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The rehabilitation project returned the 99-year-old building to its original color scheme
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A specialty foods market, roof-top restaurant, and boutique hotel are headed to the recently restored Battery Maritime Building. The $110 million plan was announced this week by the city Economic Development Corporation (EDC), which issued a formal request for proposals last year.
The new development team, the Dermot Company and the Poulakakos family, will breathe new life into the historic waterfront building through its 49-year lease. The city expects the project to create several hundred construction and permanent jobs, resulting in more than $75 million in city revenue over 30 years.
The project comes one year after the EDC concluded its $60 million rehabilitation of the Beaux-Arts landmark, located on the east side of Whitehall Ferry Terminal on the tip of Lower Manhattan.
Inside the former ferry terminal, the 8,500-square-foot Great Hall once again will reopen as one of New York City's great public spaces. By day the Great Hall will be home to a specialty foods marketplace and education center focusing on local foods and related businesses. At night the Great Hall will be available as an event space on a limited basis.
The building's existing 1960s addition (on its west side) will be replaced with a modern extension, where the developer will build an approximately 135-room boutique hotel and roof-top indoor/outdoor restaurant and bar.
Partners in the development plan include Rogers Marvel Architects, Jones Lang LaSalle Hotels (hotel advisory services), and Market Ventures Inc. (specialty foods marketplace consultants).
Meanwhile, the Battery Maritime Building will remain an active ferry terminal. For several years it has dedicated Slips 6 and 7 for ferry service to Governors Island, as it will continue to do. The city Department of Transportation will use Slip 5 for private ferry operations as part of future East River Ferry Service, with commuter service expected to begin in summer 2007.
The new project also calls for the creation of new waiting rooms for ferry passengers on the first floor. Architect Jan Hird Pokorny Associates will lead this effort with construction manager Tishman Construction -- the same team that handled the building's restoration.
Designed by Walker & Morris, the 99-year-old Battery Maritime Building was built using a unique combination of sturdy materials and elaborate finishes throughout its two stories, such as structural steel, cast iron, copper, and colored ceramic tiles. The rehabilitation project returned the building to its original color scheme, added a new 2,800-square-foot skylight, and restored the Guastavino tile ceiling on the second floor loggia deck at the front of the building.
More details on the restoration project can be found here.
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