The South Street Seaport is ready for its second act.
The one-time tourist magnet — which had fallen on hard times even before Hurricane Sandy laid waste to the area — on Thursday began the makeover that will turn its hub into a megamall and event space.
“I’m happy to say the best days are still to come for the seaport,” Mayor Bloomberg said at the ceremonial groundbreaking for the new Pier 17 complex.
The Howard Hughes Corp. plans to tear down the three-story Pier 17 pavilion, which was only 28 years old, and replace it with a glittering glass 300,000-plus-square-foot complex featuring a 1¹/₂-acre rooftop.
That open space will include an upscale restaurant, two bars and an amphitheater that will hold up to 4,000 people for concerts and other events.
Hughes said the pier will have 40 percent more open space and become “the premier boutique entertainment venue in the world.”
The project is expected to be completed by 2016 and generate more than 1,000 jobs.
The 11-acre South Street Seaport is tied with the Great Wall of China as the world’s 26th most visited attraction, ahead of the Louvre in Paris, according to Travel & Leisure magazine.
But despite its views of the Brooklyn Bridge and lower Manhattan and cobble-stone charm, it never became the commercial mecca the city had hoped.
The pier survived Hurricane Sandy relatively unscathed but the storm racked businesses in the area and forced several stores and restaurants to close.
Plans to overhaul the area dragged on for years until the City Council agreed in March to allow the Dallas-based Hughes corporation to redevelop Pier 17.
The city owns the pier and will be leasing it to Hughes. Under the deal with the city’s Economic Development Corp., Hughes will pay $1.2 million in base rent.
Hughes wanted to start work in July, but city officials delayed matters so seaport fans could enjoy one last summer there. The final tenants left Sept. 9.