Mixed Use

The four-story mural, painted in 1975 by artist Richard Haas in the trompe l’oeil style, had remained unchanged on the eastern wall of 112 Prince St. for decades before taggers scrawled over the bottom portion in 2008. Then, earlier this year, a shoe company purchased the adjacent one-story building at 110 Prince St. and announced plans to build a new structure that could legally rise as high as its neighbor, or five stories, virtually muting the mural.

But in subsequent meetings with the developer, members of the Soho Alliance learned that the new building might only rise a total of two or three stories — creating questions over what ultimately to do with the artwork.

“From my point of view, one [story] is very different from two,” said Haas of how the proposed new building’s height would impact his piece, which depicts a cast-iron facade and has led to thousands of similar works around the world. “If you’re going to have two stories” above the original first floor, he noted, “I think you’ve compromised it too much.”

The city Landmarks Preservation Com-mission will also have some say, since the structure sits within the Soho Cast-Iron Historic District and the mural would be treated as a “significant feature of that building,” according to L.P.C.

The developer and co-op at 112 Prince St. have both committed to helping pay for any restoration of the mural, but Haas said that point could be moot because the wall it’s on requires extensive repairs. Then there’s the issue of the current real estate climate, and when and how high the developer will eventually be able to build. “The confusion begins because there’s no clarity about what they want to do at all,” Haas said, regarding the proposed project’s size.

In the meantime, the owner of 112 Prince St. requested in October that a cleaning crew wash the taggers’ offending spray paint from the mural, which the artist and advocates oppose because it would also erase portions of the underlying work. The Mayor’s Office, which handles graffiti cleanup, noted that the building had been in the queue to be scrubbed, but that — due to inquires about the cleaning — it will now reconfirm the landlord’s decision before moving forward.

City’s steep price tag

New York City’s reign as the world’s most-expensive retail market continued in the third quarter of 2009 despite a 25 percent drop in average rents over the past year.

According to a global report by CB Richard Ellis, prime retail rents in New York City ended the third quarter at $1,640 per square foot per year — a figure nearly $700 more than the second-most expensive market.