The Landmarks Preservation Commission on July 22 issued a positive report for a plan to rehabilitate the Kingsbridge Armory in the Bronx and build a new permanently affordable residential building behind the landmark, approving the application with conditions for additional review of storefront, brick and cornice details and the new building’s materials and massing.

The approved proposal, presented by the New York City Economic Development Corporation and the project design team, calls for adaptively reusing the Romanesque Kingsbridge (Eighth Regiment) Armory as a multipurpose event and community venue, restoring large glazed end walls, adding skylights and solar panels, creating new entrances at all four corners of the armory to meet egress and accessibility needs, replacing windows and roofing, and demolishing two mid‑20th century National Guard buildings at the rear to make room for a new residential building and landscape plazas. The residential element would deliver roughly 480 permanently affordable units with ground-floor retail and parking, the team said.

Why it matters: commissioners said the plan completes a long period of vacancy and stalled proposals for the armory and would preserve the building’s “sublime” column‑free drill hall while reactivating the site with community uses and housing. The project team told the commission the proposal has roughly $200 million in combined public commitments and would pursue state and federal historic tax credits and approvals from the State Historic Preservation Office and the National Park Service.

Key presentation and city role
Madison Hernandez, New York City Economic Development Corporation project manager, summarized the project’s community process and funding, saying the project follows an August 2023 RFP and “a 9‑month community engagement process that brought together over 4,000 Bronx residents, students, workers, and business owners,” and that roughly $200 million in public funding commitments have been made. Sarah Sher of Higgins Quays Barth & Partners and designers from FXCollaborative and Ofgang Architects gave the architectural presentation describing the interior insertion of a new venue floor in the drill hall, restored glazed end walls and new corner entrances, a new rooftop assembly with solar panels and skylights, and a contemporary 100% affordable residential building set behind the landmark.

Scope and technical highlights
- Drill hall: The team proposes inserting a new elevated venue floor (described in the presentation as a “carpet” idea) beneath the sill of the large arched end walls so the hall’s soaring structure remains legible, while creating an accessible public concourse at the drill‑hall level that opens at the four corners to allow code‑required egress for large events. The applicant said the entry strategy is driven by code and the need to safely egress up to tens of thousands of people at events.
- End walls and glazing: The opaque mid‑20th century infill at the arched end walls would be replaced with a multi‑layer curtain wall system; for acoustic reasons the design uses a double‑glass cavity behind the historic vertical trusses. The team said the new configuration recalls the original multi‑light divisions while improving thermal and acoustic performance.
- Roof and mechanicals: The plan thickens the roof insulation above the barrel vault and installs skylights and a PV array mounted close to the roof. Large mechanical louvers would be placed on the north elevation but largely concealed by the new residential building; the team emphasized these louvers are designed to follow the roof profile so they do not read as large carved openings in the barrel vault.
- Exterior changes: New glazed and metal canopies at corner entrances, restored historic iron gates pinned open at the head house, removal of most above‑grade window security grills (retained where they remain below the water table), and a new perimeter landscape with plazas and a modest market canopy were described.
- New residential building: The proposed building would replace the 1950s National Guard structures at the rear of the landmark lot. It is massed and set back to keep the armory’s head house and turreted corners legible; the design team described the new building as a contemporary composition using red and gray brickwork and setbacks to reduce perceived scale and to avoid replicating the armory’s historic elements.

Public and stakeholder input
The presentation drew supporters and design comments from preservation organizations and community groups. The project team said the project enjoys broad public backing from elected officials and stakeholders, and that the Bronx Borough President issued a conditional approval; the team said major conditions included affordability levels and parking/transportation coordination.

Commission questions and commission action
Commissioners asked about the project’s all‑electric heating strategy (the team confirmed the project is all‑electric except for emergency generators), the height and visibility of the new residential building, rooftop color and materials, the location and treatment of mechanical louvers, and details of the proposed canopies and storefronts. Several commissioners praised the project’s approach to preserving the interior volume and to bringing light to the drill hall, while asking the applicant to refine storefront depth and detailing, cornice/brick returns at new openings, and materials for the new residential building.

The commission voted to issue a positive report for the project with conditions requiring further staff review and refinement of: (1) detailing and depth of storefront and lower-level infill openings and how the new storefronts meet the ground; (2) brick and cornice detailing and the proportions of the new openings so historic elements such as terracotta banding and turrets remain visually intact; and (3) final materials, massing symmetry and opportunities to preserve visual connections to the armory from the north, especially reassessing the relationship between the new building and the armory and exploring minor adjustments that improve symmetry and views. The commission’s motion was made by Commissioner Goldblum and seconded by Commissioner Ginsburg and passed unanimously (9–0).

What remains: The commission’s approval is a binding report to the City Planning Commission; the design team will continue to work with LPC staff on the specified details, and the project will also pursue approvals required for state and federal historic tax credits and review by the State Historic Preservation Office and the National Park Service.

Ending note: Commissioners repeatedly emphasized the scale and rarity of the Kingsbridge Armory’s drill hall and said adaptive reuse—while technically complex—was the commission’s preferred path to ensure long‑term preservation of the landmark and to return a long‑vacant structure to public life.