123. SoHo Historic District
Manhattan, New York, 1973. Plan

A 26-block area in lower Manhattan south of Houston Street (thus the acronym SoHo), the exclusive domain less than a decade ago of light industry and in-town warehousing, has become an active, lived-in, worked-in artists' residential and studio area mingled with a continuing commercial and small-scale industrial atmosphere. The designation of this area, made up of the largest group of cast-iron structures anywhere, as a historic district, assures its permanence and protects it from conventional land assembly and subsequent redevelopment. The assurance of permanence combined with an appropriate zoning change to permit residential uses has made the upper-level lofts in buildings throughout the district attractive as low-cost working and living studios.

Previously, many of the upper floors in the wide, well-lit, predominantly four- and five-story brick and cast-iron façade buildings had been empty for years. Then artists began to move into the area in the mid-1960's, before it was zoned for artists' residential use and before it was formally considered for designation as a Historic District. Today much of this space is well used and productive. The potential for recycling of older and even nearly abandoned districts within the city to new and additional uses is vividly demonstrated by SoHo.