Ben "The Sledgehammer" Shaoul's Magnum Realty has filed permits for a 10-story, 83-apartment building at 196 Orchard Street, the former home of Boho Karaoke and around-the-corner neighbor to several other Shaoul-owned properties on East Houston between Orchard and Ludlow streets, TRD reports. Shaoul last made headlines when he purchased a strip of single-story buildings on the block's East Houston frontage, including the home of beloved Turkish restaurant Bereket, Ray's Pizza, and Empanada Mama, and then continued to amass air rights in the vicinity in a massive deal with Katz'z Deli. Whether or not all of these properties will come into play with the 113,246-square-foot residential building Shaoul filed for is yet unknown.
Permits say the structure, if approved, will have 13,500-square-feet of ground-floor retail as well as 5,000-square-feet dedicated to a "physical culture establishment" ("New York bureaucratic speak for a gym or yoga studio, or something of the like," says YIMBY). Ismael Leyva is the architect of record.
· Shaoul files plans for 83-unit resi building on Lower East Side [TRD]
· Permits Filed: 196 Orchard Street, Lower East Side [YIMBY]
· All 196 Orchard Street coverage [Curbed]