clock menu more-arrow no yes mobile

Filed under:

Battery Maritime Building's hotel conversion is back on track with new development team

New, 1 comment

Construction on the project is now expected to be complete by the summer of 2019

After a host of problems over the past few years, it seems like the redevelopment of the Battery Maritime Building, next to the Whitehall Ferry Terminal, is finally getting back on track.

Over the weekend, the city’s Economic Development Corporation (EDC) revealed that it had selected a new development team to take over the redevelopment of the Beaux Arts building from the Dermot Company. The new team is comprised of Centaur Properties (they’re building Isay Weinfeld’s High Line condos) and Cipriani USA, Inc., a hospitality company.

The EDC picked the Dermot Company to redevelop the building in 2007. Dermot then unveiled a $150 million plan to transform the historic building into a hotel with a rooftop restaurant, and a transformed Great Hall, which would be open to the public, and also function as an events space.

Construction got underway in 2012, but the project incurred significant cost overruns in the subsequent years. Dermot was unable to recapitalize the project, and wasn’t able to complete the project with the resources it had originally assembled. As a result, construction came to a halt in mid-2015.

Earlier this year, news emerged that Stoneleigh Capital was set to takeover the redevelopment from Dermot, but according to the EDC, that deal never closed. Now Centaur and Cipriani are finally looking to make things right again.

The city is more confident in this development team because it has conducted a significant amount of due diligence on the project and put down a non-refundable $5 million security deposit to finish the job.

At present, the redevelopment of the building is between 55 to 60 percent complete. The new redevelopment plans may vary slightly. Originally 65 hotel rooms were planned; now that number will likely come down to 41. The size of the restaurant is also expected to shrink, slightly. The development of the Great Hall into a public space however will carry on as planned. Ismael Leyva will be the Architect of Record, and Thierry Despont will handle all of the interior work.

While most of the construction is expected to be complete by the end of 2018, the city has set an official completion for sometime in the summer of 2019.

Battery Maritime Building

11 South Street, New York, NY