Welcome to the Archives of the Paul Rudolph Heritage Foundation. The purpose of this online database is to function as a tool for scholars, students, architects, preservationists, journalists and other interested parties. The archive consists of photographs, slides, articles and publications from Rudolph’s lifetime; physical drawings and models; personal photos and memorabilia; and contemporary photographs and articles.

Unless otherwise noted, all images and drawings are copyright © The Estate of Paul Rudolph and The Paul Rudolph Heritage Foundation. Please speak with a representative of the Paul Rudolph Heritage Foundation to get permission to use any drawings or photos. Drawings, sketches and other materials produced by Rudolph’s architectural office at the Library of Congress are maintained there for preservation, but the intellectual property rights belong to the Paul Rudolph Estate and Ernst Wagner, founder of the Paul Rudolph Heritage Foundation.

LOCATION
Address: 314 10th Avenue
City: New York
State: New York
Zip Code: 10001
Nation: United States

STATUS
Type: Housing
Status: Project

TECHNICAL DATA
Date(s): 1974
Site Area:
Floor Area:
Height:
Floors (Above Ground):
Building Cost: $38 million USD (1974 estimate)

PROFESSIONAL TEAM
Client: New York State Urban Development Corporation
Architect: Paul Rudolph
Associate Architect:
Landscape:
Structural:
MEP:
QS/PM:

SUPPLIERS
Contractor:
Subcontractor(s):

Morgan Annex Housing Study

The site, owned by the U.S. Post Office, is located directly south of the Morgan Station Post Office and encompasses an entire block from 9th to 10th Avenue and 28th to 29th Street.
On July 26, 1962 the federal government announces the site will be the location of a large project. At the time, 215 families live on the block, in apartments and single‐family brownstones. There are also several small businesses and the Chelsea Recreation Center, which has a swimming pool.
The Federal Government spends $3.4 million to acquire the block and $800,000 to relocate the tenants and tear down the buildings.
$2.6 million is spent on the design and two environmental‐impact studies for a new garage and bulk-mail-processing center on the site to be known as the Morgan Street Annex, to serve the adjacent Morgan Station.
In 1967 a fire destroys the Morgan Station. Bulk mail-processing in place and planned for Morgan Station is moved to newly constructed facilities in New Jersey, and plans for the Morgan Annex are revised.
In 1974, a six‐story, one-block-long garage, estimated to cost $38 million to build, is designed to garage and service 800 trucks and trailers situated in various parts of Manhattan. The new design calls for a postal garage with city‐financed apartments on top.
Local planning board, No. 4, reluctantly approves the proposal because of the desperately needed housing it provides.
The city announces it can not afford to build the project, and plans are revised again, eliminating the housing. The prospect of a garage alone causes the planning board to withdraw its approval, and begins a wave of opposition to the project throughout Chelsea.
The site remains an empty block after the Chelsea Neighborhood Association sues on January 5, 1975 in Federal District Court for an injunction against the garage. Federal Judge Robert J. Ward issues a preliminary injunction against the garage on February 25, 1975, which is later unanimously sustained by the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit on April 30, 1975.
In 1992, a new building known as the Morgan Facility Annex is constructed on the site. It is a three-story concrete, brick and glass building that is connected to the Morgan North Post Office via a bridge across 29th Street.