Amid all of the hoopla surrounding Elad Properties’ purchase of the Plaza and planned conversion of the storied hotel into luxury condominiums, little attention was paid to Elad’s purchase of another historic building last year that it is also converting to condos: the Gift Building at 225 Fifth Ave., off of Madison Square Park, which for more than 50 years had housed more than 100 wholesalers of tablewares, textiles, glassware, china, and other gift items.

With the building’s sale, the tenants of 225 Fifth Ave. faced an unusual situation: Not only would they be forced to move their businesses – some of which had been at the location since the showroom’s inception – but they felt that they needed to stay together and move as a bloc to remain a viable showroom-based market to the trade.

The group formed a committee to search for a new home, and approached Merchandise Mart Properties, a company owned by Vornado that operates “marts” – collections of showrooms for the trade that frequently host large-scale gift or tabletop fairs – in Los Angeles, Chicago, Washington, D.C, and High Point, N.C. In a matter of months, Merchandise Mart found a space that could accommodate as many of the vendors as cared to come – Vornado owned a building nearby, at 7 W. 34th St. – and converted the former office space into showrooms.

Now, a little more than a year after the sale of 225 Fifth Ave. was announced, a number of these wholesalers – and several new ones – are about 10 days away from opening their showrooms in a space that has been named the New York Gift Mart.

Six floors of 7 W. 34th St., recently vacated by the insurance company HIP, will be open as Gift Mart showrooms as part of the project’s “Phase 1.” In 2006, the building’s other major tenant, Fairchild Publications, will move out, and the building’s remaining five floors will be devoted to the Gift Mart. Ultimately, the Gift Mart will occupy about 450,000 square feet in the new building and have more than 150 tenants; the first 35 showrooms will open next weekend, for the annual Tabletop Market tradeshow.

On Wednesday, the building’s new tenants, who consist of manufacturers, manufacturers’ representatives, and importers, were furiously getting their showrooms ready for opening – setting up displays, stocking shelves, putting up coats of paint, and hanging signs. Su Hilty, the mart’s director of marketing, and formerly the general manager of 225 Fifth Ave., walked briskly around the floors, stopping at the emerging showrooms to compliment the tenants on their progress.

David Neuwirth, representing the fourth generation of his family’s 75-year-old gift importing business, the Neuwirth Company, surveyed his showroom of glass, tableware, and silver items, which includes an entire wall of glass vases. “Um, careful of your bag there,” he said to the Sun’s photographer, who was leaning precariously close to the display for a close-up.

Richard Cohen, a manufacturers’ representative who, like Mr. Neuwirth, had relocated from 225 Fifth Ave., was also making progress in his showroom, where he carries lines such as Haviland Limoges, Lampe Berger, and Home, James!, a gift line that also has a retail store in East Hampton. The showroom’s Home, James! wall had been painted a brilliant lime green to match the line’s logo.

Upstairs, clusters of displays of ceramics, lamps, and flowers were being built in the sprawling Pacific Rim import showroom. On the 10th floor, rows of dresses and accessories lined the walls of the April Cornell showroom, which looked almost complete. Displays at the Isadora and Mizrahi, Compact Novelties, and Alan B. Silverstone showrooms were also nearing completion. Other showrooms, which won’t open until after the Tabletop Market, were still in the earliest stages of renovation, with only the carpet installed or the walls painted. “It happens so rarely that you can build something like this from scratch,” said Merchandise Mart Properties’ vice president of gift leasing and marketing, Joan Ulrich, speaking by phone from Los Angeles.

“You should come back in two weeks and see the place then,” said one paint-covered worker, who was setting up a display.

The Tabletop Market will run from April 16-20, with previews on April 14 and 15, at 7 W. 34th St. For more information, visit www.7wnewyork.com.