Long-delayed Nolitan Hotel seeks community approval despite zoning violations

The initial opening date for the Nolitan Hotel, once set for May 2010, has long since come and gone, delayed in part by a Department of Buildings finding that the property violated height limits. But on Thursday, representatives for the 60-room property are slated to make their case to members of the land use subcommittee of Community Board 2 in hopes of getting approval for a built extra story and “legalizing a built mezzanine” on the premises, Bowery Boogie reported.

The dispute dates back several years, when neighbors complained about allegedly unsafe conditions at the construction site. The DOB investigated the property, ultimately finding in January 2010 that the hotel violated the city’s zoning laws. Developers Veracity Development subsequently lost an appeal of the decision.

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The nine-story hotel, at 30 Kenmare Street on the corner of Elizabeth Street, is situated in Little Italy’s historic district, where building heights are limited to 85 feet, or eight stories. Also at issue is a district zoning rule that “exterior materials of the front wall shall be predominantly of masonry.”

“If this application isn’t an admission of guilt, we don’t know what is,” Bowery Boogie said. [Bowery Boogie]Leigh Kamping-Carder