New Life for Coney Island's Child's Restaurant Building

There is news to report about the Child's Restaurant Building, one of the gems of the Coney boardwalk, and a property that is not controlled by developer Joe Sitt and Thor Equities. Kinetic Carnival passed along word earlier this week from the Brooklyn Daily Eagle (you can read the full text here at the Coney Island Message Board) that Taconic Investment Properties, which has leased the site and owns a very large parcel next door, is planning to turn the old restaurant back into--surprise!--a restaurant. The Daily Eagle reports:

Taconic signed a 49-year lease for the Child’s two-story building with an open-air mezzanine in August, with the option to extend the lease or purchase the property if the landlord decides to sell. That same month, the company acquired from the City Investment Fund, at no recorded cost, the 168,000-square-foot lot across the street, where the Washington Bathhouse once stood.

“We are developing our plan for Child’s right now,” said Bendit, co-founder of Taconic. “I think ultimately, we’d like to restore it to what it once was, which was a food-type enterprise,” with possibilities including a combination of a restaurant, market and catering service. “I think [plans for the lot] are really going to be predicated on what the EDC and the city come up with.” Bendit added that he didn’t want to go into specifics about Taconic’s wishes for the site before the city made its final zoning determinations. But according to Recchia, housing is definitely on the table.

The Fund bought the lot in June for $90 million from Thor Equities — $77 million more than Thor had paid for the property only a year earlier.

The Child's property and Taconic's plans are also featured in a story by Jotham Sederstrom in today's Daily News:

In addition, a residential building with retail components is being eyed for a 180,000-square-foot lot across W. 21st St. from Childs. How high it will rise has not been determined, said Charles Bendit, chief executive at Taconic.

No restaurant had been chosen for the landmarked terra cotta building, Bendit said, but plans call for a food court, restaurant, grocery store or catering hall.

The wonderful Child's building is one Coney landmark that truly deserves a bright new life. If you've never strolled by it and looked at it closely, you should. It's a seaside treasure.