to artists? Should retail stores be allowed to proliferate? Although landmarked, will the physical character of the neighborhood change? Can the City control future changes? The history and future of SoHo will be explored by stakeholders that include
