Preparations are underway for next month’s grand opening of Casa Cipriani, a private club and hotel at the historic Battery Maritime Building at 10 South Street in the Financial District. Construction recently completed on a 21st century steel and glass addition designed by Marvel with interiors by Thierry Despont atop the 112-year old Beaux Arts-style ferry terminal, which was originally designed by Walker & Morris and prominently stands along the waterfront. Measuring 263 feet wide and standing two stories tall, the 192,000-square-foot complex yields 47 hotel suites with private balconies overlooking the Brooklyn Bridge, the Statue of Liberty, Governors Island, and the inbound and outbound Staten Island Ferries across the New York Harbor. MJM Associates is the general contractor, Silman is the structural engineer, Langan is the civil engineer, Madson Black did the lighting, and Cipriani, Midtown Equities and Centaur Properties are the clients.
Casa Cipriani at the Battery Maritime Building. Photo by Michael Young
Recent photos show the renovated exterior featuring vaulted ground-floor arches and a central canopy that now bears the name of the hotel in large white capital letters over the main doors. Looking up reveals a loggia that spans the entire width of the Battery Maritime Building, the multiple pairs of ornamented columns, a vaulted ceiling with a herringbone pattern, and a detailed roof.
Casa Cipriani at the Battery Maritime Building. Photo by Michael Young
Casa Cipriani at the Battery Maritime Building. Photo by Michael Young
Casa Cipriani at the Battery Maritime Building. Photo by Michael Young
The southern elevation and the addition are only visible from the East River via the ferries or from Brooklyn.
Casa Cipriani at the Battery Maritime Building. Photo by Michael Young
Casa Cipriani at the Battery Maritime Building. Photo by Michael Young
Casa Cipriani at the Battery Maritime Building. Photo by Michael Young
The Battery Maritime Building became a New York City Landmark and was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1976. Memberships for the coveted 90-year-old hotelier and restaurateur can be acquired through the main website. The building will span five floors and contain an event space, a wellness center, a private club with a lounge, a jazz cafe, bars, and numerous dining options for guests. Marvel also worked to revive a steel staircase that was previously removed from the structure and is part of the interior circulation between one of two new lobbies to a concourse on the second floor and the 9,000-square-foot Great Hall, which used to serve as a waiting room for ferry passengers. A long rectangular skylight will flood the interiors with abundant natural light year round.
Nearby subway access includes the 1 train at the South Ferry station, the R and W trains at the Whitehall Street-South Ferry station, and the 4 and 5 trains at the Bowling Green station a little further to the north by the National Museum of the American Indian.
Casa Cipriani is slated to open on August 16, according to Google.
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Interesting adaptive reuse. Never thought I’d see this come to pass. That building was so derelict for decades. Hope they have a great pest control vendor on retainer!
I agree. There will probably some complaints about pests. ?
*be*
It’s a nice idea, though part of me wishes it became a museum of some sort. Regardless, the hotel sounds intriguing too.
Oh, they’d better create a bike lane for us bikers who circumnavigate Manhattan, via Battery Park. The current lane cuts out just before the terminal, then restarts just after it. There’s a road for cars who have to turn around just before Battery Park to head back uptown, or come from the Battery area, but that’s a lot of traffic and most bikers just continue on the unmarked sidewalk, mixing with pedestrians including those taking the ferry to Governor’s Island. It gets pretty busy, and now with Casa Cipriani it will be even more so! D.O.T. needs to be involved too.
Casa Cipriani is right next to the heliport. Literally 100s of take offs and landing a week. Pre covid at least.
Love the building, but guests are going to be miserable. And any outdoor space with be unusable for much of the day.
Just what NYC needs- yet another “Private Club”!?
My Coast Guard buddies used to hide out in here and smoke pot while waiting for the ferry to Governors Island, it was so derelict, and there was nothing to keep people out or anything. I remember wondering how such an amazing resource got so abandoned. Great memories.
The area should be opened up to the public with piers and walkways and parks opened to the public like Boston harborfront.