TRIBECA — After years of delays, owners of West Broadway’s historic Cosmopolitan Hotel have called off plans for a six-floor annex, instead choosing to overhaul a neighboring building to make way for a new tenant, Cafeteria restaurant.
The hotel’s construction manager, Philip Pignatelli, told members of Community Board 1’s TriBeCa committee Wednesday night that because of several issues with the site, which wraps around to 113 Reade St., building a new extension wouldn’t be “financially viable.”
The original annex project, approved by the city four years ago, called for demolishing the two-story building, once the home to Mexican restaurant Mary Ann’s, that sits next to the 165-year-old hotel.
For years, that space has remained empty, and is now covered in scaffolding. Pignatelli said the new plan was to gut and overhaul the space and the façade, but not to demolish the structure, or add any floors. The entire revamped spot would become home to Cafeteria, an outpost of a Chelsea brunch and late-night eatery.
The news came as owners from Cafeteria appeared before the board to win support for a liquor license application, which they did, thanks, in part, to the owners assurances to mitigate noise and provide adequate security.
Several residents of Reade Street appeared at the meeting to complain about the issues they’ve had with late night revelers spilling out of eateries and bars, such as Sazon at 105 Reade Street, Ward 111, at 111 Reade Street, and trendy restaurant Super Linda, which sits down the street on 105 West Broadway.
Cafeteria co-owner Mark Amadie told residents that they’d make their best effort to work with the other neighboring bars to finance added security to patrol the street and control the late-night foot traffic. But if local owners didn’t want to join in, they assured residents they would pay for it themselves.
They also promised residents of Reade Street that they, either with or without the help of the other bars, would pay to outfit any bedroom windows on the block with CitiQuiet windows — a double paned window that Amadie says blocks out 90 percent of the street noise.
“We want to do whatever we can to make Reade Street better for the residents,” said Amadie. “Our lease with the hotel is for 20 years, we’re going to part of the neighborhood.”
The restaurant won advisory approval for a daily 7 a.m. to 2 a.m. liquor license, which owners said was necessary since they would offer room service for guests of the hotel.
They agreed, however, that after 11 p.m., the restaurant’s street entrance, which will be on West Broadway, will be closed. Only an entrance between the hotel and the restaurant will remain open until the restaurant shuts down at 2 a.m.
The revampled plan for the space still needs approval from the Landmarks Committee, but Amadie says they want the exterior of the new building to blend in with TriBeCa’s historic buildings. The Cosmopolitan Hotel itself with also be revamping its facade.
“This won’t look like our modern, Chelsea location,” Amadie said. "We want this to be a harmounious fit with TriBeCa and the new facade of the hotel."
They also hope to have an herb garden on the roof — and open sometime next year.
