developing

Extreme Makeover: Bowery Edition

Cooper Hotel

27 Cooper Square undergoing
its transformation into the Cooper Hotel. Photo: Curbed

The Peck Moss Group, the developers behind the Cooper Square Hotel, just bought the three remaining lots between Fifth and Sixth Streets from Cooper Union. The land, which they purchased from Cooper Union for $11 million, because, a spokeswoman says, it “wasn’t suitable for academic development,” includes a cozy 1830s Federal-style house occupied by beloved student watering hole Asia Pub. Will the hoteliers raze the structure to build another gleaming boutique B&B? “We don’t really know yet,” said partner Matthew Moss. “We obviously made a huge investment in Cooper Square, and a large part of buying those lots is to control what happens on the rest of our block, to make sure someone else doesn’t buy it and use it for something else.” Residents of the Fifth Street block, however, said they were told by Moss that he plans to build another hotel on the lots “and that when it was all finished, we would be thrilled,” said one. And the group did apply for a permit for a smaller hotel late last year, although that application was rejected. In any case, NYU underclassmen can breathe a sigh of relief: At least for the near future, the bar remains open. —Dan Levin

Earlier: High-Rise Eats Tenement
Related: Hotelier Assumes NoHo Will Bend to His Will [Curbed]

Extreme Makeover: Bowery Edition