Got a tip from K. and A. that the Smith & Mills building — 71 N. Moore, just east of Greenwich — had sold. Word was that the new owners want to turn it into a single-family residence. CORRECTION: a representative of the buyer emailed to say this is not correct. They said the commercial space will remain and there will be apartments above, not a single-family residence. And the city records seem to describe that the entire corner — 385 Greenwich Street, which includes Yves — has sold. So the gossip, while super helpful to me, has not quite caught up to the facts.

The building — four stories on the corner, and three stories above Smith & Mills and part of the Tribeca West Historic District — sold for $8.5 million in August (the documents describe it as 25 feet from the corner north up Greenwich, and 69 feet from the corner east on N. Moore). If I am reading the city records correctly, it was last purchased by the Gindi family, of Century 21, who bought it in 1997. I believe the Gindis own much of the real estate under the restaurants operated by Matt Abramcyk’s Neighborhood Projects.

Word is that Smith & Mills, which at 450 square feet bar remains so charming, has until the end of next year, but that is likely TBD.

From the Landmarks Commission’s designation report for the Tribeca West Historic District: The structure at 385 Greenwich was first built as a two-story house by Joshua Barker, a merchant and former alderman of the Sixth Ward, soon after he acquired the lot in 1805. Around 1815, Barker built a second dwelling on the lot, No. 71 North Moore Street. Just before his death, construction began on a third dwelling (no longer standing), No. 69 North Moore Street, which became the property of Barker’s widow in 1821.

The corner lot was later owned in the 1850s by Thomas Stillman, whose shoe business was located at 148 Greenwich Street, and in the 1860s by the Schabbehar family which was in the jewelry business.

In 1870 James P. Foster acquired the lot and in 1874 commissioned Peter L.P. Tostevin to alter and enlarge the corner structure from a two-and-a-half-story dwelling to a four-story tenement with a commercial base; the simple design was enhanced with a bracketed cornice.

In 1898 the storefronts were replaced, and projecting show windows and an angled corner entrance were installed. Since the 1920s the base of the building has housed restaurants. It is likely that the scored stucco facing was added around 1949 when the adjacent building, 71 North Moore Street, was faced with stucco.