brutalism.org
The Pirelli Building.
The iconic Pirelli Building on Long Wharf, beloved by preservationists who feared it would be destroyed, is slated for new life as a hotel.
IKEA, the furniture giant that owns a store on the same Sargent Drive property, is in discussions with a New England hotel developer to turn the empty building into a new hotel, according to city Economic Development Administrator Matthew Nemerson.
Nemerson said Thursday that the city had been urging IKEA to find a new use for the building rather than tear it down. He said the company “interviewed many people” about possible uses — housing, an office building a conference center — before settling on the idea of a hotel and launching negotiations with the developer. Those negotiations are ongong and have not yet produced a memorandum of understanding, Nemerson reported.
The news was revealed at the most recent meeting of the Development Commission, according to the body’s president, Pedro Soto.
“IKEA has not announced any new plans for the New Haven Pirelli building. We do not have any additional updates at this time,” IKEA corporate spokeswoman Lethisa Bracy emailed the Independent in response to a request for comment.
“This is good news. It is going to be preserved,” Nemerson said. And “we clearly need more hotels.” The city is in the midst of a hotel boomlet, with projects under construction or planned at High and George Streets, 80 Elm St., the Union apartment complex, and the Hotel Duncan.
Allan Appel Photo
Inside the Pirelli Building during an art installation last year.
The old Armstrong Rubber company built the unusual concrete-cube edifice — suspended from a base in full view of I‑95 — in 1969 for use as a research and administrative headquarters. Then, like other manufacturers, the company left town, in the 1990s. The building has been vacant ever since.
Preservationists, fearing loss of a piece of New Haven’s allegedly meaningful modernist architectural history, have sought to prevent the building’s demolition. They succeeded in getting the building listed on the State Register of Historic Places in 2000. That doesn’t legally prevent it from being destroyed, but adds an arrow to the preservationist quiver. The building was truncated in 2003 but otherwise left standing.
The late architect Marcel Breuer designed the building in the Brutalist tradition. Nemerson noted that architect’s reputation has enjoyed a national revival of late.
Last year the Pirelli Building tempoorarily opened its doors again, for an art exhibit. Read about that here.