Historical view of 37 Great Jones.

Ahead of its momentous vote on the East Village-Lower East Side Historic District today, the Landmarks Preservation Commission gave its blessing to two residential developments in the existing NoHo Historic District.

The first, a 12-story building set to rise on the lot at 688 Broadway that houses the NoHo flea market, received high praise from commissioners who admired design touches such as its terra cotta “fins.” With their varied angles and perlescent sheen, the panels on the building’s facade will create visual effects depending on how the sun hits them during various times of day. The commissioners commended the building’s developers, and the architectural firm of B.K.S.K., for reaching out to the community and coming up with a design that was consistent with the NoHo Historic District.

Commissioner Frederick Bland called the design “ravishing” and noted that the public testimony, which included support from the Greenwich Village Society for Historical Preservation, was “unusually favorable.” One commissioner even predicted the building would become a landmark.

Other commissioners were more reserved in their support, saying that plans to illuminate Great Jones Alley and enclose it with a glass gate resulted in a look that was “too dolled up.”

The commission also approved the addition of a sixth floor to a 1917 brick building at 37 Great Jones Street. The windows of the warehouse and garage building, home to the Philco Radio & Television Corporation during the 1930s, will be enlarged as it is converted to residential lofts. Though commissioners continued to call for a less visible penthouse, they voted to recommend that the City Planning Commission change the use of the building’s first floor to retail and its upper floors to residential.

A rendering of 37 Great Jones, courtesy of architect Joseph Pell Lombardi, is below.