Ben "The Sledgehammer" Shaoul is living up to his nickname. The developer is making haste in knocking down the existing buildings on the Lower East Side corner where he plans to erect a 10-story, 83-condo building. Bowery Boogie walked by the site to find that the former Leather Gallery building at 194 Orchard Street has already been razed since work began last month, and that a stop-work order has been placed on the property for "failure to weatherproof adjacent building." Once Shaoul gets that all straightened out, he'll presumably continue on his merry sledging way, tearing down the buildings that formerly housed restaurants Bereket, Ray's Pizza, and Empenada Mama en route to building up the 90,000-square-foot development.
The respectable (yet bland by LES-standards) building that's designed by Ismael Leyva will have an Equinox, because of course.
· Ben Shaoul Makes Quick Work of 194 Orchard Demolition [BB]
· Katz's Air Rights Made This Orchard Street Building Possible [Curbed]
· All Ben Shaoul coverage [Curbed]