So where's that horrible-looking hotel coming to 347 Bowery?

Of late it seems that all we do around here is chronicle buildings being demolished. Such as:

• 51 Astor Place

• 9-17 Second Avenue

• 74-76 Third Avenue

• 185-193 Avenue B

• 326-328 E. Fourth St.

• 316 E. Third St.

• 35 Cooper Square

• 331 E. Sixth St.

So what's left next?

Our money is/was on 347 Bowery at East Third Street, where that French guy is going to build a boutique hotel at the site of the Salvation Army's East Village Residence. Let's refresh your memory:

Oh, yeah — come to daddy!

On Jan. 12, the Post first reported that France’s Louzon Group bought the former Salvation Army building for $7.6 million with plans to turn it into a boutique hotel with one of their restaurants on the ground floor.

So, nearly 11 months later, we took a look at the DOB to see if Louzon had any permits on file for sidewalk sheds, complete demolition, etc. There is nothing on file. With the exception of someone removing the big Salvation Army sign a few months ago, the place looks pretty good for being vacant for three years.

(Off topic: Is there any address in the area that Wacky Wok hasn't left a menu?) In any event, awfully quiet here. Perhaps the French were scared off by the incoming 7-Eleven next door? To be continued.

Previously on EV Grieve:
Reactions to new Bowery hotel: 'It would be cheaper and more useful just to blow up the building and leave a 30-foot crater'

Why do the French hate us?

Terminated Salvation

With the new hotel in the works for 347 Bowery ... (the one Alex thinks looks as if it has a "bad case of acne"), I wanted to quickly document the previous tenant before the fabulous foodies, hotshot hoteliers and squealing scenesters arrive...

The Salvation Army's East Village Residence closed here at East Third Street in August 2008.

Jack Henry Abbott wrote a short story titled "On the Bowery" about his stay here in the summer of 1981. (I wrote about Abbott and 347 Bowery here.) Here's a snippet of Abbott's story:

I noticed a body laying stretched out on the sidewalk against a rundown building. And then another and another and another. The bodies of sleeping derelicts were scattered liberally around the sidewalks and on the stoops on buildings. It took my by surprise. My mind was blank. I finally thought: "What the hell is this?"

As the invaluable Forgotten New York writes about the Bowery and the Salvation Army:

The expressions "on the wagon" and "off the wagon" had their origins on the Bowery where Evangeline Booth (whose father founded the Salvation Army), used to send a horse-drawn wagon onto the throroughfare to pick up drunks and bring them to an Army facility where they could dry out and hopefully put their lives together.

Read more on Forgotten New York's Bowery tour here.

And it's pretty amazing that the tera cotta SA initials have held up through the years...

...much better than the Fallout Shelter sign...

And a look at who this once served...

Original caption: A group of homeless and jobless habitues of the Bowery enjoying their buttermilk, sold at a very small cost at the Salvation Army Buttermilk Bar. The bar was opened as a means of combatting the sale of "smoke" the poison liquor sold so freely and which caused the death of many of the unfortunates along the Bowery.

[Image via]

For further reading:
No salvation (Jeremiah's Vanishing NY)

Previously on EV Grieve:
Reactions to new Bowery hotel: 'It would be cheaper and more useful just to blow up the building and leave a 30-foot crater'

The Post looks at the new Bowery hotel, forgets where CBGBs was

Back on Jan. 11, Lois Weiss at the Post was first to report on the new new hotel coming to the former Salvation Army building on the Bowery. Since then, Curbed and the Observer have unleashed renderings of the hotel...

The Post follows-up today, getting some feedback about the gaudy-looking hotel's arrival in an article titled "The Bowery's Skid Glow."

Let's take a look at the article!

Nobody's begging for change anymore in the Bowery.
The once-gritty neighborhood has already become the face of the city's ongoing gentrification, but a new 14-story boutique hotel — complete with balconies that light up in shimmery pastels and a massive Jumbotron screen — has locals wondering if they are living in the next Times Square.
The hotel will go up right across the street from the old CBGBs, but recently released renderings show the look is more Kylie Minogue than Debbie Harry.

Right across the street from the old CBGBs?

And...

The changes that the Bowery has undergone are astounding, said Suzanne Wasserman, director of the Gotham Center for New York City History at CUNY graduate center.
"When I moved to New York in 1980, it was Skid Row and bums [down there]," she said.
But Wasserman said there are only two constants in New York — change and people worrying about change.

Image created by Shawn Chittle.

One potential problem with the new hotel on the Bowery

What it may attract....

Image created by Shawn Chittle. Previously.

Why do the French hate us?

On Tuesday, we saw the first rendering of the new boutique hotel being built on the Bowery by the Paris-based Louzon Group ...

Oh, sure... we had some fun with the design... but the joke's on us. Late yesterday afternoon, the Observer (via Curbed) unleashed the NEW rendering... This is not a joke.

Per the Observer:

As you can see in these new renderings provided by the building's architect, Gene Kaufman, it has light up balconies that will shimmer at night, bringing a bit of that dance-club flare back to the cleaned up thoroughfare.

And some Curbed commentary:

"It also has what appears to be a Jumbotron. The Bowery goes Times Square! So when can we expect the M&M's store?"

Previously on EV Grieve:
Reactions to new Bowery hotel: 'It would be cheaper and more useful just to blow up the building and leave a 30-foot crater'

Hotel architect says the Bowery 'is already the epicenter of cool'

[Deer photo by AWKWORD]

Speaking on the new hotel coming to 347 Bowery... I finally got my hands on the official news release. It doesn't disappoint.

New York, NY – January 18, 2011 – Eastern Consolidated announced today that Paris, France-based Louzon Group has acquired 347-349 Bowery, a development site now occupied by a three-story commercial building formerly used as an SRO by the Salvation Army.

The property is the first U.S. acquisition for the Louzon, an investment group which owns and operates several restaurants in Paris as well as one location hotel. The group has plans to construct a 72--room boutique hotel at the site with a restaurant operated by one of the most famous Parisian brands.

Eastern Consolidated’s Senior Directors and Principals Alan P. Miller and Robert Ortiz procured the Louzon Group, while Jonathan S. Plotkin of Colliers International acted on behalf of The Salvation Army, the seller.

According to Mr. Miller, the site perfectly suited Louzon’s criteria — an East Village location, the appropriate size, and vacant. Mr. Plotkin marketed the site through his firm Colliers requesting proposals from previous interested parties. Ultimately, Louzon prevailed in the bidding, closing the transaction for all cash.

“Until recently, the Bowery was one of the last places one would go to find great design, or great food, but now that it is already the epicenter of cool, this project will advance the qualitative side, bringing established, internationally renowned hoteliers and restaurateurs and a new signature building that speaks about seriousness as much as -- or even more than -- style,” said [Alan] Kaufman who is the design architect for the project.

I guess they don't know that the Post said the Bowery is "out" for 2011.

Previously on EV Grieve:
Your guide to the doomed corners of the Bowery

Reactions to new Bowery hotel: 'It would be cheaper and more useful just to blow up the building and leave a 30-foot crater'

Yesterday, thanks to Curbed, we all got a look at the new boutique hotel coming to Third Street and the Bowery:

Oops, crap. Wrong image. Sorry! Here it is!

Sorry! Blogger is giving me problems today!

This likely isn't surprising, but no one seems to like the design... or the thought of another hotel along here...

Here's a sampling of Curbed comments:

And people thought the Bowery was bad in the "old days"? I'd take the Salvation Army building over this any day.

Pretty much everything new going up on the Bowery now says "crap-tastic" + "major ego at work". This new building looks like the winner of a contest where crazed architects are asked to design their weirdest fantasy buildings.

Eventually the Bowery will have a NEW reputation, as the place tourists can go to see the absolutely *ugliest* collection of buildings in NYC.

And!

Odd to think that the Bowery was actually better and had a peculiar, if worn and gritty, charm before qualified "designers" took it upon themselves to show the uneducated masses how things might be. As it stands, they should rename it the Rue de Pretension.

Gothamist ran a post with a headline, "The Bowery's Next Hotel Is Looking Pretty Ugly." Per commenter Newhce: "Holy crap. What is this, 'New Brutalism'"?

Runnin' Scared went with the headline, "New Bowery Hotel Uglier Than The Last."

And at EV Grieve? Here's a sampling of the comments:

Cookiepuss said...
Both of these images horrify me! The skinny structure every time I see it, either in person or in a photograph brings me all the way back to points in my life where I experienced trauma. Both structures mimic the symmetry of Hitler's army. Sometimes I think that architects and developers are trying to create a new and superior race!

And!

Bowery Boy said...
The merits of each individual hotel on the new Bowery can be debated, but taken as a whole, this is about to be the worst stretch of Manhattan ever planned. Ok, maybe not planned, but developed. It looked better as Skid Row. The individual developers are getting their money, so they don't care, but one-by-one they are turning the Bowery into an architectual freak show. So sad.

And!

cvinzant said...
Does anyone know what those ridiculous white boxes are that jut out for no purpose? Are they made of stone? Metal? How much will the pigeons enjoy roosting on them?

And on the EV Grieve Facebook page, Luc Sante left this comment:

It would be cheaper and more useful just to blow up the building and leave a 30-foot crater.

Meanwhile, I've taken it upon myself to make a few suggested changes... Work in progress people...

Designs for new Bowery hotel unleashed; local blogger mutters something about cotton balls

Just last week reports surfaced that France’s Louzon Group has acquired the former Salvation Army building on the Bowery for $7.6 million and plans to turn it into a 65-room boutique hotel with one of their restaurants on the ground floor.



And now, Curbed has the design. Please be seated.

On second thought, a sushi place sounds pretty good!

Alternative headline: The Bowery finally gets the boutique hotel it so sorely needed!



So, yeah, you probably heard this story spanking making the rounds today about 347 Bowery at Third Street ...



According to Lois Weiss at the Post today, France’s Louzon Group has acquired the former Salvation Army building for $7.6 million and plans to turn it into a 65-room boutique hotel with one of their restaurants on the ground floor.

As we — and others! — reported, high-end sushi place Koi wanted to open here back in the summer of 2009 ... CB3 said no ... and we kept waiting to find out what next glamourous thing would take over this former men's shelter, home briefly to convicted killer Jack Abbott... Was just a matter of time. (And money!)

Wonder if the hotel will select a Bowery-sensitive name...? Like, Shattered Dreams ... or, Next Step, Potter's Field ... with a cafe that serves trendy drinks in colostomy bags and artisanal cheeses in faux-dirty socks ...

So, yeah — I'm feeling pretty good about things!

Previously on EV Grieve:

Paint job at 347 Bowery brings an end to random Heath Ledger graffiti

Looking at what may be coming to 347 Bowery

Your invite to meet your new neighbor who wants to turn a men's shelter into a high-end sushi joint

On the Bowery: "What the hell is this?"

Your guide to the doomed corners of the Bowery

Paint job at 347 Bowery brings an end to random Heath Ledger graffiti

Someone recently slapped on a coat of paint over the graffiti at 347 Bowery, the former Salvation Army East Village Residence that was almost turned into a sushi empire....

Before!



Now!





And the paint has covered up the two-year-old graffiti... "Gemma Ward killed Heath." ... not to mention the Circle-A anarchy symbol ...



So, anyway, why the paint job? (Workers are repairing the sidewalks too.) Is it being spruced up to woo another tenant? Koi bailed at the beginning of the year....

Looking at what may be coming to 347 Bowery

Koi is one of the bars/restaurants going before the CB3/SLA tonight. Koi is applying for a full liquor license.

In preparation for this, some higher-profile Koi employees held a meet-and-greet at Sala Restaurant on the Bowery last Thursday to answer any questions about Koi possibly turning the former Salvation Army East Village Residence into another outpost of the upscale sushi eatery. (The other locations are in Bangkok, Los Angeles, Las Vegas and in NYC at Bryant Park).

There wasn't any planned presentation. It was rather informal. And awkward. Not many people were there, at least when I was around. (And no naked sushi models.) And the people who were there didn't strike me as the concerned-neighbor type. (The Lo-Down was there too and has additional coverage.)

A few random things from the evening:

— Everyone from Koi was really nice in that trying-too-hard way. But, still, nice.

— The patrons of the Bryant Park Koi were described as low-key, mellow, more mature (i.e., not a bunch of partygoers prone to peeing and vomiting in the streets — my words not their words).

— Someone from Koi volunteered that the former Salvation Army Residence would actually become a restaurant and not merely flipped to be converted into another condo/hotel/high rise. Hadn't even thought of that.

— Koi co-owner/CEO Nick Haque wasn't present, but he is expected tonight at the CB3 meeting.

There were pamphlets offering a few more details on the proposed restaurant. Two floors for the restaurant/bar...6,000-square-feet...230 total seats...overheard someone say the exterior design would be in keeping with the neighborhood.







To learn more about Koi, I visited their Web site and read the many press clippings available.





That write-up in Wine & Spirits on top is my favorite. In describing the LA Koi: "Its valet zone is standing-room-only with paparazzi hoping to catch a glimpse of Paris Hilton or Lindsay Lohan stepping out of an Escalade, and its bar is three deep with supermodels and those who like to be seen with them."

Hmm... Just think of the lux row lining up here...the Bowery Hotel and Cooper Square Hotel and DBGB and 52 East Fourth St and Keith McNally's coming-soon pizza joint and ....

Your invite to meet your new neighbor who wants to turn a men's shelter into a high-end sushi joint

On Monday, fancy sushi eatery Koi goes before the CB3 for a full-liquor license for a proposed restaurant at 347 Bowery, the site of the former Salvation Army's East Village Residence.



On Thursday night, Koi reps will look to liquor up concerned locals at Sala.



And they offer us an idea of what the place may look like...



Previously on EV Grieve:
On the Bowery: "What in the hell is this?"

On the Bowery: "What the hell is this?"

As Eater noted on Monday, fancy sushi chain Koi is looking to nab a liquor license for a new joint .... at the site of the now-closed Salvation Army residence at 347 Bowery. Seems about right.



The Koi news prompted me to revisit a short story written by Jack Henry Abbott titled "On the Bowery." His piece was part of an anthology titled "Low Rent: A Decade of Prose and Photographs from the Portable Lower East Side" published in 1994.

After serving 19 years in prison, Abbott arrived in Manhattan at 3 a.m. on June 6, 1981. He stayed at the Salvation Army here at 347 Bowery. Here are a few snippets of his short story:

Sitting on the corner across the street there was a man wearing filthy jeans and a tee-shirt. He needed a shave. He was sitting on the curb with his feet in the gutter. There was a dirty handkerchief tied around his head. His long brown hair fell wildly about his shoulders.

He had a steel garbage can turned upside down between his legs. All its contents were in piles around him and he was beating the bottom of the garbage can with a pathetic vengenace. He was using his fists and the palms of his hands, alternately. I stared at him for awhile, then my gaze passed along and took in the immediate environment. Debris was everywhere in the street and sidewalks. Third Avenue traffic had not yet started. The streets were deserted.

Then I noticed a body laying stretched out on the sidewalk against a rundown building. And then another and another and another. The bodies of sleeping derelicts were scattered liberally around the sidewalks and on the stoops on buildings. It took my by surprise. My mind was blank. I finally thought: "What the hell is this?"

One morning someone came in half carrying a man in his late twenties. The man being helped was over six feet tall. He helped him sit on the cushion of the naugahyde couch I was sitting on in front of the fan. It was exceptionally hot that summer.

The man was filthy, his clothes were torn. His right pants leg was bursting at the seams. He had been lying in the gutter down the street for three days before someone decided to help him into the Salvation Army. From what they could get out of him, he had been wandering in the street one night and a car had struck him. He had crawled between two parked cars. His right leg was broken. It had been bleeding.

P.S.

You likely know what later happened to Abbott, who previously had received help from Norman Mailer to get "In the Belly of the Beast" published. Abbott's story has been told many times. Here's a piece from -- why not? -- Wikipedia: "On the morning of July 18 (1981), just six weeks after getting out of prison, Jack Abbott went to a small cafe called the Binibon in Manhattan. He clashed with 22-year-old Richard Adan, son-in-law of the restaurant's owner, over Adan's telling him the restroom was for staff only. The short-tempered Abbott stabbed Adan in the chest, killing him."

In an entry on the Bowery and LES, Brian Rose wrote the following:

I lived around the corner on East 4th Sreet at the time, and ate in Binibon the day of the murder. I was unaware that anything had happened. Nowadays one would expect to find the crime scene taped off, people milling about pointing and murmering, and, perhaps, the beginnings of an informal memorial of flowers. In those days, it was just another murder on the Lower East Side, though once the connection to Mailer was made, the story became national news.

For further reading:
Writer murders writer in the East Village (Ephemeral New York)

For more on the Salvation Army residence hall here, please read: No Salvation (Jeremiah's Vanishing NY)