The restoration of the landmark Battery Maritime Building (BMB), located at the southern tip of Manhattan next to the recently rebuilt Whitehall Ferry Terminal, began in 2001 thanks to a $60 million investment by the city Economic Development Corporation (EDC). Plans for project were developed in the late 1990s, when the BMB’s cast-iron façade was held together by layers of drab green paint over crusts of rust.
The restoration was completed in 2006. Work included the installation of a new exterior-lighting and gutter system and the restoration of stucco panels, the mansard and flat-area roofs, and the fourth-floor veranda.
In July 2007, the EDC awarded the interior redevelopment contract to the Dermot Company and the Poulakakos family. Plans for the BMB include a specialty foods marketplace in the building's Great Hall, and a new addition on the west side (to replace the current one) to house a 135-room boutique hotel and indoor/outdoor roof-top restaurant.
Click here to learn more about this project in depth.
Daily Activities
*The following information was last updated July 2, 2009.
The $60 million exterior rehabilitation project is now complete.
The city Economic Development Corporation has awarded the $150 million interior-redevelopment contract to the Dermot Company and the Poulakakos family. The project is expected to begin in 2009.
For more information about the Battery Maritime Building, contact Janel Patterson at the New York City Economic Development Corporation at (212) 312-3517 or jpatterson@nycedc.com.
In July 2007, the city EDC awarded a $150 million contract and 49-year lease to the Dermot Company and Poulakakos family to redevelop the building's interior.
Slips 1, 2, and 3 are next door in the Whitehall Ferry Terminal, which, in its original incarnation, was the “twin” structure of the BMB. Slip 4 was an open-air slip between the two buildings.
When the BMB restoration got underway in 2001, its monotone green color led most people to believe that the entire building was made of copper-turned-patina. But when crews performed a detailed analysis down to the building’s base layer, they uncovered the original color scheme, along with vibrant terra-cotta tiles, moldings, and other minutiae that had been buried beneath coats of paint. Today much of the façade has been repainted in its original color pattern, with two shades of earth-toned green, along with blue and red stucco and tiles and a restored copper mansard roof.
Click here for answers to commonly asked construction questions.
