Nike-KITH Sneaker Emporium Rumored for Rehabbed Peace Pentagon on Lafayette Street
Contrary to rumors that circulated the neighborhood last year, the former Peace Pentagon will not become luxury living. Nor will you recognize it once that five-story box is removed.
The narrative here is a pivot from activism to consumerism. Specifically, sneakers.
Permits issued by the Department of Buildings in late-December indicate that 337-339 Lafayette is spared the full extent of the wrecking ball. The building is amidst conversion to commercial use only. The Certificate of Occupancy is being updated to change from storage/factory to full retail.
Said retailer is rumored to be the Nike-KITH endeavor, the sneaker emporium that currently operates a collaborative pop-up down the block on Broadway. It’ll reportedly open in about eight months’ time – largely due to the rehabilitation underway – and stake claim to the entire footprint. Apparently the entire building will be glass, and original architectural remnants are rare.
News of the Nike-KITH outpost comes from several different workers stationed at the project worksite, but we’ve been unable to officially verify the claims.
(Footwear and clothing designer Ronnie Fieg, formerly a buyer for the David Z. chain, founded KITH in 2011.)
As previously reported, the A.J. Muste Institute sold 337-339 Lafayette to real estate baron Aby Rosen for $20.75 million in October 2015. It owned the icon since 1974. The cobbling of boutique retailers on the ground level – whose rents helped sustain the Institute and its anti-war compatriots – all departed shortly thereafter. The rag-tag collection of organizations – War Resisters League, Global Revolution TV, Socialist Party USA, Paper Tiger Television, and other progressive groups – have since relocated to 168 Canal Street.
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