The beautiful, soaring, grand, ground-floor lobby of the Williamsburg Bank Building has finally found a new lease of life, after sitting idle and empty for years.
Manhattan promoter Jennifer Blumin is leasing the space use the space as a catering hall for weddings and other large events.
Kind of a comedown for the landmark. It's hard to think of people doing the chicken dance under that great ceiling. But I guess it's a better fate than the place becoming a Borders.
Rental prices will start at $15,000 a night, which Blumin calls "Brooklyn-sensitive pricing." Hm. Maybe "Brooklyn Heights-sensitive."
The Real Deal's write-up is not entirely correct. If it's any help:
ReplyDelete#1. Calling this space a catering hall makes this undertaking seem a tad downmarket. Given that Jennifer Blumin has both Skylight Studios and Skyline Galleries & Studios under her belt -- the former being the home of the annual Whitney Art Party -- I think it's a stretch to compare this space to some of the cheeseball nightmares advertised in remnant cable inventory or in the outer reaches of Long Island.
#2. Blumin's not now nor has she ever been a promoter; she's a space manager with expertise in re-imagining new lives for under-loved spaces. (Skylight, for example, used to be a meeting place for a Longshoreman association; Skyline used to be a parking garage.) Promoters usually have their own guest lists, profit in some way off attendance, and have bad taste in clothes. Blumin, on the other hand, rents spaces to clients like BMW and Vogue who market and produce their individual events, fashion shows, product launches etc. No chicken dances have been reported at any event hosted in a space of hers thus far.
#3. $15K is the MSRP; Bklyn appropriate pricing for local private events, weddings, etc. will be made available -- and will be south of $15K.
Hope this helps assuage some of your concerns :)