Janus Property Company hosts Architectural League of NY annual meeting

Manhattan, NY The Janus Property Company hosted the Architectural League of New York’s 143^rd annual meeting last month in the penthouse at the Taystee Lab Building in its one million+ s/f Factory District in the growing Innovation Triangle-West Harlem. 

Before the annual meeting of the League’s top members, Scott Metzner, president of the Janus Property Company, the developer of the Factory District; David Leven and Stella Betts of LevenBetts, design architects of the Taystee Lab Building; Tom Gluck, principal of Gluck+, the architect of the Malt House and Sweets Building and a tenant in the Sweets Building; and Theodore Hoerr, principal of TerrainWork, the landscape architect of the beautiful and unique public spaces throughout the District and a tenant in the Mink Building, gave a presentation to the group in the landscaped passageway connecting West 125^th St. to 126^th St. that is now 50% complete on West 125^th St. and 90% complete on West 126^th St. The primary topic was the history and collaboration of design that resulted in the Factory District and Innovation Triangle-West Harlem, including the integration of a broad mix of uses from office to not-for-profit to artists’ studios, social impact, life sciences and deep tech incubators and wet lab space.

Scott Metzner, president of the Janus Property Company said, “We so appreciate the incredible reception our urban campus is getting from so many different professionals, but to receive such accolades from an organization with the pedigree of the Architectural League and its members is truly special. There really are no equals to the Factory District in the way we connect to the existing urban fabric or our neighbors, mixing historic structures, modern architecture and beautiful outdoor spaces. Especially with the recent completion of the Taystee Lab Building and Malt House, our connections with Columbia University and CUNY Advanced Science Research Center/City College to form Innovation Triangle-West Harlem, is truly unique in New York City. We’re thrilled that the League chose the District to conclude its year and celebrate Urban Omnibus’s important milestone.” 

Following the meeting, the League hosted its annual open Block Party across the street from the Taystee Lab Building in the Malt House’s landscaped courtyard - this year celebrating the 15^th anniversary of Urban Omnibus, the Architectural League’s online publication dedicated to observing, understanding, and shaping the city. Approximately 250 people enjoyed the outdoor event with food and music, capped off by a large birthday cake for UO. 

Jacob Moore, the newly-appointed executive director of the Architectural League of New York said, “UO was my own personal first impression of the League many years ago, and I believe it still epitomizes what it is that we do best: Patient, persistent, critical thinking—in public. Thinking that’s based on and geared toward community building and city making, thinking that’s leveraging the power of professionalism toward collective work that is driven not by the imperatives of private profit, but rather by the imperatives of the public good. It is the accomplishment of those same touchstones in Janus’s work that attracted us to the District to both learn, work and be together.”