FINANCIAL DISTRICT — A narrow, sloping street between two soaring Financial District towers is moving toward getting a car-free, cobblestone overhaul.
Capital Properties, the owners of landmarked buildings 111 and 115 Broadway, are hoping to enliven the somewhat desolate stretch of Thames Street between Trinity Place and Broadway into a pedestrian plaza and street market.
A view of Thames Street. (Presentation to Community Board 1/ Architecture firm Beyer Blinder Belle)
According to a presentation given to Community Board 1, the owners plan on filling the street with granite pavers, adding tables and chairs, and opening up ground-floor windows and storefronts along the uneven road that have long been blocked up to bring in new retailers and restaurants.
The changes to the landmarked facades of the buildings — including removing the bricks from in front of the ground-level windows and doors, which have been in place for decades — would need approval from the Landmarks Preservation Commission.
Current condition:
Proposed changes:
Richard Cohen, the president of Capital Properties, told the Commercial Observer that his company hopes to make Thames Street similar to FiDi's Stone Street — a historic block lined with restaurants.
“It will become like Stone Street. It’s going to become a marketplace,” Cohen said. “But unlike Stone Street, which is off by itself, there’s the World Trade Center Memorial, Trinity Church and Wall Street nearby. It should be a terrific amenity for the city and the buildings.”
The new plaza sits between 111-115 Broadway. (Architecture firm Beyer Blinder Belle)
Several CB1 Financial District Committee members expressed concerns that the plaza would bring more unwanted foot traffic to the already crowded area, and there were also questions about the type of retail that would be filling the street.
But representatives from the project's engineering firm, Philip Habib and Associates, told CB1 that it was still early in the planning phase and that they would return for to get input from the board regarding the ultimate design of the plaza.
The team plans to file a plaza permit with the Department of Transportation in April 2017, and will need additional approvals from the Landmarks Preservation Commission and the Public Design Commission to move forward.
If all goes according to plan, the plaza will be completed by 2018.
