Limelight Marketplace: Grimaldi's Pizza by the Slice, Cupcakes and More

The drills and hammers are reaching a fever pitch as workers put the finishing touches on the Flatiron’s storied Limelight space, set to open its big red doors to the public this Friday in its new incarnation as the Limelight Marketplace. Traces of the former Episcopal church’s more recent life as a notorious nightclub have mostly been stripped away in a glossy redo that has packed in some 60 retail shops, most configured as 100-sq.-ft. ‘berths’, lending the lofty, mazelike space an upscale flea market feel – with richly detailed stained glass and other original architectural features carefully retained throughout. The landmarked gothic exterior of the place looks much the same as ever, with minimal signage so far to alert passersby to the retail extravaganza within.

The eclectic mix of tenants offers plenty for food lovers to chew on, including a much-anticipated branch of Brooklyn’s Grimaldi’s, due to open in a month or so, which, unlike the original, will offer its pizza by the slice – a good thing since the diminutive digs seem best suited for takeout, though it does have a beer and wine license. There’s also MarieBelle Fine Treats & Chocolates, complete with a sit-down cocoa bar, It’s Sugar, a cousin to Dylan’s Candy Bar, and two ‘specialty food rooms’ on the ground level whose sweets-centric purveyors include the first brick-and-mortar outlet of the Cupcake Stop food truck and a branch of Baci Gelato, which until now has mostly supplied its scoops to restaurants, as well as Mari’s New York (fancy brownies), Butterfly Bakeshop (miniature cakes) and the Little Candy Cake Company (mini wedding gateaux made of, yes, candy). You can also look forward to outposts of Carter & Cavero, Petrossian and Jezalin’s, plus, in an outdoor courtyard area, a greenmarket offering local produce. Expected to be uncorked in the near future is an as-yet-unnamed bi-level wine bar.

The nonedible offerings include an array of clothing, jewelry, cosmetics and housewares retailers from Hunter Boots and Caswell Massey to an outlet of Greenpoint’s funky vintage shop Old Hollywood and Zakka, a SoHo store selling Japanese toys and art books. Inhabiting the bigger, more boutique-like spaces are the likes of LeSportsac, Selima Optique and Brocade Home.

656 Avenue of the Americas; 212-226-7585

– Carol Diuguid