HELL’S KITCHEN — Lamborghinis, Aston Martins and Ferraris may be rolling into a vacant space on Manhattan’s West Side this spring.
After putting out a Request for Proposals (RFP) seeking a “creative tenant” in December, the Hudson River Park Trust chose Manhattan’s Classic Car Club as Pier 76's new occupant.
The club, which rents out automobiles to its members and holds car-centric events at its current home on Hudson Street, hopes to stay in Manhattan when its lease is up, co-founder Michael Prichinello told Community Board 4’s parks committee Thursday.
“Our purpose in life is to give people an extraordinary experience through cars and automobiles,” Princhinello said. “We answered the RFP … because we thought we’d be a good fit there.”
The RFP sought a tenant to lease a 6,000-square-foot tented structure on the pier near West 34th Street along the Hudson River, along with 18,506-square-feet of additional space and a parking and loading area.
HRPT received only three applications for the space, assistant vice president of real estate Nicole Dooskin said.
As the club’s home for the duration of the 9-year lease, the tented structure would be transformed into a “stable” for the club’s 35 or so luxury vehicles — which will be on display to the public when they’re not out on the road, Princhinello said.
With nearly three times more space than the club currently has, it hopes to expand programs like mechanics classes — currently offered primarily to members — to the general public.
The extra room would allow them to hold special events like drive-in movie nights, weekend car shows, technology exhibits and seminars and provide educational programming for kids.
“We work hard to present something nice and have great cars, and we love to share our enthusiasm with everyone else,” Princhinello said.
The club also plans to “beautify” the pier’s exterior, provide water access to guests and install a public garden and a cafe.
Water-sports enthusiasts could store their kayaks and standup paddleboards at the club, Princhinello added.
Board members seemed open to the idea of the club coming to the pier.
“I don’t consider a car a work of art, but I like this idea of a museum, of people coming,” committee member Jean Daniel Noland said
Along with the vacant space, Pier 76 is currently home to a NYPD tow pound that board members hope to see relocated eventually to make way for park uses.
“It sounds to me like this is a great opportunity to activate this part of the park … and motivate the rest of the community to see there can be a lot more in this space,” board chair Delores Rubin added.
Some in attendance, however, expressed some concerns about the club’s ability to include the public in its automobile-related activities.
“I love classic cars — I think we all love classic cars — but there’s just a whiff of elitism about it,” a meeting attendee named Kathleen said. “What kind of fees would, say, a mother and father with three kids pay [to look at cars in the space]?
“Nothing. It would be free” Princhinello responded.
“Our business plan from the very beginning was how to get ordinary people into understanding cars — sort of a democratization,” he added.
Another club co-founder presenting at the meeting, Zac Moseley, said the club would consider offering lower rates for its programming to neighborhood residents, at the request of committee member Brad Pascarella.
The club plans to move in in the spring, Dooskin said.
One of the board’s final questions came from committee co-chair Lowell Kern.
“[I see] there’s a Mustang convertible. Can I borrow it?”
