The Landmarks Preservation Commission (LPC) is set to review a continuing maintenance plan for St. Mark’s Church in-the-Bowery, an individual landmark at 131 East 10th Street Manhattan’s East Village. Prepared under Section 75-422 of the Zoning Resolution, the plan is the church-side prerequisite for a transfer of development rights to a receiving lot at 50-60 Third Avenue, part of a larger, already cleared site at 50-64 Third Avenue. Kinsmen Property Group, a joint venture between State Building Group and Madison Group, is planning a residential building spanning up to 160,000 square feet on the assemblage. Materials were assembled by Beyer Blinder Belle.
St. Marks Church existing conditions, via LPC proposal.
The maintenance program phases repairs across more than a decade, according to the presentation. Upfront work in the first two years is estimated at $503,924 to $803,815, followed by $390,590 in short-term work, $507,051 in the medium term, and $3,573,630 in long-term items; between $5 million and $5.3 million in total. The scope ranges from reconnected roof leaders and weather-resistant chimney caps to replacement of the slate roofs, repair of the stained glass windows, restoration of the cast-iron portico, and replication of missing components of the iron site fence. Under the agreement, 20 percent of the rights sale will be held in escrow for immediate repairs and 10 percent will seed a long-term maintenance fund, with LPC inspections every ten years.
St. Marks Church location, via LPC proposal.
Completed in 1799, the Georgian-style church is attributed to John McComb Jr. The steeple was completed in 1828 to designs by Martin Euclid Thompson and Ithiel Town, the parish hall rose in 1835 to designs by John C. Tucker and was expanded in brick in 1861 by James Renwick Jr., and the Italianate cast-iron portico on the south façade was built in 1858 to designs by James Bogardus. The building was designated an individual New York City landmark on April 19, 1966, and added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1972. A catastrophic fire in 1978 destroyed a significant portion of the structure, with repairs and renovations completed by 1986, according to the documents.
St. Marks Church repair notes, via LPC proposal.
At the receiving site, conditions are unchanged since previous coverage in September 2025, when demolition had finished on the six-building assemblage and the 16,500-square-foot property sat idle behind wooden sidewalk fencing. Kinsmen Property Group assembled the parcels over several years for more than $60 million. A lone five-story structure remains standing at the southern corner of the block along East 10th Street, and as of our last update, new building permits had yet to be filed with the Department of Buildings.
The maintenance plan is scheduled to go before the commission at its public hearing on Tuesday, July 21. A construction timeline and renderings for 50-64 Third Avenue have yet to be announced.
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This is how you save historically important structures. Air rights should be able to be transferred anywhere in the borough to historic buildings that will be repaired and saved for future generations. Old churches can be repurposed as community centers and even shelters. Air rights provide the funds to do it.