187-year-old landmarked Lower East Side row house hits the market

A Lower East Side landmark—the last surviving structure among a group of five row houses on Grand Street built by John Jacob Astor—has officially come on the market for the first time in decades. The Lo-Down was the first to report on the sales listing, though the owners of the property haven’t publicly revealed an asking price for the three-and-a-half story structure.

Back in 2013, rumors of a sale prompted local preservationists to band together and request the city’s Landmarks Preservation Commission to designate the building before rampant development in the neighborhood destroyed the property forever. The LPC was on board, and designated the house at 339 Grand Street a New York City landmark in October 2013.

In their designation report, the LPC remarked on the how the structure was a “rare surviving example of the Federal style house in Manhattan.” They also noted that the building had retained many of its original architectural details including the “front facade with Flemish bond brickwork, high peaked roof and dormer.”

The row house was built along with four others on Grand Street between 1831-1833; A three-story rear-yard addition was added in 1855, and that too has retained most of its historic character, according to the LPC. Since the 1960s, the retail portion of the building has been occupied by Ideal Hosiery, and the owners of the business (and the building) are now hoping to relocate. The residential portion of the building has been vacant for a while.

The property has about 4,200 square feet of unused development rights, according to the Lo-Down, but it is unlikely that a new owner will be able to build up because of the landmarked roof of the row house, but the development rights from the structure could probably be used elsewhere for development.

• Historic Ideal Hosiery Building, 339 Grand St., Put Up For Sale [TLD]