The underutilized Bridgemarket commercial complex beneath Queensboro Bridge could soon welcome a bookstore or day spa, now that a neighborhood group is recommending that the city allow for broader range of retail tenants.

A Community Board committee composed of Upper East Side and Midtown East residents voted last night on a resolution, advising the New York City Economic Development Corporation to welcome at the site any of the new retail categories proposed by the leaseholder, Gordon Group Holdings of Greenwich, Conn.

The Bridgemarket complex, designed about 1908 by Spanish architect Rafael Guastavino, served as a farmers market in the early part of the 20th century. More recently, the cathedral-like structure covering in ceiling tiles in a herringbone design was known as a decaying, makeshift shelter for the city’s homeless population. In 2000, however, the city-owned space was reborn as a shopping and dining destination and welcomed a Food Emporium supermarket, Guastavino’s restaurant, and the Conran Shop, a home furnishing store owned by Sir Terence Conran.

While many neighbors praise development’s hand in cleaning up neighborhood near the entrance of the Queensboro Bridge, retail tenants say they have had trouble drawing foot traffic to the location, which is three long avenues away from the nearest subway station.

Failing to fill its tables, Guastavino’s closed its restaurant business in 2005, and last year reopened as a catering facility. Meanwhile, in an effort to bring in more customers, the Food Emporium recently renovated its space, and rebranded it as a gourmet market called Food Emporium — Fine Food. “It’s hard because it’s not a very trafficked place,” the store’s manager, Manny Brito, said of the neighborhood. “We’re trying to make it a destination.”

In a letter to the district manager of Community Board 6 of East Midtown, the developer, Sheldon Gordon of Gordon Group Holdings, wrote that the revenues of Guastavino’s and the Conran Shop “have been disappointing to say the least” and that the Conran Shop “is actively seeking different space in the City.”

He explained that under his current agreement with the city, he is limited in leasing space to food, cooking, and dining-related establishments. Within those parameters, he said he expected to find it difficult to find a new tenant should the Conran Shop vacate its space in the plaza, directly south of the Queensboro Bridge.

In addition to a bookstore or day spa, the committee voted in favor of allowing as tenants sports, antiques, electronics, jewelry, clothing, toys, baby goods retailers, or fitness centers. Their resolution expressly stated that they opposed the use of the Bridgemarket space for any bar or nightclub.

The Bridgemarket straddles East 59th Street, so the committee that gathered last night at the New York Blood Center on the Upper East Side included select members of Community Board 6, and of Community Board 8, which represents the Upper East Side.