Planned Restoration Hardware store is five times bigger than zoning allows: DOB

Things have gone from bad to worse at the planned site of a Restoration Hardware in the Meatpacking District.

Contractor Harco Construction, convicted last week of manslaughter for the death of a worker at the site, defied a judge’s orders and refused to pay for public service announcements on worker safety. And now, the Department of Buildings says the planned 58,659-square-foot home goods store is far too large for the site and may not receive a certificate of occupancy when construction wraps up.

The DOB maintains in a notice of objection sent to developers Aurora Capital Associates and William Gottlieb Real Estate on March 9 that zoning at 9-19 Ninth Avenue only permits 10,000 square feet of retail, DNAinfo reported.

The developers have engaged with the department but haven’t resolved all of the issues. But Aurora and William Gottlieb Real Estate simply need to respond to the notice of objection and keep an open dialogue with DOB to continue with construction, the department said.

“Once they begin to attempt to resolve the objections, there is no set time,” the spokesperson told the news website. “If they stop engaging, then DOB would move ahead with a revocation.”

The upscale retailer signed a 15-year lease for roughly $250 million in fall of 2014, with plans to convert the former Pastis restaurant. [DNAinfo] — James Kleimann