A city street corner with brick buildings featuring modern glass additions on top, surrounded by taller structures. People walk on the sidewalks, and yellow taxis drive along the road under a clear sky. A red-brick building with black window shutters and tall windows, lined with trees and greenery on the sidewalk. Several people are walking along the street in front of the building on a clear day. A modern glass building rises behind an older brick building with black-framed windows and shutters, highlighting a contrast in architectural styles. Close-up of a modern building facade with tall vertical windows framed by light reddish-brown stone columns, reflecting the sky and surroundings; the structure features a grid-like, geometric design. Modern glass and brick building with large windows and a balcony, cityscape in the background, blue sky above, and a neon PRO sign visible on a rooftop nearby. Modern office space with orange chairs and a round table next to floor-to-ceiling windows, overlooking a spacious outdoor terrace and a city skyline in the background. A modern rooftop terrace at night features outdoor seating with round tables and chairs, glass railings, city buildings, and a distant view of a lit skyscraper against a dark blue sky. A red brick building with large windows stands on a city street, surrounded by modern glass and brick buildings. People walk on the sidewalk and cars move along the street in front. A city street scene with modern and historic brick buildings, traffic lights, trees with autumn leaves, and people walking on the sidewalks under a blue sky. A city street with trees, red umbrellas, and yellow taxis in front of a historic brick building and modern glass buildings under a partly cloudy sky. Looking up at a modern building with large glass windows and reddish-brown stone frames, flanked by a brick wall on the left, against a clear blue sky. Close-up of a modern building’s angular, red-brown stone and glass facade against a clear blue sky, showing three sharp-edged corners with reflections in the windows. A spacious, industrial-style room with exposed brick walls, large windows, white columns, and a vaulted ceiling with visible beams and lighting. A faded vintage mural is on the far wall. A modern industrial staircase with concrete steps, exposed brick walls, large windows, and metal railings, leading to an upper level with unfinished concrete surfaces and natural light streaming in. A spacious, modern office with floor-to-ceiling windows, glass walls, and minimalist linear ceiling lights. The view includes city buildings, and the room is empty with a light-colored floor.

50 Ninth

Project Type

Adaptive ReuseCommercialInteriorsPreservation

Completion

2024

Location

Meatpacking District, NYC

Client

Tavros Development

50 Ninth Avenue, is a nine-story commercial renovation and expansion at the intersection of three New York City neighborhoods – Chelsea, the Meatpacking District, and the West Village. It includes a substantial restoration and preservation of two historic buildings and a new infill addition. The addition is set behind the historic buildings to preserve the presence of their sloped roof volumes in the urban context, and complements the materiality of the original brick structures with a contemporary, exterior terra cotta frame. The original buildings continue to be used as retail space on the ground floor, with office space now occupying their upper floors.

50 Ninth Ave offers 57,000 square feet of workspace and 30,000 square feet of flexible retail space. The seven-story office portion boasts ceiling heights ranging from 11 to 20 feet, with floor areas from 17,185 square feet on the second floor to 4,783 square feet on the eighth. The ninth floor is a common amenity space, featuring an outdoor terrace with panoramic views of the vibrant Meat Packing district.

The design approach for the project entailed highlighting the juxtaposition of historic and contemporary. The character of the district is one of dynamic often wrenching change to its buildings over time. The original buildings of this project were notable as survivors but had been stripped of substantial historic details. The project restored those details and materials and simultaneously created a new referential architectural vocabulary for the addition. The interplay between new and old was also carried through to the interior spaces to take full advantage of the unique qualities of the original structures, the spaces between the original and the addition and the views into, onto and over the historic structures.

The project was approved by the New York City’s Landmarks Preservation Commission in 2020 and was completed in 2024.

More info on the external project website.

Awards

Chicago Athenaeum, American Architecture Award; Restoration/Renovation, 2025

SARA National, Design Award of Merit, 2025

SARA New York Chapter, Design Award of Excellence, 2025

AIA New York State Design Award, Merit, Adaptive Reuse/Historic Preservation, 2024

Concrete Industry Board, Low-Rise Award for superior work exemplifying quality concrete, 2023

Press

“BKSK Architects Renovates Historic Building in Chelsea,” AIA New York, November 2024

“The Plan: Meatpacking District’s Past and Present Merge at Tavros’ 50 Ninth,” Commercial Observer, July 2024

“50 Ninth Avenue Completes Construction In Chelsea, Manhattan,” YIMBY, June 2024

“Exterior Facade For 44-54 Ninth Avenue’s Expansion Now Visible Over Chelsea, Manhattan,” YIMBY, October 2023

“Restored 19th Century townhouses, glass office in Meatpacking District set for reveal,” New York Post, June 2023

COLLABORATORS

Construction Manager – Broadway Construction Group; Structural Engineer – Gilsanz Murray Steficek; MEP/FP Engineer – Dagher Engineering; Geotechnical Engineer – RA Engineering; Expeditor – William Vitacco Associates; Zoning – Development Consulting Services; Land Use Lawyer – Kramer Levin Naftalis & Frankel; Land Survey – ECS Group; Restoration Consultant – Walter B. Melvin Architects; Façade Consultant – Frank Seta Associates; Lighting Design – BOLD; Interior Design – Fogarty Finger

 

Photography: Christopher Payne/Esto

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"It's this sort of project that validates the wisdom of our Landmarks Preservation law. This project preserves and enhances existing designated landmarks while adding appropriately-designed new development. The result is exactly what was intended by the law - an integration of the best of the past with the best of the new. It's the opposite of both the history-in-aspic of Williamsburg, Virginia and the bulldozer redevelopments of Robert Moses. "

- Andrew Alper (Attorney, Architect, Historian, and Author)