Lower East Side’s Sunshine Cinema has been demolished

The historic Lower East Side building that housed Landmark’s Sunshine Cinema has been demolished, to be replaced by a nine-story office tower, EV Grieve first reported.

Developers East End Capital and K Property Group bought the theater for $31.5 million back in 2017 and filed demolition plans in 2018. Designed by Roger Ferris and Partners, the new 65,000-square-foot building will have retail space and seven office floors. According to East End Capital’s website, construction is expected to be complete in mid 2021.

Located at 141 East Houston Street, between Forsyth and Eldridge streets, the theater was officially closed in January 2018. Though the now-demolished building had housed Landmark’s Sunshine Cinema since 2001, it had served as a theater for over a century. Built in the mid-19th century, the building was used as a church and a fight club in the early 20th century.

Before closing, the theater had been facing financial trouble due to rising rents in the area. And in 2012, in an attempt to counter that, presented a $1 million proposal to the local community board, to allow them to sell drinks and dinner at the location as part of a transformation to the cinema, but the community board voted against it.