The Shelter Haven complex, which has been sitting vacant on the prime location of the corner of 96th Street and Third Avenue in Stone Harbor, has received approval from the Stone Harbor Zoning Board to build a hotel complex that includes an additional building across the street that will replace Henny's Restaurant.

Henny's has been on the corner of 97th and Third since 1931 and has been in the Blum family for four generations. A deal between the Shelter Haven developer and Henny's owners was made last year but was contingent on the developer gaining approval for his plan to build a three-story, 37-room hotel that will include an 80-seat restaurant with 40 seats on an outside deck overlooking the bay on the west side of 96th and Third. The complex that will replace Henny's is part of the new hotel but will be a separate building with 12 more guest rooms, an indoor/outdoor pool and 5,000-square-foot day spa and a 1,300-square-foot wine bar. The main building will have 25 rooms and an outdoor pool.

Henny's owner Gary Blum told me late last year that if the developer didn't get approval, then the family would continue to operate Henny's. But now they are tentatively slated to close in January of 2009. You have to wonder how many end-of-an-era parties will be thrown, and how many other restaurateurs come looking for cheap dining room furniture and kitchen equipment.