The owner of the Gowanus Bay Terminal is looking to buy a 63-year old cruise ship to create a massive floating office and entertainment space.
The S.S. United States was once the fastest and largest cruise ship in the world, but these days it's languishing miserably in a dock in Philadelphia to the tune of $60,000 per month, the Brooklyn Paper reports. Its current caretakers aren't sure how much longer they'll able to maintain the floating relic, and now, Red Hook concrete magnate John Quadrozzi Jr. is interested in buying it up.
“I can’t say enough how exciting it would be to be a part of getting this ship sited in this area of Red Hook,” he told the paper. “The [S.S. United States] conservancy feels not only would it physically be a good space to support the economics of the ship, it would be viable.”
The current plan is to fill the gutted ship's 12 decks with offices for start-ups, a gym and pool, restaurants and a theater, among other things. The overhaul is estimated to cost between $50 and $200 million, plus an additional $2 million to bring the ship over from Philly. Considering it's been unused since 1969, and unloved since 1996, it would be nice to see the old ocean liner given a second chance at life. It did, after all, host notables like John F. Kennedy, Walt Disney, John Wayne, and Marilyn Monroe back in its heyday, and it still technically holds the Atlantic speed record.
Ultimately, it's up to the conservancy to decide the boat's fate—it could also be docked in Manhattan, or just as easily, the trash. A decision is expected to be made by early November.
