Rumor: Essex Crossing Developer Taconic Partners Offering Buyout to 75 Essex Street Owner

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Here’s a juicy rumor for you. A credible source with knowledge of the matter relays that Taconic Partners, one of the developers behind Essex Crossing, is reportedly offering owner Shalom Eisner a hefty sum for the Eastern Dispensary Building at 75 Essex Street. A possible expansion of the original SPURA proposal is allegedly afoot.

This rumor further proves that 75 Essex is the latest battleground pitting Lower East Side preservationists against developers. What seemed like a possible shoe-in for landmarking just a couple years ago is now a contentious fight. The Essex Crossing development completely changed the calculus here. And the land is simply way more valuable than the recent real estate listings for the property (somewhere between $15 and $25 million).

The grassroots Friends of the Lower East Side had already submitted a “Request for Evaluation” to the Landmarks Preservation Commission last January, and finally gained an audience with Community Board 3 this month. As we previously reported, that exercise didn’t go so well, with the full board having kicked the measure back down to committee (i.e. back to the drawing board). Owner Shalom Eisner, who purportedly desired landmarking a few years ago, had changed his tune, arguing that doing so might affect the inheritance to his progeny.

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Essex Crossing rendering with 75 Essex incorporated, Photo: Essex Crossing

For its part, the preservationists are worried that a “midnight job” might be afoot. Like in the 1980s when buildings would be razed under cover of darkness to ensure projects would happen (or collect the insurance money).

So it’s certainly conceivable that those renderings may soon require a refresh…