CB2 Landmarks Committee recommends denial of St. Luke mission building as submitted, cites façade and loss of open space

Community Board 2’s Landmarks Committee on Thursday recommended denying the application for a new one‑story mission building at 497 Hudson Street, saying the design as presented does not suitably respond to the Greenwich Village Historic District and would close off an open corner long used by schoolchildren and neighbors.

The committee’s vote came after more than three hours of presentations and public testimony. Mother Caroline Stacy, rector of the Church of St. Luke in the Fields, and BKSK Architects partners Julie Nelson and Harry Kendall presented the proposal and emphasized the building’s programmatic purpose: a nonresidential, daytime community center to expand the church’s outreach and program space.

Why it matters: The corner lot has been open since the 1950s and functions today as play and outdoor space used by St. Luke’s School and neighborhood children. Neighbors and many public speakers told the committee that losing that open area would alter the block’s historic streetscape and remove scarce outdoor space in the West Village. Committee members criticized the proposed exterior — a low, mostly blank masonry and glazed‑terracotta enclosure — as “fortress‑like,” lacking rhythm and contextual referencing to adjacent townhouses and the church.

Presentation and program Mother Caroline Stacy told the committee the new center is intended to “continue and expand the programs that we already offer,” and that it will not include…