Troubled Allen Street Hotel Back on the Auction Block After Years of Arrested Development
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The last of the Hell Square towers to cross the finish line – the sixteen-story Allen Street Hotel – is again on the auction block. A zombie ready for rebirth. For the second time since January 2015, the creditor that seized the property from D.A.B. Group (aka Ben Zhavian) during bankruptcy proceedings seeks a buyer to finally see this hotel developed.
Arcade Capital had been the likely contender for a cool $33 million last year, but the deal for 139-141 Orchard Street subsequently fizzled. Months later, in September, the creditor appeared before Community Board 3 to obtain a 4-year extension from the NYC Board of Standards and Appeals to buy some extra time for completion. The advisory board wasn’t having it and denied. However, according to auctioneer Maltz Auctions, “BSA Recently Passed Four Year Extension to Complete Construction & Obtain C of O” (this claim hasn’t been confirmed as of publication). Ouch.
So now the 92-key hotel will be auctioned to the highest bidder on May 10. One need only peep the eye-grabbing banner unfurled onsite as advertisement. Per the listing:
- Block-Through Site with Frontage on Orchard Street & Allen Street
- Partially Constructed Hotel
- 16-Story Steel Superstructure Complete
- Plumbing & Electrical Partially Complete
- Fully Approved Development Site for Construction of 39,064 Sq Ft Hotel with 92 Keys
- Spectacular City Views – Neighborhood Recently Downzoned Assuring Permanently Unobstructed Views
- Potential Rooftop Lounge
- Approved Under C6-1 Zoning
- Area Zoning Recently Modified to C4-4A
- BSA Recently Passed Four Year Extension to Complete Construction & Obtain C of O
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The Allen Street Hotel snuck onto the scene in the eleventh hour before the 2008 zoning took hold, and slyly ascended sixteen stories. Three years later, D.A.B. Group allegedly ceased the necessary mortgage payments, and the property slipped into foreclosure. A messy set of bankruptcy proceedings followed. Today, as it stands, the construction is little but a skeletal superstructure that contributes nothing to the block. The lucky buyer could turn this “32% complete” eyesore into something like this…
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Early rendering of the Allen Street Hotel
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