The redevelopment of the historic Battery Maritime Building into the Casa Cipriani luxury hotel and private club was as much about lower Manhattan becoming a 24/7 livable domain as it was about restoring the famed Beaux-Arts landmark.
Designed by Walker & Morris Architects and originally opened in 1909 to serve as a major commuter ferry hub, the Battery Maritime Building, located at 10 South St., fell into disrepair after the rise of cars in the 1950s.
In the 1990s, a 20-year campaign began to give new life to the property and transform it into a hospitality venue. A joint venture between Midtown Equities, Centaur Properties and Cipriani not only preserved the building’s historic past but also adapted it to a variety of contemporary uses that speak to New York’s goals of revitalizing its waterfront as a destination for leisure.
The revamped property features a new porte-cochere driveway and two new lobbies on the ground floor as well as an events space on the second floor with a 9,000-square-foot great hall for up to 800 seated guests. A second-floor mezzanine was created to house a cafe and wellness center.
The third and fourth floors were turned to a 47-room boutique hotel including many suites and balconies overlooking the Brooklyn Bridge and the Statue of Liberty. A new fifth-floor glass addition houses a private membership club with a jazz lounge, bars, and a restaurant.
Restored slips on the ground floor provide ferry access to Governors Island and the New Jersey Highlands, with the terminal billed as the last remaining historic working ferry terminal in New York.
The project won a 2023 CoStar Impact Award as judged by real estate professionals familiar with the market.
About the project: Designed by architecture firm Marvel with interiors by Thierry Despont, Casa Cipriani is also nearby the Wall Street/Pier 11 ferry hub and the Staten Island Ferry terminal and is within walking distance of famed tourist attractions including the World Trade Center complex.
What the judges said: The redevelopment “demonstrated the greatest turnaround story for a project — transforming and restoring a notable building that had fallen into a state of disrepair, back to its original prominence, with an eye towards meeting the needs of a revitalized downtown marketplace,” said Andrew Judd, chief operating officer of JRT Realty Group.
“Nobody could have envisioned the [Battery Maritime Building] being redeveloped into one of the premier social clubs in Manhattan,” said Joshua Wein, managing director at Ral Cos.
They made it happen: Marvel director Tim Fryatt and architect Andrew Brown; Cipriani’s Maggio Cipriani and Henrik Gudmundson; Centaur Properties founder Harlan Berger and partner Henry Hay; Midtown Equities’ principals Jack Cayre and Michael Cayre, senior vice president Max Padden, and vice president of construction Amalia Nicholas worked on the project.
