What’s coming to the neighborhood below Franklin and east of W. Broadway. Plus: One notable FiDi newcomer.

Previous Progress Reports:
••• Northeast Tribeca
••• Northwest Tribeca
••• Southwest Tribeca

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56 LEONARD
After a period of being stalled, the love-it-or-loathe-it 57-story “Jenga Building” by Herzog & de Meuron is a go once again, at least according to news reports in November. (Click that link to see a rendering.) If it happens, it’ll dramatically change that stretch of Church Street.

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ATERA
After missing its scheduled fall opening and then saying they were “hoping” to open this winter, the Compose reboot appears to be making progress. For one thing, there’s a website (just a placeholder, but still); for another, I hear the kitchen is done and chef Matthew Lightner and his team are cooking.

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THE FLEA
The theater, currently based on White Street, is in the fund-raising phase of moving to 20 Thomas. They’ve bought he building; they just need to do construction inside.

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BOULEY STUDIO
When Bouley Studio closed “for vacation” in August, signage said it would reopen in the fall, and (but?) Nicole Bouley said the focus would be on private events. It was unclear whether Bouley Studio as we knew it would return; substantial demolition muddied the waters. The Bouley website, meanwhile, no longer mentions the space at all. In response to a recent inquiry, I was told that the focus would remain on catering. UPDATE: See this post for more (scroll down to till you see the same photo as above).

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CITIBANK
In November, I discovered that the old Bouley Market space would become a Citibank branch; a staffer at the one on Broadway said it would be open by December, but work appears to have come to a halt…?

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142 DUANE
This one is a mystery: The lights are often on, the windows were recently papered. If you know anything, email me at tribecacitizen@gmail.com.

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SUPER LINDA
The latest in Matt Abramcyk’s string of Tribeca restaurants—after Smith & Mills, Warren 77, and Tiny’s—is said to be opening this month. The food is South American, and there will be a separate takeout counter accessed from W. Broadway.

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LOTUS BLUE
“Renovations are going smoothly and we are still targeting to open by the week of Chinese New Year, which is January 23, but don’t have an exact date yet,” says Jeffrey Lim, general manager of Lotus Blue, the Yunnan restaurant coming to where Nam used to be.

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COSMOPOLITAN HOTEL ANNEX
The Cosmopolitan Hotel’s plans to tear down the old MaryAnn’s building and replace it with an annex to the hotel (along with a restaurant on the ground floor) appear to have stalled. Could this be why?

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280 BROADWAY
Another mystery: What’s coming to the old Chase space on Broadway between Reade and Chambers? I asked at Radio Shack, and the singularly unhelpful clerk said she thought it was a restaurant. (What is it about Radio Shack? It’s worse than Staples.) I could see it becoming a Café Metro or something, with seating upstairs.

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37 WARREN
According to the Lower Manhattan Construction Command Center, the conversion of 37 Warren to condos—with four new floors on top and retail on the ground floor—will be done by July.

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AFFINA NAILS SPA & NYC LASER CENTER
Another nail salon is coming to Church between Warren and Murray. They’ve been working on it—polishing the space?—for a while now. Maybe it’s close: Here’s the menu of services.

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DOWNTOWN FLORIST
Downtown Florist, around the corner on Church, was to take over the empty space next to Takahachi Bakery, but it’s unclear if that’s moving forward. When I just called, I was told, “We don’t know yet.” Doesn’t sound promising, does it?

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JEAN
Dr. Michel Cohen of Tribeca Pediatrics has rented the old Bangal Curry space at 65 W. Broadway. As of August, he was planning to open the at the end of October; the restaurant would be “based on great, high-quality lunch food both for take-out and sit-in. At night the place will turn into a cafe/wine bar. The place is designed by Matt Maddy who also designed Weather Up on Duane.” And a liquor-license application set to go before CB1 in November said the name would be Jean, but then it got dropped from the agenda. Cohen has yet to respond to an email.

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AROMA ESPRESSO BAR
The popular chain is opening an outpost in 100 Church (at Barclay) “in just a few weeks.”

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WOODROW’S
In November, Erin Garmont went before CB1 to explain how she planned to change Biddy Early’s (43 Murray) into a “great value” steakhouse called Woodrow’s. Biddy Early’s is still Biddy Early’s, though.

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DEMI MONDE
This isn’t remotely Tribeca, but it’s arguably the first truly cool thing to happen in FiDi in a long time: The folks behind Death & Co. in the East Village are launching a café-by-day-bar-by-night called Demi Monde at 90 Broad. Here’s what Page Six magazine had to say recently: “Demi Monde, a 120-seat restaurant at the former China Chalet in the Financial District, which opens this winter. It will serve cocktails and a New American menu including small plates, entrées and sharable snacks like bacon-wrapped dates, white anchovy bruschetta and eggplant caviar flatbreads. Unlike the diminutive East Village haunt, whose gold-flecked wallpaper catches light from chandeliers and candles, the Financial District spot, which boasts a ground-floor coffee bar (they’re working with the ‘top guys’ from Intelligentsia bean house), will have standing room and plenty of seats to spare. Classic cocktails are still the inspiration, but the pair will also experiment with cutting-edge techniques like making watermelon flash-infused vermouth using a whipped-cream canister.” The current word is it’ll open in February.