John Beyer, a preservationist, architect and last surviving co-founder of the firm Beyer Blinder Belle, died last Tuesday at his Manhattan home, the New York Times reported. He was 92.
A representative from his eponymous firm confirmed his death. No cause of death was given.
Beyer, Richard Blinder and John Belle founded the company in 1968 after breaking off from shopping mall pioneer Victor Gruen. The firm staked out a reputation for preserving New York City’s history and adapting old properties into more contemporary uses.
Born on Feb. 13, 1933 in Hackensack, New Jersey, Beyer grew up in Teaneck. His father was a jeweler. Beyer studied at Denison University, receiving his degree in art in 1954 before pursuing a bachelor’s and master’s degree in architecture at Harvard University, setting him on the course to define a generation of New York City buildings.
His firm’s most notable work may have been the restoration of Grand Central Terminal, which it transformed from grungy to glamorous in 1998, cleaning layers of soot, adding a grand staircase and removing a billboard that obscured natural light.
Other significant renovations included the Met Breuer building, the main New York Public Library property, the Frick Collection and the flagship Henri Bendel store, rebuilt into a Fifth Avenue rowhouse. The firm also operated in Washington, D.C.
After 9/11, Beyer Blinder Belle was commissioned to develop site plans at the World Trade Center, which Beyer took the lead on. The design was deemed underwhelming and the firm was replaced by Studio Daniel Libeskind, but many of the guiding principles pitched by Beyer Blinder Belle ultimately remained.
The firm remained one of the city’s active developers in recent years and Beyer was a part of that, even after the passing of his co-founders; Blinder died in 2006, while Belle died in 2016. The demise of Innovation QNS presented an opportunity for Beyer Blinder Belle, listed as the architect of a 560-unit, 498,000-square-foot mixed-use building filed at 35-18 Steinway Street by BedRock and L+M.
Beyer’s passing comes less than two weeks after the death of his wife. He is survived by two children from his first marriage, three from his second marriage and nine grandchildren.
— Holden Walter-Warner
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