CityRealty Insider > A Nightlife Icon Gets a Day Job

A Nightlife Icon Gets a Day Job

MAY 7, 2010

The notorious neo-Gothic Sixth Avenue church-turned-nightclub has re-emerged as a retail rendezvous.

The Limelight claimed its place in the city’s nightlife annals in the ’80s mega-club heydey. Steered to fame and flameout by owner and nightclub don Peter Gatien and plagued by clubland’s usual smorgasbord of scandals including drugs, sex and murder (see: Party Monster), The Limelight closed in 2001. The historic space proceeded to languish for nearly a decade after several failed attempts at reviving its after-dark spark.

In its newest incarnation as Limelight Marketplace, the current owners of the 12,000 square foot complex envision a modern indoor bazaar-slash-department store, the honeycomb of caverns and passageways renovated into a hive of more than 60 chic retailers and gourmet food shops. Some merchants will have permanent spots, with established names like Le Sportsac, Selima Optique, J. Sisters salon and Hunter boots.

There will also be a smorgasbord of a different sort: Outlets for caviar and olive oil, specialty bakeries and sweet shops like MarieBelle chocolates, Baci Gelato, Butterfly Bakeshop and Cupcake Stop will vie for shoppers’ cravings. A farmer’s market hopes to put down roots in the churchyard, and a Grimaldi’s Pizza outpost is in the works.

Limelight Marketplace will be open to the public at beginning Friday, May 7 at 47 West 20th Street and Sixth Avenue.

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