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Demolition of 6 Apartment Buildings on Second Avenue to Start, Records Show

By Shaye Weaver | August 14, 2015 3:18pm | Updated on August 17, 2015 8:49am
 Demolition has begun on six tenement buildings along Second Avenue, according to DOB records.
Second Avenue apartments finally set to be demolished
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UPPER EAST SIDE — Six apartment buildings that have stood empty on Second Avenue for a year are finally set to be demolished to make way for two high-rises, according to records and neighbors.

Icon Realty Management bought up two parcels of properties along Second Avenue — one at 1538-1546, between 80th and 81st streets, and another at 1562-1564 — over the course of eight years, and now demolition is finally set to begin, according to the Department of Building's online records.

Since last summer, the two sites have been cleared out of tenants, creating a string of vacant storefronts just a few blocks from ongoing Second Avenue Subway construction.

Between 2007 and 2014, Icon Realty, which owns more than 1,800 apartment units throughout the city, purchased the southern block for $44.8 million and bought the northern block in May for an undisclosed amount, according to online records.

For the latter site, the developer filed plans with the Department of Buildings to build a 164-foot, 14-story residential building there. The DOB disapproved the plan, though the reason was not immediately clear.

The DOB did not immediately respond to request for comment.

The new building will have 12 apartments, according to the building's designer Issac & Stern on its website.

New building plans for what will replace the four consecutive buildings on the southern site have not been filed with the DOB as of Friday, though the existing buildings are currently in the process of being demolished.

Icon secured demolition permits for all six buildings in June and July, according to the DOB online records.

While no new building application has been filed for 1538-1546, Jeffrey Cho, the manager of Piermont Cleaners next door at 1548, said the developer was planning to build a high-rise there.

Last year, Icon Realty forced restaurants to move or shut down, including Johnny Foxes at 1546 Second Ave., which closed last summer. Nancy Lee’s Pig Heaven and neighboring Cascabel Taqueria, moved to new locations nearby. Agora Turkish at 1565 Second Ave. moved across the street.

Icon Realty did not return calls for comment.