Lot of demolished landmark on Gay Street in Greenwich Village lists for $4.5M

The Greenwich Village lot where a rowhouse stood for 200 years until being demolished this year is for sale. One in a row of six 19th-century buildings, the property at 14 Gay Street was the oldest, constructed in 1827. The city late last year ordered 14 Gay Street to be razed after determining unpermitted work had left it at risk of collapse. Now, the vacant lot where the Federal-style home once stood is available for $4,500,000, providing a unique opportunity to build new in one of the city’s oldest historic districts.

As 6sqft previously reported, Lionel Nazarian of Nazarian Property Group bought the two-story building at 14 Gay Street, along with 16 and 18 Gay Street and 16-20 Christopher Street, in April for $12 million. Nazarian told Commercial Observer he knew of structural issues at No. 14 and immediately began work on the property.

The Department of Buildings said the work done was not approved by the agency and the city found 14 Gay Street to be “compromised structurally.” Despite protests from local preservationists and elected officials, who criticized the DOB for not properly overseeing work done on historic buildings, the demolition of the building commenced in December.

Renderings show what a proposed combination of 14-16 Gay Street could look like; Courtesy of Duplex Imaging NYC and Leslie J. Garfield

As the listing describes, the vacant lot measures a little over 22 feet wide; the former rowhouse stood 31 feet deep.

The neighboring building at 16 Gay Street is also for sale, asking $3,500,000, and can be purchased together with 14 Gay Street. The new owner could combine the two properties to create a roughly 40-foot-wide single-family home, or construct a mix of rental and condominium units, according to the listing.

Not only was 14 Gay Street a rare surviving example of early 1800s architecture in the city, but the building was also home to author Ruth McKenney, who lived there in the 1930s with her sister. The apartment was featured in a series of stories written by McKenney for The New Yorker, which later became a book titled “My Sister Eileen.” 

Over 140 years after it was constructed, the building received landmark status when the Landmarks Preservation Commission designated the Greenwich Village Historic District in 1969.

[Listing details: 14 Gay Street and 16 Gay Street by Matthew Lesser, Ravi Kantha, and Matthew Pravda of Leslie J. Garfield]

RELATED: 

• Preservationists, local pols hope to save 200-year-old Greenwich Village house from demolition
• What’s in a name? Gay Street

Renderings courtesy of Duplex Imaging NYC