United Hebrew Community Buildings at 201-203 East Broadway Sold for $8.5M; Demolition Permits Already Filed

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More Jewish history on East Broadway is being uprooted. Roots that date back to the turn of the twentieth century.

The United Hebrew Community nonprofit organization just sold their century-old stake in the Lower East Side. A corporate entity called 201 EB Development III, LLC (owned by Daniel Wise) picked up the the former headquarters at 201-203 East Broadway for $8.5 million last month. The two nondescript properties had been on the market since last year for $10.5 million.

Both tenements will soon disappear, though. Asbestos abatement notices were the first signal of demise, and arrived shortly after the transaction. Demolition permits were then filed with the Department of Buildings last Thursday. A new development is definitely in the works here, but nothing conclusive is on file just yet.

The two-parcel site is zoned for 28,152 buildable square-feet, but can tack on an addition 9,000 square-feet if a community facility is included in the new development.

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United Hebrew Community, a nonprofit Jewish organization, purchased the side-by-side buildings upon its founding in the early 1900s. They had occupied 15,000 square-feet of space. This is a definite loss for the block, both aesthetically and historically. The twin tenements were constructed in 1837 and subsequently modifed in 1900.

The United Hebrew Community was founded in 1901, and is pitched as “the leading Jewish burial society in New York.” Differed from other “landsmenshaften” burial societies, which typically served immigrants from a couple of European towns; they provided services to a cross-section fo the Jewish community, such as a free synagogue and proper burial for many Jews who were refused membership to other such organizations. It’s now located in Woodmere on Long Island (1023 Broadway)