Mayor appoints Mahan to preservation agency responsible for overseeing more than 38,000 landmark properties in New York City
Skidmore, Owings & Merrill (SOM) celebrates the appointment of Design Principal Frank Mahan, AIA, to the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission (LPC), the largest municipal preservation agency in the United States. Appointed by Mayor Eric Adams, Mahan’s three-year service is effective as of July 15.
The LPC was established in 1965 in response to the widespread demolition of historically significant buildings in New York City. As the first preservation agency of its kind, the LPC protects the city’s most architecturally, historically, and culturally significant buildings and sites by granting them landmark or historic district status.

Mahan has had longstanding engagement with the LPC through his work as SOM’s Adaptive Reuse practice leader. He oversees many of the firm’s most complex restoration, preservation, and adaptive reuse projects, and has managed the LPC approval process for SOM’s work on designated properties through public hearings and design proposal reviews. He begins these projects with deep research in order to understand the history of a building before shaping its next life, a method he has applied in the redevelopment of icons like the Waldorf Astoria New York and the James A. Farley Post Office. He has also pioneered an emerging typology—the restoration of midcentury-modern buildings—with a portfolio that includes some of SOM’s own legacy and landmarked projects such as Lever House and 9 West 57th Street.

“Each building, site, and public space in New York City has its own collection of stories to tell,” said Frank Mahan. “I am grateful for the opportunity to work with LPC’s expert staff and the other commissioners to extend the legacy of preserving our city’s rich histories, while also ensuring the past, present, and future come together to give buildings new life and meaning.”

A recognized leader in preservation and adaptive reuse, Mahan excels at weaving together a project’s aspirations with the history of its site, while balancing local regulatory requirements, to create designs that support healthy and vibrant cities. He approaches his work with the conviction that sustainable cities must blend new construction with stewardship of existing building stock. Through research initiatives like the Office-to-Residential Conversion Study for 1633 Broadway, his efforts exemplify SOM’s commitment to accelerate the transition to a zero-carbon built environment.
