MIDTOWN SOUTH — The city has given the go-ahead for the demolition of a building that once housed a rug showroom above the Flatiron, Department of Building records show.
The new owner of 262 Fifth Ave. got the green light in December to tear down the slender, 5-story walkup near the corner of West 29th Street, according to city records.
The new owner, a limited liability corporation called Five Points Development, bought the building last February for $17.35 million, property records show.
The owner has not yet filed any permits for a new building on the lot, which is zoned for mixed residential and commercial use.
A representative of Five Points Development did not immediately respond to a request for comment about potential plans for the property.
The building is the former home of Megerian Rug Cleaners, a cleaning and restoration company that operated an oriental rug showroom on the ground floor and whose name remains emblazoned on the window.
Megerian occupied the building since the mid-1980s and moved to a new building on 30th Street in late August, according to an employee, who declined to give his name.
The building sits within the borders of the neighborhood once known as the “rug district,” an area above the Flatiron that was formerly home to the bustling center of the North American Oriental rug trade. But in recent years the rug district has evaporated as business owners flee the neighborhood for cheaper rent in Queens or New Jersey, leaving only a handful of rug showrooms still open in the area.
