Cooper Sq., now historic, joins neighbors in rebirth.

Unless you're a student- at Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art, it's easy to pass through Cooper Square without taking much notice.

If it weren't for the. giant black music note -- and the clock contained within it -- on the side. of the historic Carl Fischer Building, there would be little to catch the eye of pedestrians walking through this lower Manhattan neighborhood. There are several well-recognized establishments in the area, such as the Village Voice and the Bowery Bar, but Cooper Square tends to play second fiddle to the more high-profile neighborhoods near it, like Greenwich. Village and NoHo.

But like so many other New York City neighborhoods that have been transformed during good economic times, Cooper Square seems to on the verge of. its own revival.

"It's a neighborhood that is coming into its own," said James Lansill, Vice President of Stribling Marketing Associates.

In late October or early November, Stribling will begin marketing the 26 condominiums that will be located in the Fischer buildings after restoration plans are complete. Meanwhile Cooper Union has several redevelopment projects underway, with a $12 million restoration of its historic foundation building at Third Avenue and 7th Street underway and ambitious plans for its other two buildings in the planning phases. The school has long been involved in the real estate business as a way to continue its practice of providing free tuition to its 900 students.

"It's a first-rate restoration by a first-rate team. By its very nature, the restoration will be a contribution to the neighborhood," said Robert Hawks, Cooper Union's Vice President for Business Affairs and Treasurer.

Architects working with Ian Schrager Hotels and the Related Companies are designing plans for a new hotel and theater to be located in the parking lot on Astor Place. The project is being touted not only for the uses it will bring to the neighborhood, but also for its innovative design. The hotel developers have a long-term lease with Cooper Union, which owns the parking lot.

"We expect to see some of the designs by the end of the year," Hawks said.

C-Square Associates, LLC, is about midway through a project aimed at turning buildings at the 12-story Carl Fischer Building at 56-62 Cooper Square and an adjoining 4-story building at 52-54 Cooper Square into condominiums ranging in size from 1,450 SF to 7,000 SF. The units will be sold "architect ready," meaning owners will be responsible for having them finished. Plumbing and other aspects of the building are being installed in locations that will allow owners to finish units in a variety of layouts, said Judith Halevi, of C-Square Associates.

"We tried to anticipate the variations people may want," Halevi said.

Each building will contain two stories of retail space. In the Carl Fischer building, the space will have 19-foot ceilings and oversized windows. The 52-54 Cooper Square building will have 5,500 square feet of retail space on the ground floor and basement. C-Square plans to market the condominiums to clothing designers, movie directors and other creative people who are attracted to the artistic presence in the neighborhood. C-Square is anticipating that some potential buyers will be Upper East Side residents who want to move downtown, Halevi said.

"We're going to be the only residential building in the area," she said.

Cooper Square was recently designated an Historic District by the city's Landmarks Preservation Commission, which requires developers to seek commission approval for planned changes to building exteriors.

Cooper Union's foundation building, built by Frederick Peterson from 1853 to 1859, has also been classified a city landmark. The Italianate building, faced in brownstone, was among the first structures to employ rolled iron beams and among the earliest designed to accommodate an elevator, according to the Landmark Preservation Commission.

In the mid-1970s, the cast iron storefronts were restored and the street level was converted into a library as part of renovations designed by John Hejduk, dean of the school's architecture school, who recently died.

"We see this as a civic hub," Hawks said, referring to Cooper Union.

While extensive, the renovations to the foundation building are just part of the school's redevelopment plans. School officials have been meeting with the two community boards in the neighborhood and other groups to discuss plans for the engineering building at 51 Astor Place and the Hewitt building at 41 Cooper Square. The school is hoping to raze the structures which, unlike its foundation building, have little historic merit. In their places would be a combination of school and commercial uses, with retail development on the ground floor -- often viewed as a key component for bringing activity to a street.

The school also hopes to enlarge the Peter Cooper Park from its present 6,000 SF to 18,000 SF by working with the city to restructure the road system around it. Under its present design, streets converge in a way that is confusing to motorists and pedestrians alike. The park improvements and accompanying streetscape work would add to the street presence and serve as a public amenity to the neighborhood, Hawks said.

The school has a broad outline for redevelopment initiatives, but is leaving much of the decision-making regarding finer details to a future date. Officials said they want. to seek input from neighborhoods before finalizing plans.

"We're in the very preliminary stages," Hawks said. "We're just collecting ideas right now."

Ian Schrager Hotels and Cooper Union have selected a team of European architects who are designing the development of the hotel. The Dutch architect Rem Koolhaas and the Swiss firm Herzog & de Meuron are collaborating on the project, and have been charged with designing a hotel that will give the city a creative jolt.

Depending on which design is chosen, the hotel might be 12 stories or so, with 75 to 140 rooms. The ground floor and two floors below will contain a "cultural magnet," with three to six screening rooms operated in collaboration with actor Robert DeNiro, a bookstore, and a restaurant or two. The building will have about 100,000 square feet of space and is expected to be developed without seeking any special zoning permits or variances, according to published reports.