Stymied Battery Maritime Building redevelopment gets needed financial boost

The stymied redevelopment of the Battery Maritime Building into a hotel and rooftop restaurant with a restored Great Hall may be back on track after a major cash infusion. Crain’s reports that developer Midtown Equities plans to take a 30-percent stake in the project, issuing a much-needed financial boost. A representative for the development company says work on the building is expected to resume in fall or winter.

The restoration and redevelopment of the 1909-built Beaux Arts landmark has been an arduous and drawn-out process. The city approved the project in 2009, but even then lead developer Dermot Company was unsure of where the funds to see the project through would come from. In 2012, Dermot along with the Poulakakos family signed on to a 99-year-lease on the building from the owner of the site, the city’s Economic Development Corporation.

Superstorm Sandy created a setback, and in September 2016, the NYC Regional Center which provided Dermot with a $77 million loan in 2011, sued the developer for failing to pay rent or interest. In early November 2016, the EDC followed up by filing its own lawsuit against Dermot for failing to pay rent on the site for over a year.

Dermot, facing a possible foreclosure proceeding, was ousted by the EDC in late 2017 and replaced by the joint venture of Centaur Properties and upscale eatery Cipriani. With the new loan nearly in place, work is expected to wrap up in about 18 months, or around summer of 2020.

• Midtown Equities to join Battery Maritime Building hotel project [Crain’s]
• Stymied Battery Maritime Building redevelopment faces foreclosure [Curbed]
• Battery Maritime Building’s conversion is back on track with new development team [Curbed]