Studio 54's $105 million makeover heads to City Council votes Tuesday

Studio 54 was built as an opera house in 1927, became a famous disco and has been a Broadway theater for almost 30 years. Its owner, the nonprofit Roundabout Theatre Company, now wants to give it the first full renovation in its history, and the plan reaches the City Council this week.

The Council's Subcommittee on Zoning and Franchises meets Tuesday, Nov. 10, at 11 a.m. at 250 Broadway, with Studio 54's zoning text amendment and special permit on a voting agenda that also goes to the full Land Use Committee that day, according to the Council calendar. The subcommittee held its hearing on the plan on Oct. 20, according to Hearing Hearings, which tracks Council records.

What would change inside

The Manhattan borough president's office puts the cost at $105 million. The work includes:

• A real stage. The theater has no permanent stage, so one is installed for each production. The plan rebuilds it and adds a new trap system.
• The orchestra pit. It was cemented over to create the nightclub's dance floor, Broadway News reported. It would be dug out and restored, so musicians no longer have to play on stage.
• Seating: re-raked orchestra and balcony seating for better sightlines and comfort, and a redesigned mezzanine.
• Accessibility and amenities: a bigger lobby, a relocated bar, more concessions and restrooms, a multi-stop elevator and level cross-aisles.
• Backstage and systems: reworked wings and cellar, new rigging, lighting, sound and power, and new heating, ventilation and life-safety systems. The applicant told the City Planning Commission it is pursuing LEED Gold.

Why it needs a zoning change

Broadway's "listed theaters" can earn extra development rights, known as bonus floor area, by substantially rehabilitating their buildings. Until now that bonus had to be used on the theater's own zoning lot, which Studio 54 cannot do. The City Planning Commission's report says the special permit would grant about 187,783 square feet of bonus floor area. The text amendment would let a theater transfer that bonus to receiving sites anywhere in the Theater Subdistrict, giving Roundabout something to sell to help pay for the work.

The borough president's office said the change could open "a significant new financial pathway" for dozens of other theaters with aging buildings.

Support so far

• Community Board 5 voted 39 to 0, with two abstentions, to recommend approval in July, the CPC report says.
• Borough President Brad Hoylman-Sigal recommended approval in August and committed $1 million to the project.
• At the CPC's Aug. 26 hearing, three people spoke in favor and none against, including a member of the stagehands' union IATSE. The commission approved the application on Oct. 7.

When it would happen

Roundabout has said construction would start in 2029. It told the CPC the work would take about two years and that it plans to keep presenting shows and limit closures to the minimum necessary, the CPC report says. Roundabout has run Studio 54 since staging Cabaret there in 1998 and bought the building in 2003, Time Out New York reported.

If the Land Use Committee approves the plan Tuesday, it goes to the full Council. The next stated meeting is Thursday, Nov. 12, at 1:30 p.m. See our week ahead for the rest of this week's City Hall calendar.