Owners propose front restoration, roof bulkheads and rear extension at 280 West 11th; neighbors raise Bleecker Gardens concerns

Architects for the owners of 280 West 11th Street presented a package of exterior work that would restore earlier street-level proportions, replace an existing studio penthouse at the roof with a more vertical fenestration and build a modest extension at the rear that the team said would align the back elevation with neighboring buildings.

"We are proposing to remove the extra row of windows that emerged in 1929, and replace what are currently two double-hung windows at that level with parlor-sized fenestration," said Jordan Rogoff of DXA Studio, who described removing one interior floor added in 1929 to improve ceiling heights and bring the building into contemporary code and mechanical compliance. Cas Stackelberg, representing Higgins (as identified in the presentation), said the design seeks to acknowledge the building's layered history rather than to return it to a single moment in time.

The design package shown to the committee…