Projected to open this month after it was assumed by builders Richter + Ratner in the distant days of 2012, the Allen Street Hotel at 139 Orchard Street is still far from finished. Bowery Boogie has been keeping tabs on the lot, and since the only on-site action is maintenance of the perimeter fencing, the unfinished concrete lodge is becoming its own LES tombstone, joining three other eternally-undeveloped hotels in the tract between East Houston and Delancey.
However latent in its construction, there has been a development, albeit a nasty one, in this story: the New York Post is reporting that, in the midsts of a foreclosure suit, developer Ben Zhavian, who used to own the site, has allegedly threatened the site's new owners on multiple occasions, telling him he knows "how to hurt people" and would kill them. Yikes! Anything to get back in the headlines? This has certainly not been an easy rise.
· Allen Street Hotel Developer Allegedly Threatens New Owners With Violence [BB]
· Developer allegedly threatened to rape, kill opponents [NYP]
· All 139 Orchard Street/Allen Street Hotel Coverage [Curbed]