Developers Plan To Demolish Historic East Village Hotel

EAST VILLAGE, NY — The 165-year-old St. Denis hotel building could be demolished and replaced with a new 12-story office building, according to plans for the new structure filed by developers.

The building, located at 799 Broadway, was completed in 1853 and has stood ever since on the corner of Broadway and 11th Street. The historic structure was designed by James Renwick, Jr., the acclaimed 19th century architect who envisioned St. Patrick's Cathedral and the Smithsonian Institution Building in Washington, D.C. Renwick also designed Grace Church, 802 Broadway, located across the street from the St. Denis Hotel.

In 2016, developers bought the six-story property for $101 million. The new owners, Normandy Real Estate Partners and Ares Management, were rumored to have plans to completely gut and renovate the existing building.

Now, the developers have revealed more dramatic plans for the building's future. The building permit filed on Thursday calls for a completely new 12-story building to replace the St. Denis. Normandy Real Estate Partners has not yet filed for demolition permits at the address. The Real Deal first reported on Normandy's new plans for the lot.

Developers are seeking approval for a new building that would include 183,000 square feet of space. A portion of the building — about 10,000 square feet — would be dedicated to an unspecified "community facility," according to the application, with the remainder of the building slated for commercial use.

The building housed the St. Denis hotel for 65 years, where it housed a number of historic visitors and events, before converting into an office building 1920.

The building currently houses the office of Jeremiah Moss, perhaps New York City's most famous chronicler of the many businesses, buildings and institutions that have closed or disappeared in the last decade. Moss, who writes the blog Jeremiah's Vanishing New York, wrote an essay for the New York Review of Books about 799 Broadway and its long history in March.

According to Moss, the two dozen tenants who remain in the building are largely psychotherapists and other counselors.

Psychologist and fellow tenant Jessica Arenella mourned the building's future in an interview with Moss.

"This building was a holdout. It’s not corporate," Arenella said. "Tearing it down is part of the death of the Village. Everything’s become so capitalistic and market-driven. There used to be diners around here. Now it’s all just places to get an $8 juice."

Moss wrote that he and most of the building's remaining tenants will vacate the former hotel in the coming weeks.

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